Djokovic triumphs in Abu Dhabi

ABU DHABI: Novak Djokovic got his season off to a perfect start by defeating Nicolas Almagro 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-4 yesterday in the final of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition tournament.
Djokovic had looked in impressive early season form in Friday’s semifinals, destroying world No.5 David Ferrer in straight sets, while Almagro, a late replacement for the injured Rafael Nadal, was taken all the way by Janko Tipsarevic.
But it was the Spaniard who edged a close first set 7/4 on a tiebreaker, with Djokovic, the winner here last year, looking listless at times.
The world No.1 put that setback quickly behind him as he broke Almagro to start the second set, but he failed to turn that into a 2-0 lead as Almagro broke back to level in the next game.
A double-fault from the Spaniard though saw the Serb take back the advantage and this time he held firm to level the set scores.
The decider went with serve until the 10th game when Almagro served up three straight unforced errors to hand Djokovic the win.
The match for third place played earlier was won by Spain’s Ferrer as he defeated Tipsarevic of Serbia 7-6, 6-2 All four players will head out for Australia to complete their preparations for the Australian Open, which gets under way in Melbourne on Jan. 14 where Djokovic will be the defending champion.
Potro in Davis Cup spat
In Buenos Aires, Argentine No.1 Juan Martin del Potro said Friday he will not play Davis Cup this coming season.
Skipper Martin Jaite had said on Dec. 23 that Del Potro would not be facing Germany in his country’s World Group opener from Feb. 1-3 after receiving a text message from the player that he was available ten days after a Dec. 10 deadline.
Jaite insisted at the time that, “the doors of the team are always open to him.” However, Del Potro closed the door on a 2013 appearance, saying he had found out from the media he would not face Germany and acted accordingly.
“I found out from the media I was not playing — it is his decision,” the player insisted.
Argentine hopes now rest squarely on the shoulders of world No. 12 Juan Monaco as the four-times finalists look to see off the Germans in Buenos Aires.
“The decision was not easy — but I have important goals on the circuit. I want to win more Grand Slam tournaments and be world No1,” said world No.7 and former US Open champion Del Potro.
“I respect Martin Jaite and I wish him and the team all the best for the Davis Cup,” stressed the 24-year-old from Tandil.
“I can’t keep everyone happy,” he added.
Del Potro also took a swipe at his country’s tennis federation for not taking into account the players’ opinion when it came to the selection of Jaite as skipper — the pair have several times had public differences of opinion, quite apart from this latest contretemps.