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Serbia's Novak Djokovic serves the ball to Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych in their singles match...
Novak Djokovic turned on the style in front of Argentine soccer great Diego Maradona with a classy 6-3 6-3 victory over Czech Tomas Berdych at the ATP World Tour Finals on Monday.Maradona, still infamous in Britain for his "Hand of God" goal against England in the 1986 World Cup finals, caused a stir in the giant O2 Arena as he walked in to sit among Djokovic's entourage midway through the first set.
The 50-year-old, one of the greatest players to kick a ball, watched intently as Djokovic took Berdych apart with some razor-sharp tennis in his opening Group A match at the season-ending showpiece.
After clinching victory, Djokovic applauded Maradona who received a mixture of boos and cheers from the crowd and the 23-year-old world number three cheekily caught the mood with a reference to one of football's most controversial moments.
"Thanks for coming," Djokovic said on court. "It's a great honour having you around. When he came in during the middle of the first set, I wondered whether I should play with my legs or my hands!" The joke was not lost on the crowd who still remember the midfielder's first goal in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final.
Djokovic, who looked in fine touch as next week's Davis Cup final approaches, later explained the Maradona connection.
"Well, he loves tennis," Djokovic, a close friend of Chelsea's Serbian player Branislav Ivanovic, told reporters.
"One of the Argentine journalists told me he likes watching me play. So I sent him a shirt and racket. He got me a jersey in return with a signature.
"That's kind of the connection that we had in the past couple years. But this is the first time we met in person."
LUCKY CHARM
Maradona's presence certainly seemed to inspire Djokovic who completely outplayed an opponent whose form has vanished since reaching the Wimbledon final in July.
"Just to have him as a support is incredible honour and pleasure," Djokovic said. "He cannot learn from me, I can learn from him. He is much older and much more experienced.
"He's an image that is recognised all over the world. He's a big legend and it's been a big pleasure to meet him after many years exchanging gifts, shirts and rackets.
"It makes you proud of yourself that such important people in life come to watch you and support you and be there for hours and hours watching your match.
"Hopefully he's going to stay throughout the whole tournament and he can be my lucky charm."
Asked what Maradona was doing in London, Djokovic joked that he was his new coach. However, he does hope to play some football, and tennis, with the World Cup winner.
"We spoke about eventually him coming to practise and playing a little bit of tennis and football tomorrow," Djokovic said. "Hopefully he'll show me some skills."
"Maybe even working on some specifics, like how to play with hands, high balls," grinned Djokovic, imitating the moment that still haunts many England fans.
(Editing by John Mehaffey; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
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