ATP World Tour Finals 2013 Results: Day 8 Score, Highlights and Recap

The ATP World Tour Finals ended with a matchup of the two best players in the world, and Novak Djokovic was able to come out on top with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Rafael Nadal.    

This is the second win in a row at this prestigious tournament for Djokovic, who now has three year-end championships in his career. It is his seventh title of the year, and he extends his winning streak to 17 matches dating back to the U.S. Open finals.

Nadal is still yet to win at this event and has lost in his two final appearances.

Still, the story coming into this match was the rivalry and overall talent of these two stars. As Rachel Wyse of Sky Sports notes, the 39 battles between them is a record:

Nadal held the edge 22-16 overall, but the two were completely even in finals with each winning nine times against each other. This advantage now goes to Djokovic after winning for a 10th time against his biggest rival.

Those watching were treated to an excellent battle right from the start. The first set was all about long runs as both sides tried to steal the momentum.

After Djokovic went up 3-0 with some nearly flawless play early on, Nadal came right back with three straight wins to tie things up.

However, the Serbian took advantage in the first set with some incredible finishes on long points. After defending against a possible winner across the court, he came through with a shot that earned high praise from Ben Rothenberg of The New York Times:

Here is a look at the impressive point that has everyone talking:

Djokovic eventually closed out the set not too much longer:

While Nadal was looking to turn things around in the second set, it was no easy task as his opponent kept up the great defense:

After Djokovic went up 3-1 in the second set, Nadal fought hard to stay competitive at 4-3. However, the Spaniard simply made too many errors to stay competitive, as TennisTV points out:

Nadal finished with 23 unforced errors, along with four double faults and no aces.

A hold in the ninth game kept him alive in the second set, but Djokovic eventually served for the championship and won the final set 6-4:

This entire tournament featured few upsets as the top two seeds made an undefeated run to the finals. Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka had impressive showings to reach the semifinals, but they were unable to advance past that point.

However, Djokovic was able to come through in a big way against the No. 1 seed to help end his 2013 season on a high note. Still, Nadal ended with a fine year himself with an incredible 10 titles, including two Grand Slams. 

Considering the amount of skill on both sides, you can expect many more excellent battles between the two as both continue to compete at a high level for years to come.  

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