Novak Djokovic : We should all let Andy enjoy this a little bit

11/21/2016

Rivals on court, friends off it – the bond that Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic share was evident at the conclusion of the ATP World Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena on Sunday, when the Serbian asked that new world No 1 Murray be allowed to savour the moment.

Murray defeated Djokovic for his maiden World Tour Finals title to finish 2016 as the world No 1 player.

“We should all let Andy enjoy this a little bit,” the Serbian told a post-match news conference. “Don’t ask him questions about next season. He deserves to be in the moment and to take in what he achieved.

“His team as well – and his wife. She has to get some credit, guys. She gave birth this year. He has travelled all over the place. I know how it is with my wife, Jelena, what she had to go through as a mother back home with a little baby. So, Kim, well done. She’s maybe made even a bigger effort than Andy.”

Murray spoke of his friendship with Djokovic, whom he dethroned at the top of the world rankings earlier this month.

“When me and Novak speak with each other, we don’t talk about tennis, rankings, the matches we play against each other,” the Briton said. “Maybe when we finish playing, that might change. But we talk about each other’s families, children and stuff.

“We chatted at length this year quite a lot because obviously I became a father the first time. We spoke about the difficulty in keeping the sort of balance in your life with the family and the travelling and the work and everything.

“Both of us have been with our wives a long time, pretty much since we were like 18, 19 years old. We met each other’s wives together at that age, as well. We’ve known each other a very long time.

“Regardless of what some of you may think, we have a good relationship. It’s not always easy when you’re playing on court in the biggest matches with a lot at stake, but we’ve always got on well with each other, each other’s teams and families,” he added.

The 29-year-old Scot said the pair has produced better matches previously.

“It was obviously a good performance. You never beat a player as good as Novak if you don’t play well. I’m not suggesting I played a bad match. I just think the two of us have played better matches than that one,”Murray said.

It was their fifth meeting in an ATP final in 2016, a rivarly that is arguably the biggest in the sport currently, especially with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the end of their illustrious careers.

“It was obviously a big, big match against someone who I’ve played so many big matches against, my main rival really throughout my career. We played in all of the Slam finals, Olympics, here now and a match to finish the year No 1. We played in loads of Masters Series finals, as well, and are one week apart in age. It was just a huge match to finish the year,” Murray said.

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