The British tennis player Andy Murray defeated Novak Djokovic in the final of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) last week, scoring a decisive 6-3/6-4 victory over his long-time rival and winning him his first ATP World Tour Finals title. This victory has also propelled Murray to first place in the global rankings, marking him as the best player of 2016.
Murray and Djokovic have had a long-standing rivalry. The two have met 35 times, yet Murray has only managed to trump the Serbian 11 times. Of the 17 tour finals in which they have faced off, Djokovich has won 10
On 4 July 2011, Djokovic was deemed the best international tennis player, ranked first in the men’s singles, according to the ATP.
No doubt the 29-year-old champion marks a great presence in the world of tennis owing to his endless victories.
His Grand Slam victories include winning the Australian Tennis Open six times in 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016; as well as Wimbledon three times in 2011, 2014, and 2015; the US Open in 2011, and 2015; and the French Open in 2016.
In addition to the Grand Slam tournaments, he won the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals five times in 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.
He became an Olympic champion after winning bronze at the men’s singles tennis competition during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
It seems that the Serbian champion was not destined to win another Olympic medal after Beijing. In the 2012 London Summer Olympics, Murray won gold, Swiss Roger Federer won silver, and Argentinean Juan Martín del Potro won bronze.
At the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, Djokovic failed to win any medals for Serbia, as he exited the Olympics after losing to del Potro at the first round.
Murray was the gold medallist at the 2016 Olympics; silver went to Del Potro, and bronze to Japan’s Kei Nishikori.
In the mixed doubles competitions at the 2012 Olympics, Murray and his compatriot Laura Robson won silver.
The two met in seven finals of the Grand Slam’s tournaments: at the Australian Open in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2016 Djokovic was the winner for these four years; at US Open in 2012 Murray was the winner; at Wimbledon in 2013 Murray was the winner; and at the French Open in 2016 Djokovic was the champion.
