Djokovic crushes Nadal to retain tour finals title

Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain in their their men's final singles tennis match at the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London, Nov 11, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

Sweat drips off Rafael Nadal of Spain's nose during his men's final singles tennis match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London, Nov 11, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

Immaculate tennis

Djokovic dominated virtually from start to finish and despite the 17,000 crowd willing Nadal to drag the match into a decider, he was powerless to fight off an opponent who peppered the lines with relentless accuracy.

The Serb, who ceded top spot to Nadal in October, began the final as if he had a point to prove.

Playing immaculate tennis, Djokovic raced into a 3-0 lead as Nadal struggled for timing.

Nadal finally began to get on the front foot and won the next three games as Djokovic's level dipped briefly.

Djokovic edged in front again and broke serve with one of the points of the tournament, a spellbinding rally in which he sprinted across the baseline to produce an inch-perfect lob before stealing in to the net and winning a quickfire exchange of volleys before raising his fists to the crowd.

Having taken the opening set, some uncharacteristic errors from Nadal allowed Djokovic to seize complete control early in the second.

The world number two looked to be running away and moved in for the kill with some more break points at 2-4 but Nadal's pride dug him out of a deep hole.

Nadal saved a match point at 5-3 and another when he chased down a drop shot at 5-4, but Djokovic merely sucked in some air, blasted down his sixth ace and then clinched victory when Nadal sent a forehand just wide.