Second seed Novak Djokovic beat seventh-seeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro 7-5, 6-3 in the opening match of the Tennis Masters Cup on Sunday.
Djokovic, who broke del Potro's serve to win final game of the first set, delivered a string of aces in the final three games of the second set to wrap up his triumph.
The victory is Djokovic's first at the Masters Cup after the Serb lost all three round robin matches in his debut in 2007.
The 21-year-old was in command through most of the 117-minute clash with del Potro, the youngest player in the field at age 20. Djokovic broke in the fourth game to lead 3-1 and had the opportunity to serve out the first set at 5-3. Del Potro hit back to level at 5-5, but could not keep Djokovic at bay any longer as the Belgrade native broke once more in the 12th game to take a one set 7-5 lead.
Del Potro, a winner of four ATP titles this season, earned an early break of serve in the second set. But it was short-lived as Djokovic immediately leveled at 2-2 before going on to break serve for a fourth time to lead 5-3 and close out his second career victory over del Potro.
World number one Rafael Nadal pulled out of the tournament due to injury, leaving Roger Federer the tournament's top seed as he seeks to become only the third player to win five season-ender victories.
Source: Xinhua
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