Well, it’s come down to number 1 (Djokovic) and number 2 (Federer) in the year-end finals.

Some had hoped that del Potro would have come all the way back and challenge the top players.  However, Djokovic (and Murray, for that matter) had a good record against del Potro even when del Potro was at his best.

And for those fans, things seemed good when del Potro took the first set and got up a break, but Djokovic showed why he’s the number 1 player in the world, and came storming back, taking the match: 46, 63, 62.

In the late match, Murray was hoping to continue his win streak.  When Federer won Wimbledon, he tied up the head-to-head 8-all, but Murray took the Olympics a few weeks later, then beat him in Shanghai, to up the record 10-8 in his favor.

And, for a while, it looked good.  Murray had a break lead, and held.  But Federer, who started off the week struggling with his serve, eventually broke Murray late in the set, and forced a tiebreak.  At that point, Murray had a mini-break, but Federer fought to get it back, and eventually took the set, 7-5 in the tiebreak.  Murray seemed stunned by that result.

The two held serve early on, but with Murray up 40-0, he must have had flashbacks to Wimbledon.  Federer kept chipping at his serve, and eventually secured an early break to go up 2-1.  Much of Murray’s problems lie in playing like Federer: aggressive.  But Federer’s been playing that style all his life, while Murray would prefer to play longer, more passive points.  To play aggressive, for Murray, means going for shots he’s not used to going for.  When they land in, Murray is happy, but when he needs to go for the shots one  more time, he seems uncertain.  Federer is opting to slice a lot of backhands low, knowing the surface is conducive to slice, and Murray is netting an unusual number of backhands.

With the break, Federer’s confidence grows.  Murray chooses to play a bit more conservatively, but it’s too late, as Federer attacks the net.  Federer then secures another break, and closes the match, 76, 62.

Federer will play Djok0vic tomorrow, who seems to be playing pretty good tennis.  This is a nice way to end the championships with number 1 facing number 2.  Meanwhile Murray needs to re-evaluate how he got himself in this situation.