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Anticlimax and Silver Linings in London

Nov 17th 2014

Novak Djokovic was irritated. Never mind the fact that he had just won into his third straight final at the World Tour Finals. He was short. He rolled his eyes up and down their sockets. He questioned the questions. Every sub-standard query was punctuated by the best tennis player in the world with a deep, chesty exhale.

No.  There was nothing.” He finally cracked. “It's just a dot.”

Novak Djokovic

You couldn't blame him for the exasperation. He was, after all, being asked about the solitary mark he had left on the screen of the camera thrust in front of players to sign after victories. A literal dot.

He was asked once, twice, three times about this dot. Such is the world of tennis in 2014, when few actions from the world No. 1 are dismissed without thorough review. Almost everything must be scrutinized, analyzed, x-rayed for hidden clues and information, even when they really are “just a dot.”

But apparently not everything. If the eyes were as sharp towards the end of Roger Federer's subsequent match as they were when Djokovic's pen briefly met the screen, most would have already realized that something was amiss.

From 5-5 in the final-set tiebreak of the all-Swiss battle, after a long match filled with dynamic movement and three scuppered match points, the second-best player in the world froze up. After an entire year of practice in 2013's injury-riddled season, he was able to slip quite innocuously into back preservation mode as the leap on his serve softened and his back remained stiffly upright on every stroke.

Federer trudged on, but soon he could hide it no more. Up 7-6, one point away from another steal of a victory, his resistance crumbled and his face creased and contorted in abject pain. Despite struggling by with back woes for an entire year, this was the clearest omission that something was wrong.

A slick volley sealed Wawrinka's fate, but as Federer limped to the net to meet his fallen countryman, his inability to celebrate was wrongly interpreted as a sign of respect to his friend. There was already something wrong, but few saw.

After leaving the venue well into the early hours of the next morning, he was due back hours later. Fans dressed in red and draped in Swiss flags engulfed the practice courts, but he never showed. The rumors swirled, but the writing was written indelibly on the wall. It was all over.

I was feeling great, you know, until yesterday's tiebreaker.  I felt all of a sudden the back was feeling funny,” Federer said.

I tried to have treatment on it, medication on it, just tried to turn around as quick as possible really, but didn't really feel that much of an improvement overnight.”

Roger Federer

Behind the scenes, there was a frantic rush to fill the gaping hole of the final. Andy Murray was fully immersed in a session of Mario Kart, kicking back and enjoying his second day of emancipation from the 2014 season, when his phone rang. He answered the call like a superhero, flying out of his seat and single-mindedly driving himself to the scene of the crime to save the day. After hanging up his rackets and, after his final performance, perhaps even smashing them to pieces, he arrived to compete in two exhibition matches.

As this all unfolded, a gloomy Djokovic arrived in press. He had just won his third straight World Tour Finals two rounds after confirming himself as year-end No. 1, but his face closer resembled a player who had crashed at the first hurdle. This was not how he wanted to win.

It's very awkward situation to talk about it, to be honest, today,” he sighed. “You never like to win, especially these big matches against big rivals, with the retirement.  But that's the way it is.”

His disappointment was so palpable and the sorrowful deep breaths made a hasty return as the champion navigated the questions in front of him. At one point, he went as far as saying he didn't even feel comfortable holding his trophy.

Djokovic's awkwardness towards an achievement still golden will undoubtedly wane, but it seemed a snugly fitting climax to a tournament that has failed miserably to deliver the spectacle it promised. After a slew of listless, comically one-sided straight-set matches, Djokovic's walkover win meant every single match contested at the 2014 World Tour Finals was captured by the higher-ranked player.

No suspense, no upsets, no final, and yet the crowds still came in their hundreds of thousands and somehow seemed to enjoy. At a time when the future of the ATP World Tour Finals is being negotiated and other host cities across the world are attempting to put a foot in the door, this year's edition may well be the London World Tour Finals' most convincing argument for an extension yet.