Djokovic and Murray joust in London

In what is shaping up to be the new top rivalry in tennis, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray whacked the bounce out of the ball for three more grueling sets on Wednesday at the ATP finals.

Advantage, Djokovic.

The top-ranked Serb got the big break when he needed it late in the third set and held off Murray 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 at the O2 Arena.

“Another great match. Another great performance from both of us,” said Djokovic, who has known Murray since they were 11 years old.

“I didn’t expect anything less, other than a tough match that went down the wire and was decided in the last point.”

“Another great match. Another great performance from both of us” Novak Djokovic

Despite the win, Djokovic still hasn’t advanced to the semifinals at the season-ending tournament for the top eight players in the world.

In the late Group B match, Tomas Berdych beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5, 3-6, 6-1,
keeping all four players alive in the tournament..

Djokovic is now 4-3 up against Murray in 2012, with his biggest win coming in a five-setter in the Australian Open semifinals. But Murray had won two of the previous three, including in the semifinals of the Olympics and in the U.S. Open final – another five-setter.

Overall, Djokovic now leads the third-ranked Murray 10-7 in head-to-head meetings.

“I think both of us probably see each other’s games pretty well. Especially this year, because we’ve played so much,” Murray said.

“But the one thing I would say is, this year I think both of us probably have seen things in each other’s games probably improve, and that’s why there’s a lot of long rallies, and the matches are incredibly tight.”

Murray looked unbeatable at the start on Wednesday, breaking Djokovic in the first game and losing only three points on his serve in the first set.

“I don’t think I played bad in the first set. It was him playing really well, serving extremely well,” Djokovic said.

“He lost only couple of points on his first serve throughout the whole set. So that says enough about his quality.”

But Djokovic was able to convert break chances in each of the next two sets, and then for a third time at 5-5 in the final set to serve out the match.