ATP World Tour Final 2012: world No 1 Novak Djokovic seals season with defeat of Roger Federer in fitting finale For just the fourth time in the 43-year history of the Tour Finals, the top two in the world rankings were meeting in the final and they produced an enthralling clash. Federer had swept into the final with a dominant display against Andy Murray and picked up where he left off with a blistering start. He fizzed winners past Djokovic from all angles to take the first nine points of the match, breaking in the second game in the process. After absorbing that frenzied assault, Djokovic got on the scoreboard when he held serve in the fourth game. The Serb turned the match on its head when he converted a break point in the next game and he broke for a 5-4 lead when he unloaded a searing forehand winner on the run. But Federer staved off a set point in the next game and took advantage of that escape to break back for 5-5. Djokovic needed treatment after cutting his elbow while diving in vain to reach a Federer shot, but he regained his composure well enough to force a tie-break. The breaker included a candidate for the best point of the year as Djokovic, on set point, lunged to clip a diving Federer volley past his opponent, only for the Swiss to contort his body and fire a forehand winner past the Serb from an impossibly acute angle. But not even that could subdue Djokovic, who broke on the next point thanks to a Federer mistake before blazing a forehand winner to seal a quite brilliant set on his third set point. Federer needed an immediate response and he delivered in the opening game of the second set with a break at the fourth attempt. Djokovic eventually wore Federer down, saving two set points before breaking back to level at 5-5. He was coming for Federer and delivered the knockout blow with a sublime backhand winner to seal the victory on his first match point. Meanwhile, Andy Murray considers the two months until the start of the Australian Open to be as important a phase of the season as any other. He is about to go through his ferocious annual training block: a combination of physical boot camp and psychic reboot that gets him ready for his next grand slam tournament in January. So will this year's winter break, spent as usual in Florida, be any different to the norm? The answer is yes, for two main reasons. One of them stems from his US Open victory, and the other from the presence of Ivan Lendl in his player's box. The first point is that Murray can at last spend his Christmas enjoying the presence of a grand slam trophy on his sideboard. At least, if it ever arrives: the US Tennis Association has been noticeably tardy about sending his replica over. In the past, Murray has used every other winter break to rebuild his own motivation. It is harder to keep coming back, after falling short in his first 31 grand slams, than you might think. This year, the feeling will be very different. There must be every chance that the taste of glory - as reflected in the 15,000-odd well-wishers who thronged the streets of Dunblane in early September - will make him even hungrier for more majors. But there will also be a sense of recasting his goals.