Tipsarevic Fights Back To Beat Djokovic

© AFP/Getty ImagesJanko Tipsarevic recorded his first win in four matches against Novak Djokovic.

Alternate Janko Tipsarevic recorded his first win in four matches against top seed and 2008 champion Novak Djokovic 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Friday at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

During Friday's evening session, seventh seed Tomas Berdych beat No. 5 seed David Ferrer 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 to eliminate World No. 1 Djokovic from qualifying for the semi-finals.

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Tipsarevic, who replaced third seed Andy Murray earlier in the week, improved to a 54-26 record on the season, after he hit 21 winners and four aces past Djokovic, his friend and Serbian compatriot. Djokovic falls to a 1-2 round-robin record this week, having also lost to Ferrer 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday.

Tipsarevic is the first alternate - to come in during the middle of the year-end championship - and win a round-robin match since Fernando Gonzalez beat Mariano Puerta in 2005. He could not convert one match point against Berdych in a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) loss on Wednesday.

"He [Tipsarevic] deserved to win," admitted Djokovic. "He was the better player in the second part of the match. It's obvious it's never easy to perform against somebody you know very well. Regardless who is across the net, obviously you want to win. That was the case today. But it wasn't meant to be. I'm glad he got the chance to play and got the chance to win as well. It can give him a lot of confidence for next year."

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Tipsarevic was caught out going for too much on his serve in the fourth game, when he was broken to 30. Djokovic maintained the lead and created one set point opportunity at 5-2, 30/40, on Tipsarevic's serve. But the World No. 1 could not convert it, as Tipsarevic hit three well-placed serves in a row. Djokovic closed out the 38-minute opener with his second ace for a hold to love. He'd hit 13 winners and dropped just four points on serve. Tipsarevic committed eight unforced errors - five of which came off his two-handed backhand.

Tipsarevic came under huge mental pressure in his first three service games in the second set, but the 27 year old remained unbroken. He kept his nerve, despite committing six unforced errors, in an 18-point opening game of the set and finally held his serve with a third volley winner.

Later, Tipsarevic admitted, "I felt that the tides changed at the beginning of the second set, where I managed to get out of my first two or three service games. It was always deuce, advantage, deuce, advantage. And once I managed to survive those couple of games, I was always and constantly putting pressure on Novak's serve until the end of the match."

The set gathered momentum at 2-3, when Djokovic was broken to 15, after he hit two straight forehand errors. Tipsarevic failed to confirm the break, but he took a 5-3 lead by converting his second break point of the game. He squandered one chance at 30/40 with a mis-timed backhand, but a double fault and backhand error by Djokovic gave Tipsarevic another opportunity to serve for the set. Tipsarevic clinched the 53-minute set with a hold to 15, when Djokovic hit a backhand return long - his 19th error of the set.

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Tipsarevic grew in confidence at the start of the deciding set, when Djokovic mis-hit a drop shot that he snapped up to break at 30/40. He won his fourth straight game, for a 2-0 lead, with a backhand winner down the line, which left Djokovic motionless at the net.

As the set wore on, Djokovic became more animated. His unforced error count ended at 37, 11 of which came in the deciding set - and he won 16 of his 26 service points. At 3-5, Djokovic fell to 0/40, but saved two set points with big serves. Tipsarevic made it third time lucky to wrap up a memorable win in two hours and eight minutes.
 
"I'm really happy that I managed to win finally [against Djokovic]," said Tipsarevic. "Every time we played, I managed to win a set and then lose in the end. So I am really happy that I managed to win today in the end and strangely finish the season with a victory. I'm not really used to do that."

"I feel that next year is going to be even tougher than this. I feel that players will take me a little bit more seriously after this year and I will not be able to catch them off guard."

Djokovic, who beat Nikolay Davydenko for the 2008 title, when the event was contested in Shanghai, finished the season with a 70-6 match record. He won 10 titles this year, including three Grand Slam championships - at the Australian Open (d. Murray), Wimbledon and the US Open (d. Nadal). He compiled a 21-4 against Top 10 opponents over the past 11 months.

"I had an unbelievable year," said Djokovic, who will now take a couple of weeks' rest. "Nothing can really ruin that. I will always remember this year as the best of my life. I just want to prepare well for 2012."

Tipsarevic, who will head to the Maldives for a holiday on Monday, said, "This [tournament] is something amazing. I hope that I will be here next year and in years to come."