Say what you will about the integrity of it, but Novak Djokovic’s performance—or lack thereof—against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in round-robin player is the reason why he is in the Masters Cup title match.

Already 2-0 and assured of a semifinal berth by the time he faced Tsonga, Djokovic did not need a win in order to advance. Nonetheless, he played like he did…at least for the first two sets. After failing to close out the match is straight sets, losing the second 7-5, the Serb pretty much decided to throw in the towel and Tsonga took the third easily, 6-1. Despite the fact that it went tree sets, Djokovic played just one hour and 38 minutes of tennis and conserved energy in the process.

Like Djokovic, Andy Murray also took a 2-0 record into his round-robin finale against Roger Federer. But Murray—also already guaranteed a semifinal spot—never showed any signs of putting in a less-than-100-percent effort. He didn’t decide to bag it even when he lost the first set. He didn’t decide to bag it even after failing to serve out the second. He didn’t decide to bag it even when he went from a break up in the third to a break down. He didn’t even decide to bag it when he squandered a whopping seven match points as Federer served to stay in the match at 4-5. Murray never quit, and it paid off in the form of a three-set elimination of the world No. 2.

It did not, however, pay off in Murray’s attempt to win the Masters Cup title. While Djokovic spent just over an hour and a half on the court against Tsonga, Murray battled Federer for three hours and one minute.

Not surprisingly, it cost him dearly against Nikolay Davydenko in the semifinals. Murray would normally be a heavy favorite against the Russian, but not when he had less than 24 hours to recover from a three-hour slugfest. The Scot looked tired right from the start, but he hung in there until 5-5 in the first set. That’s when Davydenko seized a crucial break and he promptly served out the opening frame of play for 7-5. After that, an exhausted Murray had no chance in the second. Davydenko raced to a 6-2 victory to close the book on his opponent’s breakout 2008 campaign.

Djokovic, on the other hand, went into his semifinal clash against Gilles Simon with a full tank of gas…. And he needed every drop. The relentless Frenchmen gave Djokovic all he could handle for two hours and 50 minutes before succumbing 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Think Djokovic would have been able to come back from a set down if he had played for three hours and one minute against Tsonga (as Murray did against Federer)? No way.

No way could he have endured the kind of struggle that ensued after the first set. Simon took an injury timeout early in the second for a neck issue and that seemed to hand the momentum back to Djokovic. The Frenchman double-faulted to donate break of serve to his opponent at 2-1 and Djokovic never looked back. Although he squandered more break chances to seize an insurmountable lead in the second set, Djokovic held serve comfortably on a consistent basis and he closed out the set in routine fashion at 5-3.

The No. 3 player in the world also jumped out to a fast start in the decider, breaking for a 2-1 lead as rare errors crept into Simon’s game. However, it was soon Djokovic’s turn to endure physical problems, cramping up midway through the third. Certainly the cramping would have occurred sooner had Djokovic refused to save himself against Tsonga. Despite receiving treatment for the cramps and looking completely exhausted, he consolidated the early break (and had chances for another break) until serving for the match at 5-4. At 30-40, Djokovic threw in a wild double-fault to bring Simon even. With the world No. 9 now seemingly in control, the twins and turns continued. Djokovic took control from the baseline to break right back and he successfully served it out at 6-5 to finish off the relentless Frenchman. He did it in appropriate fashion, too, with yet another exquisite drop-shot.

“Final is something special,” Djokovic said. “Every player has a motive more to do well and to win the title. I didn’t win a title for a long time already, since Rome, so I would like to end up my season in a good way.”

He has a chance to end his season in the best possible way—with a Masters Cup title—thanks to conserving himself in round-robin play. Some may call it “tanking,” others may call it being smart. Whatever it was, it’s the reason Djokovic is in the final and the reason Murray is going home. Murray should be commended for his extraordinary effort in a match he didn’t have to win, but it’s without question the reason he bowed out so easily to Davydenko.

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