ATP Finals 2020 - Why Novak Djokovic will be wary despite perfect start in London

It’s fair to say that 2020 has been a strange old year for everyone across the globe - but Novak Djokovic will feel his has been particularly weird.

He’s seen some major highs as well as some humbling lows and will now be aiming for one last peak as he looks to sign off his overall season in style.

This was the old cliché of a David versus Goliath match in more ways than one. Yes, Diego Schwartzman may be one of the tour’s smaller players, but he was also a debutant outsider ranked as the lowest performer at this tournament. He was always going to be up against it on an indoor hardcourt surface that also favoured the number one player on the planet.

And so it proved to be. After an early blip Djokovic ran riot. There was no fairytale here for Schwartzman. He was soundly beaten as Djokovic improved his record to 37-14 at the ATP finals tournament.

It was very much expected and this was a strong start, but bigger challenges lie ahead in the days to come if Djokovic is to equal Roger Federer’s record haul of six titles at this event.

He knows a near immaculate opener doesn’t guarantee anything. He has triumphed in 12 straight opening matches at this tournament, but hasn’t lifted the trophy since a four-year winning streak ended in 2015.

Just take this past 12 months as a case in point. Brilliant starts don't always pay off as you'd hope. The Serb’s 2020 kicked off with ATP Cup and Australian Open glory. He reclaimed the world number one spot and also lifted the trophy in Dubai in February as part of an 18-match perfect run before the pandemic halted his charge.

Tournaments fell off the schedule and although he insisted his intentions were pure, the ill-fated Adria Tour he organised to fill a gap left him defending his reputation. After so much positive media in the first few months of the year, this was a tough one to take, particularly for a man who can't quite accept his place as many people's villain to the much-loved heroes of Rafael Nadal and Federer.

The ATP tour eventually continued in August with the Cincinnati Masters. Djokovic duly won that to maintain his winning streak and with Federer out injured and defending US Open champion, Nadal deciding not to travel, another major at Flushing Meadow seemed inevitable. However, the Serb’s winning run came unstuck in round four as he was sensationally disqualified for hitting a line judge with a stray ball.

Once again the Serb’s reputation quite rightly came under fire and what he had hoped would be an all-conquering 2020 was suddenly losing a lot of its shine.

Like a true champion though, his comeback from such a blow was a triumphant one. A title in Rome set him up perfectly for Roland Garros. He and his team spoke confidently about how the weather conditions at the tournament that had been moved from May suited him perfectly.

He was on a collision course to meet the King of Clay, Nadal in the final. But it didn’t go as his coach Goran Ivanisevic and many pundits were confidently predicting. Nadal destroyed him, handing the Serb a real lesson in Clay court tennis.

A year that had promised so much was now in danger of turning into something of a missed opportunity for a man who had clearly been the world’s best player for a huge chunk of it.

Talk of going unbeaten had been halted in dramatic style quite literally by his own hand, while his bid to close on Nadal and Federer on the all-time Slam list had ended up as a bit of a disaster. Yes, he added another Australian crown, but the pandemic denied him a shot at Wimbledon, while he blew a big chance at the US with his biggest rivals not involved. The defeat at the French not only meant he failed to close the gap further in the ‘big three race’ but it also saw Nadal move three majors clear of him and equal Federer’s record of 20.

Djokovic retreated with a focus on ensuring he ended the year as No.1 but a surprise trip to Vienna instead of the Paris Masters ended in a sensational 6-2 6-1 quarter final loss to Lorenzo Sonego.

He played down that low and got a pre-tournament boost with the news Nadal could not catch him in the rankings. He ends the year as the world number one for a record-equalling sixth time, but he could be forgiven for thinking what might have been.

It could have been another stand-out year on an already glittering CV, but he won’t hit the heights of 2011 and 2015. That’s the trouble with being in the GOAT race. Success that your average champion would dine out on doesn’t quite satisfy the hunger, particularly when your main rivals haven’t competed as often.

Djokovic and his camp will probably feel his form over the season deserves a winning finale as he looks to add a fifth title to his 2020 haul and further improve an impressive 40-3 match record.

He’s made a good start, but if this week proves to be anything like a microcosm of his season, he will be acutely aware that the ride could yet have a few bumps in the road he needs to navigate if he’s to finish with the flourish he desires.