London, England – In the marquee match of the week thus far, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic outlasted third-ranked Andy Murray in round- robin action at the $7.125 million ATP World Tour Finals.
The Australian Open champion Djokovic came from behind to beat the U.S. Open and Olympic titlist Murray 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in a match of the highest quality Wednesday at The O2 Arena.
Djokovic prevailed in 2 hours, 34 minutes, as he tallied one more service break than Murray, who smacked nine aces in a losing effort on Day 3.
"The last two minutes of the match probably is what decided it," Murray said. "He broke from 15-40, and then I had 15-40 next game and didn't break. So that was the moment that decided the match."
Djokovic is now 4-3 against his good friend Murray this year and 10-7 in their career meetings. Murray upset Djokovic in September's U.S. Open final.
The Serbian Djokovic, who will finish as the year-end No. 1 for a second straight year, captured this elite eight-player event in Shanghai in 2008.
Also on Wednesday, fifth seed Tomas Berdych outlasted seventh-seeded Jo- Wilfried Tsonga 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 in 1 hour, 52 minutes. Both players swatted nine aces and the Czech Berdych broke Tsonga three times, compared to only one break for the French loser.
The former Wimbledon runner-up Berdych also topped the former Aussie Open runner-up Tsonga in a final in Stockholm and in a quarterfinal at the Shanghai Masters last month.
Tsonga was last year's Tour Finals runner-up to Roger Federer.
This week's four-player Group A features Djokovic (2-0), Murray (1-1), Berdych (1-1) and Tsonga (0-2), while Group B boasts Federer (1-0), David Ferrer (1-0), Juan Martin del Potro (0-1) and Janko Tipsarevic (0-1). The top-two players from each group will play in the semifinals on Sunday, and the winners will square off in the lucrative finale Monday in London.
Thursday's round-robin affairs will pit a second-seeded Federer against a fourth-seeded Ferrer and a sixth-seeded del Potro versus an eighth-seeded Tipsarevic. Federer is a six-time Tour Finals champion, including wins in the last two championship matches. Ferrer lost to Federer in the 2007 final in Shanghai. Del Potro was a Tour Finals runner-up in 2009.
The 2012 World Tour Finals champion can earn as much as $1.76 million.
It was announced Wednesday that this event will remain in London through 2015. The stay in the British capital was originally set through 2013, but the deal has been extended by two years.
The ATP Finals moved to London in 2009 and will now enjoy a seven-year stay at The O2.
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