World number one Novak Djokovic beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (4), 6-3 on Monday at the O2 Arena. He will face Andy Murray in the next match on Wednesday after the Briton won his opening group match 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 over Tomas Berdych on the opening day of the ATP World Tour Finals.
Djokovic was determined to get off to a good start after suffering a shock defeat in the second round of the Paris Masters. "All those balls were out of my reach, so I tried to dive," Djokovic said. "I don't usually dive that much. I don't usually spend that much (time at) the net as well."
Frenchman Tsonga put up stiff resistance in the first set with his power-packed serve and volleys and did not allow the Serb to run away with the match. After the first set was decided via a tiebreaker, Djokovic broke Tsonga's service twice in the second to ensure victory.
"To be quite honest, he was the better player throughout the first set," Djokovic said. "It was very important after the first set. Obviously I relaxed a little bit more, stepped into the court, played more aggressive, and it resulted with a straight-set win."
Djokovics' rival Murray also won his opening match against Berdych after losing the first set.
Now, both the winners, Djokovic and Murray, will face each other in the next match and that would be a treat for the audience. They have been in great form in the current year and have played some great matches. Murray's five set victory over Djokovic in the U.S. Open final is considered one of the greatest finals in the Grand Slam's history.
"When I'm playing Andy, I need to be ready for long rallies and a physically demanding match," Djokovic said. "So I'm going to have a day tomorrow to recover and get ready for next challenge."
The local hero Murray lost his first set against Berdych 3-6, but after that he picked up rhythm and beat him in next two sets 6-3, 6-4.
"Indoor matches -- when both of us, I thought, served pretty well, weren't losing too many points on our first serve -- it can hinge on a couple points here or there," Murray said.
Only the top eight players in the world are taking part in the season-ending tournament. Injured world number 4, Rafael Nadal, is not playing this year, and in his absence, world number 9, Janko Tipsarevic, has taken his place with the Serbian set to face defending champion Roger Federer on Tuesday.
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