Novak Djokovic captured his third Grand Slam title of the year by beating Roger Federer in four sets on Sunday at the U.S. Open. Djokovic had previously triumphed at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in addition to a runner-up showing at Roland Garros.
Once again it took Novak Djokovic to stop a red-hot Roger Federer.
In a second consecutive Grand Slam final between the top two players in the world, Djokovic got the best of Roger Federer 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday night at the U.S. Open. The Serb committed 17 fewer unforced errors than his opponent (37 to 54) and he saved a whopping 19 of 23 break points before prevailing in three hours and 20 minutes.
Not unlike at Wimbledon, where Federer also lost to Djokovic in a four-set title match, the Swiss rolled through his first six matches with hardly any trouble. At the All-England Club he had dropped only one set to Sam Groth. In New York, Federer had not lost a set and had been broken only once by Philipp Kohlschreiber. Fresh off a run to the Cincinnati title that included dominance of both Djokovic and Andy Murray, the 34-year-old was without question playing some of the best tennis of his illustrious career.
But in best-of-five situation in a major championship match, Djokovic came up with the goods as he often seems to do. The world No. 1 sent a message early by breaking twice in the first set. Federer earned one break of his own, but Djokovic sealed the deal with a clutch hold at 5-4.
As the break-point numbers suggest, Federer had his chances. The 17-time Grand Slam champion seized one at the tail end of the second set, breaking at 6-5 to level the match with a punishing cross-court backhand that Djokovic could not handle.
A crucial third set featured arguably the final turning point with Djokovic serving down 3-4. Having already squandered a break lead, the top seed had to fight off a break point to avoid a 5-3 deficit. After doing just that, Djokovic promptly capitalized on an opportunity of his own to scalp the Federer serve at 4-4. That allowed Djokovic to serve out set three at 5-4, capping off a sudden turnaround.
Federer showed brief signs of making an improbable comeback when he regained one of two breaks at 5-2 in the fourth. After an easy hold to stay alive, he even powered his way to a 15-40 opening on Djokovic’s second attempt to serve for the title. But Djokovic slammed the door, winning four consecutive points to finish the job.
“Of course there is a just a letdown and disappointment that I couldn’t push it 5-all,” Federer lamented. “And then who knows what happens?”
A fifth set, perhaps? Federer’s sixth U.S. Open title? We will never know, but what is certain is that the crowd wanted to see all of that transpire. Raucous from start to finish after finally getting what they came to see following a three-hour rain delay, the fans were 100 percent behind Federer and not afraid to show it–even cheering Djokovic errors on more than a few occasions.
“They were unbelievable tonight,” the former world No. 1 said. “Were they better than ever? Possibly. Was it louder than ever? Maybe. It was unreal…. To receive the crowd support that I did receive. I don’t consider that normal.”
What is not normal is the season Djokovic is enjoying, but three out of four majors is not unprecedented. He first did it in 2011 and has now done it again with triumphs at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open. Djokovic came within one match of the calendar-year Grand Slam, as he fell only to Stan Wawrinka in the Roland Garros final.
“It’s been an incredible season,” the 10-time major champion assessed. “I’m very fortunate to experience a great success this year. The season is not over, but the Grand Slam is over. The biggest tournaments that I have played this year, I won three out of four. It’s more than I could ask for, definitely.”
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Not a bad season overall for Djokovic I would say :).
I didn’t him to win… but than again, I didn’t want Fed to win either so I’m just sour grapes about it.
(But congrats to all Novak fans anyways)
yep…welcome to the club… 🙂
I for one could not be happy about Novak wining mainly because I was hoping that if Fed stopped him now Novak would become beatable and less self-confident…Fed would prove to Rafa that even after a major slump one can get back to wining slams…but this match only proved that Novak remains the man to beat and if Rafa does not get to his best level Novak will just be unstoppable and will easily reach ‘Rafa’s records…
Djokovic is not even pushed these days, that’s how good he’s become.
It’s up to the others to catch up.
Inevitably he’s going to slacken his output out of lack of competitiveness so that’s when (Rafa) others will have the chance to surprise him.
Right now is hard to think of anyone beating him but things in sports, as you know, can change very fast and it’s all about the present; he (Djokovic) already has to defend his points for next season…. tennis, we’ve said it many times, must be one of the most mentally demanding games (tell that to Rafa).
Broken when serving for the title and down 15-40 when serving it out in the last game.
I think that qualified as being pushed.
For nny: I don’t see where I mocked your picking Nole. Maybe I did somewhere. I did get a chuckle when you accused someone of having it both ways with their pick before ending your post by saying you’d sleep on it, that’s all. Maybe that was it.
My bad obviously.
Regardless, I’d like to sincerely apologize to you if I went too far with you as you were obviously offended.
I’ll try to avoid any trash talk with you from now on.
Please no hard feelings.
hawkeye,
Since you reached out, I thought you deserved a response. It’s true that I did tell Mark he was trying to have it both ways when he made his pick. However, I also followed it up with another post telling him that I did not mean to criticize him for it. So he understood where I was coming from. Many were struggling with their prediction for this final.
In my case, when I made my initial prediction of Novak in four or fives sets then you posted a hashtag response. I am not going to rewrite it here. You added an extra letter in the middle for emphasis. I noticed that you did not do that to anyone else who picked Novak. So I did feel hurt and embarrassed. I ended up making the mistake of over thinking it after the fact. I know now that I need to go with my initial gut feeling and stick with it. But can you honestly say that if Fed had won, then you wouldn’t have tried to gloat in my face over it after the fact?
I have no problem with you or anyone else who picked Fed. It was not an unreasonable prediction, given how well he was playing. He looked better than he did at Wimbledon. It was easier for him to predict Novak winning at Wimbledon. This time was much harder. I think others here were also having a tough time and putting in caveats and “ifs”, “ands” and “buts”. But in the end, it’s all supposed to be in good spirits and fun. It’s not the end of the world if anyone is wrong.
You know that it’s hard enough being a Rafa fan here and being able to say positive things about other players. It’s gotten better recently, but it can still be challenging. We have been on the same side where that is concerned. I may not like certain attitudes and actions of both Fed and Novak, but I really do respect them as players. Fed is still in there trying to win a slam and pushing himself to play even better. Novak has been able to consistently bring his best when it counts the most. I have been quite impressed by Novak this year. Of course, I wish it was Rafa who was fighting in slam finals. I can only hope that he comes back strong next year. But for now, we have been fortunate to watch two players who came out and gave it their all. So in the end, we are all winners.
I accept your apology and thank you for reaching out to me.
Thanks nny.
From SI’s Jon Wertheim:
“The notion that (Rafa) needs a new coach is as simplistic as it is unlikely to happen. You know what he could use: a sports psychologist to change his risk-reward ratio. Too often Nadal is playing with caution, positioning himself deep in the court, playing passively—especially on the forehand side, especially deep in matches.”
Yup.
#NotRocketScience
We are often in such awe watching the greats beat the hell out of each other for hours on end that sometimes it’s easy to overlook the enormous mental and emotional demands that it entails. As Shireling reminds us, no other sport demands quite so much.
Exactly despite its flaws from a perfectionists POV, it was still a very good match played at the very highest for many many points.
Incredible athleticism and skill.
hawkeye63 says:
September 14, 2015 at 12:49 pm
“Broken when serving for the title and down 15-40 when serving it out in the last game.
I think that qualified as being pushed.”
It’s true that I posted this comment without having seen the match, it’s always closer than the score suggests and Fed had plenty of break opportunities. Still, it didn’t go to 5 sets.
To quote a fan from another forum:
“What’s so annoying though is that the highest level of tennis played thus far this year has been by Federer at Wimby, Cincy, and the USO (three or four matches in particular starting with that Murray SF) yet he didn’t win a slam. I don’t think I have seen that very often on the ATP tour if ever. He really can’t catch a break (no pun intended) in these finals which brings up a larger point that the defensive and safe tennis get Nadal and Djoko play allow them to be less dependent on court conditions because the court speeds are in their favor anyway. They will play the same way every time and everyone else has to play to beat them meaning they have to go for their shots and hope the conditions allow for it.”
I think the result was set the moment two things came together: 1) The speed of Arthur Ashe, which even the players admit (ask Andy Murray after his loss) is slower than Armstrong, which, by itself is a medium paced court.
2) The weather. The heat of the past couple of weeks was helping in speeding the conditions up a bit, even on Ashe. Usually, if Roger is attacking well during the entire tournament he carries that into the Final. But the moment there was a rain delay, he knew the conditions were going against him. It’s sad because there was a time when you couldn’t dream of defenders winning so much on HC and grass and now it’s like the new normal. Still, Roger’s overall play was excellent. It’s extremely difficult to commit to an attacking strategy, especially on important points and that was only amplified today. I don’t think Djokovic has figured out the SABR per se. In fact, Roger was also reading his serve extremely well unlike at Wimbledon. But that first strike on his FH side, and committed offense at the net let him down.
I hope he comes out swinging freely next year. There’s really nothing quite like watching him use his complete arsenal and cover the entire geometry of the Court.
I’ve been hearing a lot of fans say they’ll quit watching tennis if Roger goes and I bet that’s a big chunk of fanbase right there. Up to the organizers now but that crowd at the USO last night, is only the tip of the iceberg.
Nah, that particular fan talked as if Fed had never ever played in rainy weather! Its an insult to Fed, that his fans think that Fed couldnt win when the conditions didnt favor him. Dont forget, Fed swept up almost any event he played back during 2005-2006 except on clay because of Nadal. Dont tell me there’re no rain, no slow surfaces back then. Its further insult to the great Roger Federer that his fans think he can only win on quick surfaces.
Fans have to be rational, Fed has past his prime and his best days are behind him now. Dont blame the weather, the court conditions or his opponents’ play now for his losses. Even if they quicken the courts to 1990s standard, Im also not sure Fed will be winning the big prizes when there may be another group of players troubling him, those with great athletism, big serves and big powerful FH and groundsrrokes, think Marin Cilic and Delpro.
Fed already had his days under the sun, benefiting from the initial slowing of surfaces back during 2002 and he happened to adapt better than his fellow peers the likes of Safin, Hewitt, Nalby. Safin and Hewitt won the USO on quicker surfaces than Fed had done. He had already benefitted from the playing conditions back then, time for others to do the same now.
All the talk about Serena and Nole 2.1 had a much better GS year. He actually had competition that was stronger and bigger than him at certain times. He actually had to play several top 15 players. The women’s game is tragic when 2 old Italians make the final. The men’s game is not terribly strong and Nole is above everybody. Don’t be surprised to see a Nole Slam or a Calendar Slam next year. Hello to all the Kool-Aid drinkers. 4-23
it might be…but then again, it might not…uncertainty rules…
Serena was the favorite to win USO…and she failed…who would think so…and who was her ultimate conqueror: Roberta…Roberta who??…
BTW, Novak had no competition at this USO…except for Fed in the finals he faced multiple nobodies…with Cilic with his current form, who was just a confidence boost for Nole, the Serb really has had an easy pass to the finals…it was just meant to be…
Tennisfan just goes on about the same old we’ve been reading for years from Fed fans… As if his style is the way tennis ought to be plaid ant the rest is apocryphal…He lost, do u get it?
Amen! I am really tired of hearing the same old, same old dragged out over and over by disgruntled Fed fans. I think in another post even the mono thing was dragged up for the umpteenth time. Just when I thought we were done with that. Yet Fed fans have the nerve to say that Rafa fans make excuses? Please!
Yeah, it was the weather, how about the roof, hey how about the lights? How about the three hour delay? Oh, it must have been something because Fed lost!
Also, the disrespect for Novak and his style of play, along with Rafa and let’s throw in Murray, is just beyond the pale. “Defensive” and “safe” tennis from Rafa and Novak? In what universe? Is that supposed to be a joke? Or just sour grapes?
Let’s be real here. Fed had what, 23 break opportunities in the match? How many did he convert? Let Fed fans think about that one. So did Novak fight off all those break points with defensive, safe tennis?
The player who has played best this year is the one who has three slam titles, who won I don’t know how many Masters titles this year, who has maybe the biggest lead in the rankings and who is already guaranteed to end the year at #1 again. Consistency and raising one’s level of play when it counts the most, when the match is on the line, those are the qualities that describe the best player. In 2010 and 2013 it was Rafa.
Fed fans need to deal with it. They should be happy that he is still playing and able to get to slam finals.
I wanted to make another comment about this kind of dismissive attitude towards players who defend well. Novak’s stellar defense had a lot to do with him winning the match. That was a big reason why Fed couldn’t convert most of his break chances. It’s true that he missed some shots that he should have made. But Novak made sure that the ball was always coming back one more time, forcing Fed to hit another shot and another. Novak also got his racket on some of Fed’s serves that would have been aces against any other player.
Great defense can win matches. I don’t know why that concept still seems foreign to Fed fans. It’s not a bad thing to play great defense. I also don’t think that style of play is “safe”, whatever that means. Novak took chances, many times with his second serves when he wasn’t getting his first serves in. I was watching the scoreboard with the speeds and he was hitting some at 104 or 105 mph. That certainly helped him in tough situations.
In no way do I agree that Fed is the one who’s played the best this year. What about when he was knocked out in the second round of the AO? What about getting knocked out in the quarterfinals of RG? It’s not like Fed’s been winning titles left and right this year. He did get the better of Novak in Cincy, on a lightning fast court that suits his game in a best of three set match. But at Wimbledon or the USO in a best of five set match, Fed isn’t going to be able to take out Novak at this stage of his career.
Fed’s time has passed. He did well to get to two slam finals. But this time is for Rafa, Novak and Murray and even Stan and other young players.
Nothing unexpected about this result. Now that US open is over I can get some sleep.
Yes to that…… I can’t remember when I last missed so many consecutive nights sleep in order to watch a game of tennis!
What is so strange is that neither my No.1 nor my runner up favourites were involved yet I felt compelled to stay up night after night. Guess it was the feeling this USO was make or break for Federer. I felt a similar nostalgia watching Fish and Hewitt making their farewell appearances.
NNY: His fans have always taken their cue from Fed himself. He was the person who so readily dissed his opponents: who could never acknowledge he had been fairly and squarely beaten: closely followed by the Federazzi commentators, pundits et al.
this
ed,
Yes you are correct. Well said.
…you never know, I wouldn’t completely rule out the possibility of Fed winning another slam. Djokovic is also human and could have a bad day.
As for Nadal, let’s wait and see how he starts the season – I hope the Davis Cup gives him a boost of confidence or whatever it is he needs to come back.
NNY, you’re completely right in what you say above but I would go further, I would say that Fed plays defensive tennis also very well – you defend your side of the net in many ways and Fed’s court coverage has been second to none. Also, when he smells blood he’s able to reach any ball as well as any.
Nadal has been by far the player who’s more able to change momentum during a game, he passes from tentative to aggressive in a flash but, of course, this is always going to be dismissed by some.
This defensive Vs attacking argument is totally void in my opinion. Just grasping at straws.
For example, the same is said about Italian football (soccer) but they always go quickest to the goal if the situation demands it. I’m sure you can find many analogies in other sports. The only disciplines that penalise total passiveness are contact sports such as martial arts or boxing (I think).
What counts at the end is to get the win because a week later nobody really cares how you got it.
TennisFan, Nadal DOES NOT play safe tennis. He plays risky tennis going close to the lines all the time.
exactly…Rafa always goes for the corners/lines thus more UEs this year…I thought sometimes if he was playing safer on some points he would have won it…the only thing is that now that his confidence is low he tends to go to “the shell” camping behind the baseline and making his game more defensive which allows his opponents to attack more consistently…
Rafa’s tennis has always been pure combination of offense and defense and the value of his game is exactly in that quick transition that he has been able to employ during the match…except for Novak and maybe Andy to some extent, nobody is able to do it…
I agree about Rafa’s game. I never understood this business about defensive tennis being somehow inferior or lacking. As Shireling said above, Fed also can play defensive tennis. Something his fans seem to conveniently ignore. He can play baseline tennis, staying back and using his forehand and backhand to win rallies. It’s not as tough he is a S&V player. They have become almost extinct.
Rafa has been brilliant with transitioning from offense to defense. I think Novak does that effectively, too.
JMac has called Borg a backboarder. That’s another name for someone who can stand at the baseline and keep getting the ball back with great defense. In his day, there was no one better than Borg. But JMac did not use that word in a negative way. He was paying tribute to Borg’s incredible skill..
Honestly, this faux argument from Fed fans is really just more sour grapes when their guy doesn’t win.
When Nadal and Djokovic play each other I don’t see any safe tennis from either of them. Federer can’t cope with not being fed balls so that he can hit winners and look imperious that’s why he has trouble with Rafa, Novak and Andy.
….and how would you define this ridiculously heralded SABR, “defensive” or “attacking”?
I’ll respond to the other posts later. But SABR is about as attacking as anything can get. Getting to the service line mid-serve with absolutely no time to react to it and hitting a half volley off it? It’s ridiculous. I can’t even contemplate the enormity of the skill involved here. It’s what makes him the best player I’ve ever seen. He’s doing three or four things in a split second. Unreal. Also, Nadal doesn’t play offensive tennis. I have to laugh at the very suggestion but I’ll address it when I’m free.
..but according to BB, players of his era did do that too. Were they better players than the players today? I dont see how Fed is any better than those players who were also doing it in the past era. Fed didnt have much success doing it anyway, he still couldnt beat Novak at a slam!
No one in BB’s era that I know has done it and that too with Roger’s frequency. In fact, that half volley was popularized by Agassi as a shot so I highly doubt BB is being honest in his assessment.
I posted a link yesterday showing a player doing it against Becker LOL.
Read what I wrote again. What yo posted was a freak one-off at best. Roger is using it as a full-time strategy. Like I said, the best ever. 🙂
I dont see why its the best ever when he hardly had much success, being lobbed by Novak in the final.
Fed has won only 40% points by his so called SABR. It is not really a gimmick worth risking.
“What yo posted was a freak one-off at best.”
…. this statement is backed up by…. biased opinion.
But agreed. Rafa is the best ever.
And, no, he’s employed it in a few matches since Cincy.
Will likely be done with this gimmicky fad (which has been fiun while it lasted) by end of year once the novelty wears off.
Federazzi are hilarious.
Sorry, but I find it a bit bush league. I know that the ESPN commies said it was legit, but I don’t like it. BB said how it would have been handled back in his day. They would have gone right at Fed to get him to back off.
I am sure that Fed and his fans consider it the ultimate attacking ploy, but I don’t like it. With all the blathering on about it all week by the ESPN commies, it’s not like that shot really did much for Fed in the match. Also, Novak countered the tactic with some great lobs.
^^^ in a word, Sneaky,
After his US open win Djokovic has 16145 ATP ranking points an all-time record. I wonder how nobody even mentioned that.
I mentioned it when he first broke the record earlier this year.
nadline10 you must stop fooling others. Nadal only hit 30 winners vs Fognini in a 5 setter, that’s 6 winners per set hardly qualifies as aggressive tennis.
Djokovic had 24 forehand winners vs Nadal at French open this year and Nadal had 4.
64aces says:
September 15, 2015 at 3:04 pm
nadline10 you must stop fooling others. Nadal only hit 30 winners vs Fognini in a 5 setter, that’s 6 winners per set hardly qualifies as aggressive tennis.
What Nadal has been playing this season hardly counts even though he’s slowly improving.
I agree with Shireling. Let’s not pretend that Rafa has been anywhere near his best this year. So I think quoting stats as though they are actually representative of his game, is not accurate. He’s in a slump and everyone and his brother knows it.