There may have been a stunner on the women’s side on Friday at the U.S. Open, but the men’s semifinals could not have been more straightforward.
And dominance by Roger Federer in the nightcap could not have been less surprising. Federer, who did not drop a set en route to the Cincinnati title last month and is doing the same so far in New York, clobbered fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 to reach his first final at this event since 2009.
The 34-year-old fired 10 aces while double-faulting only twice and he was not broken a single time. He finished with more winners than Wawrinka (29 to 25) despite committing almost half as many unforced errors (17 to 30).
“(I) didn’t play my best game,” Wawrinka lamented. “Didn’t serve well and everything. But basically it’s him; the way he’s playing. [Since] Wimbledon, he is starting already at the different level. He came back (in) Cincinnati at a completely different level. Here also. If [he keeps] this level, he’s going to be tough to beat.”
“I wasn’t quite sure if I was going to play this aggressive against Stan, because when he’s on he presents a very different challenge [from] all the players I have played thus far in this tournament,” Federer explained. “But now that I have been able to do it also against Stan definitely gives me confidence that maybe I can also do it against Novak (Djokovic) this way.”
It will be Federer vs. Djokovic on Sunday because the world No. 1 made extremely quick work of Marin Cilic in the first semifinal. Hobbled by a minor ankle injury, Cilic–the defending champion–bowed out in 6-0, 6-1, 6-2 blowout.
Djokovic faced only one break point and saved it easily early in the second set. The top-seeded Serb committed a mere 13 errors as he booked a spot in his fourth major final of the year (he is 2-1 in title matches, losing only to Wawrinka at the French Open).
“It felt great to be able to perform as well as I did today at this stage of a tournament, knowing that Marin carried that injury for last couple of matches,” Djokovic commented. “I didn’t allow that fact to distract me too much. I just wanted to concentrate on what I needed to do on the court and come out with the right intensity.
“All in all, it was from my side a very solid match and I take that as a confidence booster for the final.”
Get your popcorn ready for that final. No. 1 vs. No. 2–it doesn’t get any better.
[polldaddy poll=9072517]
Didn’t get to watch both SFs in full, fallen asleep halfway. What happened to Cilic?
I think Novak will win his 2nd USO title here as I think he’s more steady and consistent than Fed where his level of play is concerned. I think other than Rafa, only Novak knows how to exploit Fed’s weaknesses the best. As long as Novak serves well and returns well, Fed will have a hard time beating Novak. I vote for Novak in four sets.
hobbled. And Novak happened.
luckystar,
Novak said in his on court interview that Cilic was carrying an ankle injury and that he did well to come out and play. I didn’t realize that there was any injury. I thought it might have been the five setters he had to play.
Yes, Novak happened. He came out firing on all cylinders and that was it. The best match he’s played by far in this tournament. He had it all going, the ROS, the serve, the DTL backhand, forehand, everything. He was sharp.
I like your prediction. If you read on some of the topic threads, many have gotten on the Fed bandwagon. There’s no question that he is playing extremely well right now. But I do think that Novak is the one player who can neutralize Fed’s strengths.
I am going to sleep on it and make my final prediction tomorrow.
I think Cilic injured his ankle in one of his matches. I saw that he twisted it but at that time didnt look serious but after a five sets match I think that aggravated it. Too bad for him, was hoping he could put up a good show, pushed Novak even when not winning. Cilic is another injury prone guy.
So what happened in Wimbledon when he beat Murray like that? Did he use sabr or is that only since cincy?
Cincy.
I vote for Rafa in 3. Considering that Djoko has struggled against RBA and Feli while Federer has cruised through the draw without getting broken. Add to that fact that Roger has beaten Djoko in str sets at Cincy, he should be riding high on confidence.
Unless Roger’s confidence goes down owing to Djoko’s ROS, Roger should win this in straights with 1 TB
Rafa?
For a player like Novak, I think we simply cant predict his level in the final based on his earlier rounds. Didnt he go the distance against Anderson at Wimbledon? He then raised his level in the final that not even Fed could cope.
I think the USO court is not even as quick as grass at Wimbledon, and minus the windy conditions this year at NY, i think Novak will be more confident this year. He has the wily Boris Becker as his coach cum advisor, I think theyre working on or even have already worked out how to deal with Fed’s so called SABR.
Cincy is a BO3 and i feel anything longer than a straight two sets win(in a BO3), Novak would have the upper hand. Fed to get three sets out of a BO5 against Novak (or Rafa) is imo very tough if not impossible. Novak could simply grind and grind until Fed couldnt sustain his aggression (the USO2011 SF is an example when Novak lost the first two sets).
I couldnt help but think of Fed at AO2014, playing so well beating Tsonga and then Murray consecutively and had the commies saying Fed was playing better than ever, but once he faced Rafa in the SF, he was soundly beaten; not even had a single BP chance until the third set. The same thing happened at Wimbledon this year, Fed played incredible and hammered Murray left right and centre, and that had us all fooled that Fed would also beat Novak in the final. I am still amazed now at how well Novak could raise his level in the final at the slams, even on grass to beat Fed on Fed’s favorite surface.
I think Novak has turned into a monster now, maybe even a bigger monster than Fed and Rafa! Scary! Will the true Rafa please show up, if not there may not be any hope of anyone stopping this monster that is Novak.
I mean Novak now could dominate on all surfaces, something not even Fed could do! Rafa couldnt do that either; he dominated on clay and grass in 2008 and 2010 but was second on HCs those two years. Fed doninated on grass and HCs for years but couldnt dominate on clay, was second on clay to Rafa from 2005-2008. This Novak could just dominate anywhere including indoor HCs!
I was not fooled about Wimbledon. I picked Novak over Fed despite all of the hype that he was at his best and couldn’t lose.
I am Nadal fan, but I am rooting for Fed for 18. I dont want Nole to get 10. He doesn’t belong to Fedal tier
I am with you.
why doesn’t he belong there?? he’s the only player who has been a real threat to rafa…
his 2011 form was unbelievable…
he’s a brilliant tennis player…
his consistency on all surfaces is astonishing..
Too true. Djokovic deserves lots of praise for his success. He is one of the greats in my opinion.
http://www.skysports.com/tennis/us-open/news/32833/9985560/roger-federers-new-tactics-slammed-by-boris-becker
Here is the article of Boris on Fed and his SABR
People are talking up Fed a lot. He may win it but it is not a given. Novak will have something to say about it. It is a 55-45 to me in Novak’s favour
BB said exactly what I was thinking as I watched Fed use the SABR in the second game of the match last night. He’s absolutely right that in his day, players would have gone right at him. That was the norm back then. I remember Lendl going right after someone like JMac who would come in with s&v game. I saw a youtube video in which Lendl went right at Vitas Gerulaitis and hit him in the forehand. He just fell backwards onto the court. But he got up and kept playing. It happened all the time. I was hoping that Stan would go right at Fed as a way to stop this thing. I don’t like it. I completely agree with BB on this.
Fed in his presser about Rafa..Novak.
Q. How would you characterize your rivalry with Novak? It’s going to be your 42nd match against each other. How would you describe the rivalry? Do you think he’s made you better? You’ve made him better? Is there one particular match, good reasons or bad reasons, a loss that sticks out for you from all of the matches you played?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, I see more of a generation of, you know, Hewitt, Nalbandian, Agassi, Henman, guys I had trouble with at the beginning. I felt they made me better a player.
Same with my generation coming up, Ferrero, Safin, Roddick, Hewitt. I was trying to hang on with them and trying to be that next wave of players making it to the top, and everyone made it to world No. 1 before me.
I think that was very motivational for me. Made me a better player. I definitely think Rafa had a big effect, as well. Had to adjust and change so many things playing against him, preparing against him, thinking about it when I was practicing. He’s probably been the guy who challenged me the most with that.
Novak it’s been more straightforward, my opinion. That’s what I like about the rivalry. I think we both can — I don’t know how it is for him, but I feel like he doesn’t need to adjust his game as much, either. I think it’s just a straight shootout, and I think that’s the cool thing about our rivalry. It’s very athletic.
We both can handle each other’s — whatever we present to one another, and I think our matches, it’s very even. That’s it, I think. I don’t need to add more here.
This one is tough to call…it can easily go either way…both of them playing great tennis…I think Novak has mental edge over Fed…he may not allow Fed play his game…but I admire Fed’s rejuvenated tennis…he has adjusted once again and changed to be able to be more aggressive and to save energy…I think this time around Fed will be rewarded for his constant improvements…Fed in 4 is my pick…if Fed does not manage in 4 going to the fifth set is nothing but a sure thing for Novak and then he will win his 10th..
The Serbian commentator said last night: Novak will play in the final and by wining the title will come so close to Rafa with ONLY 4 GS titles behind…Rafa has had ONLY 3 GS titles behind Fed and it so looks unachievable now…
You know what natashao, I’m thinking let Fed or Novak win whatever they can now; for Rafa can win them back once hes ready next year. Im positive about that. I always feel a Rafa playing at a high level will find a way to deal with Fed un whatever form; and is way more consistent in a BO5 sets match than Novak.
Fed has been playing aggressively all year, its just that he had now added in his SABR from Cincy onwards. I really dont see anything much he has added to his game or how much better he can get than his Wimbledon SF vs Murray. I havent seen that Fed yet at this USO.
I saw some of his match vs Stan where in the first set he used his SABR a few times in a game, won two points I think and lost the rest. I really dont see this troubling Novak. Stan is not Novak and hes more error prone. I expect a Novak something like the Wimbledon final, really hard to beat.
You may as well be right…who knows…but I think it is not all on Novak’s racquet. If he allows Fed to play his S&V and shorten points Fed will have great chance to win…honestly, I don’t care who wins…but out of two “evils” I prefer not to listen to Nole’s fans talking down Rafa’s chances and endlessly talking about Nole exceeding Rafa’s records…it seems as for them there are only Rafa and Novak in the equation…you won’t hear them bashing Fed…and cheering against Rafa all the time…pathetic…
Last night I got to listen about Rafa’s lousy form, Rafa’s decline, etc. Why don’t they just leave him alone???
As Stan said, after Wimbledon Fed has come back at a completely different level.
Nole possibly to take a set but unlikely in my opinion.
Incredibly Fed to get his 18th is the pick.
#?TBD
Same I actually wouldn’t be that surprised if fed cleaned him out but it’s all about his start. If he gets off to bad start, Novak could turn the tide and win for sure. I’ll go with Federer in 4 high quality sets.
If you have visited other tennis forum, you would find the Novak fans bashing Fed as well. They’re eager to elevate Novak to be of Fedal’s status if not higher. If Novak really surpass Fedal’s achievements one day, so be it.
Novak will never surpass Rafa on clay and Fed on grass. Fedal have won the hearts of millions and I doubt Novak can match them. Seriously, Novak’s game may be efficient and it helps him to win and maybe dominates but Fed and Rafa play their different games that are more captivating imo.
I agree. Rafa and Fed are tennis!
Whoever wins tomorrow I will congratulate his fans. Let them enjoy the moment…
It was back in 2007 and 2008 I forecast many time on TennishTalk that imo Nole would be the person to challenge Rafa in the future. Leaving aside Davydenko, he was one of the few players who could hang tie to to toe with him in spite of the repeated losses. There were many times when Rafa eked out wins against Nole before Nole found a way through Rafa’s defences. Their meeting at RG this year was particularly significant. I’m trusting it was a one off and Rafa will find a way to prevent it happening again.
To conclude – when both men are at the top of their form at the same moment, I would back Rafa every time.
Unfortunately more often than not that hasn’t been the case over the last five years.
But why was their RG meeting this year significant? We all know this year Rafa is not his usual self. I would say had Novak beaten Rafa at RG2013, that would be more significant, not this year.
I would also say that Novak is the best of his generation, after Rafa, so its not surprising that hes the one challenging Fedal now when Fed is past his prime and Rafa is plagued with injuries. We saw a healthy Rafa time and again get the better of Novak, in 2012 clay season, 2013 and 2014 RG and also 2013 NA HC season. Im also not sure Rafa of 2012-2014 was better than the Rafa of 2008-2010.
All I can say is that Novak now is in a very good position, something like Fed in 2004-2007. Fed has it tougher from 2008 onwards whilst Novak had it tougher prior to 2011. Rafa OTOH, has the worst deal, having to tough it out with Fed at his peak during his own pre prime stage and then followed by Novak at his peak when Rafa himself is approaching the later stage of his prime.
lucky,
I agree with you about RG not being significant this year for the reason that Rafa was nowhere near his best. That was not the Rafa we have seen at RG who won 9 titles with only one loss. He just didn’t have it and Novak was able to take advantage.
You are correct that if Novak had beaten Rafa at the 2013 RG. that would have been a significant achievement. That was Rafa at his absolute best. But that’s precisely why Novak couldn’t beat him! 🙂
I guess for me it represented a watershed moment. The loss in 2009 to Soderling was worse true but other than that occasion always in the past Rafa had been able to battle through pain and injury to hang on to his RG crown. This year he was fit in body but not in mind and spirit. To simply state he was not at his best trivialises the enormity of that loss. It was nothing less than devastating for Rafa.
I dont think the loss at RG this year was enormous simply because most people expected it and I think Rafa expected it too. I think Rafa was not expecting any title win at any slam this year. Its unlike RG2014 when Rafa was all emotional during the victory ceremony while his national anthem was being played.
To me it would be more enormous if Rafa were to lose it last year as that was most probably Rafa’s last chance of having a five in a row at a slam, having missed his chance at RG2009. He finally joined Fed and Borg as only players having 5 in a row at a slam, in the open era.
Also, having lost at the AO last year, he certainly wont want the FO to slip away from him too hence his emotions after winning it.
RG this year was not significant and Rafa knows that and Novak knows that too. He said it in as many words that this was not the standard Rafa he plays on clay at RG.
I agree Novak realised he got lucky this year and I was relieved he was subdued in his celebration. Unlike the time when he broke Rafa’s eight year reign at Monte Carlo and was patently gloating over the fact. Mind you Rafa wiped the smirk off his face repeatedly for the rest of the year.
Jeez. Why can’t autocorrect mind its own business. I wrote toe to toe so it was corrected to tie to toe. What’s so irritating is the change doesn’t show up while you’re typing.
Federer:
“I definitely think Rafa had a big effect, as well. Had to adjust and change so many things playing against him, preparing against him, thinking about it when I was practicing. He’s probably been the guy who challenged me the most with that.”
Fed says it as it is. It is still the case that Fed against anyone else is a far easier prospect for Roger than playing against Rafa. So the TMF Fed wouldn’t cut it against Rafa.
We may never know.
#ClosingWindow
We do know, because Rafa started beating Fed regularly in his TMF days.
You said still but that was then and this is now. They are not the same players at the moment in case you missed it.
Nadal was a very unique match-up for Roger so he practised accordingly. It’s what great players do. He had to work it out in practice just like any other sport where you keep your tough spots in mind when you practise, and in this case especially because there aren’t many lefties on tour. I don’t even know what this is trying to convey. Like Roger’s been saying generally, with Novak it’s a shoot out and a straight up issue of ‘may the best man win.’ With Nadal it was a compromise that only Roger had to make. I can’t imagine that being fun for anyone. It’s part of what makes him so great. Most men in his place would’ve given up altogether and enjoyed retirement.
Djoker plays efficient tennis but it is boring to watch. The only time Djoker plays watchable tennis is against Rafa because Rafa stretches him.
I humble disagree here. Fed Novak matches are more exciting than Novak Rafa. They end points quicker and are more innovative and lot more winners get hit compared to Novak Rafa.
Novak Rafa are more about endurance , not necessarily variety and shot making.
Fed Rafa have brilliant contrasts and shot making too.
fair enough sanju! is clearly a matter of personal taste…
i love rafa nole myself because of the gladiatorial aspect to their rivalry where the level of intensity is just astonishing sometimes…
don’t think that’s matched in rafa fed or nole fed…..
but all of these rivalries are amazing …
also the fact that so many people have rafa nole and rafa fed as first choice does show how much the tennis public is missing rafa at his best…
oh sorry sanju, i thought you were replying to the post i left below about the SI poll top rivalries…
I guess it depends on surface and also the form of the players. RG 2011 and RG2012 between Fed and Novak were miles apart in terms of shotmaking and entertainment value. I would say Fedal matches were great in the past but since 2010, some of their matches were more lopsided or one sided.
Fed vs Novak now are more entertaining than in the past and more entertaining than Fedal matches these days except a few. Rafa vs Novak have some great shotmaking too, like USO2010, Montreal 2013, FO2012-2014. However their BO3 matches are more lopsided favoring Novak so not much great shotmaking involved.
Federer-Nole matches are more entertaining to watch than any other matchup among the Big 4.
Competitive, attacking tennis with plenty of variety. Nole-Rafa more or less turns into a baseline slugfest with little element of surprise.
Nole rarely plays with so much intensity right from the start and aggression when he is playing anyone else than Roger, even Muzz and Rafa.
Because as Roger said, it is a shootout, neither needs to adjust or adapt, they can play their natural styles.
Every match with Muzz is the most boring amongst the Top 4 with Novak Murray taking the cake for being the most boring slufest.
towards the end of last year there was a poll done on SI as to the reader’s favourite rivalry among the big 4…
rafa -nole was first, closely followed by rafa-fed, then a good chunk of the vote for nole-fed
all the rivalries involving murray got a tiny tiny proportion of the vote…
i agree about nolandy being the worst…
this also shows how important a healthy and fully firing rafa is to tennis as he dominates in terms of the fave rivalries…
Rafa-Nole could have been said to be the best rivalry 2 yrs back. But in the past 2 yrs Fed and Nole rivalry has come on par with it if not ahead of it.
Rafa-Fed ceased to be a rivalry 4-5 yrs back. It can hardly be brought into context with above 2 rivalries.
I think some people think the Fedal rivalry is one sided in favour of Rafa so not as interesting as the Rafaole one which is far more evenly matched.
I am positive and hopeful Rafa will be back next year. Novak is not going to maintain a very high standard indefinately, he is bound to suffer let downs like he did after 2011 -2014 where he lost many GS finals.
Fed if he does not win USO..not sure how much will he keep trying..I think he will not just give up till he wins another one. But what if he does win, will he stop?
abhirf..You are a Roger fan..what is your pick for tomorrow?
And what do you think about Rafa? Do you think he will come back?
I’m not really sure to be quite honest. Going by their rivalry especially here at the USO, it’s going to be a pretty tight contest.
The keys to the match in my opinion are :
1) How well Nole serves tomorrow? If he serves the way he did in last 2 Wimby finals, I don’t think Fed will be able to beat him.
2) How well Fed is timing his FH’s? His FH has been the shot that has betrayed him in the past 2 wimbledon finals especially this years. Going by the way he is serving these days, If Roger is hitting his FH well, he will get the win in my opinion irrespective of what Nole brings to the table.
I hope it pans out like USO 2010 or 2011 semis. Though 2010 semi was poor in qulaity as both had various ups n downs.
2011 was better but 3rd and 4th were poor there too.
As far as Rafa is concerned, I don’t really know what to expect of him.
In my opinion, Rafa has been the cause of his recent struggles. Few points that I would like to point out :
1) Rafa pushed the tour players too much with his baseline prowess and exposing the weakness of his opponents BH. That has resulted in the development of tour. Nowadays, there are hardly few players wit a bad BH. Coupled that with the improved fitness and racquet technology, the players are not afraid of engaging in baseline duel with him.
2) His frequent losses have given others the belief that they can beat him.
3) He allows his opponents to play their game in order to get his own rhythm. If someone gets that many chances, they will ultimately pay u back for it.
4) His adamant approach to the game. His FH has been great over the years, so much so that he relied entirely on his FH to do the trick for him. His BH and service have not evolved the way it should have that force him to put in extra miles to hold his own service game when his counterparts are doing it comfortably and spending less energy for the same.
Even after possesing good volleying skills and soft touch, he rarely employs them to throw off his opponents and keeps grinding in a baseline fest in a 20+ shot rally when he could have finished it 10 shots earlier. He hardly tries to experiment in his matches which manifests in his lack of confidence to change things up when his FH is not clicking.
These are just some of my opinions. Of course, he has brought all the laurels with the same, but it was always going to be difficult the moment he lost his biggest strength.
I’m more or less convinced that he is going down just like Roger, when Fed’s FH started fading. Only difference is Fed had other strengths his serve and variety of shots to rely on too. Rafa hasn’t really showcased any of his.
I do think Rafa will win another major (maybe 2), but that’s about it. He will need to improvise to do that too. All is not on his racquet anymore.
I agree Rafa is not experimenting much , eg he has very great volleying skills, he should S&V a bit more..should use drop shots more..
However I think he has worked on his BH over the years. He is not running around his BH to hit the FH like he used to do it before.
I am very curious to see what he does to overcome the slump.
He had much solid BH 4-5 yrs back. He has added variety to it yes, but hardly makes a push wit it these days.
abhirf,
I appreciate hearing a viewpoint from someone who is not a Rafa fan. You also happen to be a reasonable Fed fan, so there is some of that bias that informs their opinions. I do feel that Rafa has become too predictable in his shot making, maybe relying on the forehand too much. He hasn’t been hitting his backhand consistently well this year. That shot when it’s on really gives him another dimension. It’s obvious that his serve has degraded and is not nearly as effective.
Your analysis has given me something to think about. I do think Rafa will have one more great run in him. Whether that means one or two or maybe three, I can’t say.
Sorry, I meant to say there is NONE of that bias that informs their opinions.
Nadal, more than anything else, needs an intent to attack. Having the skill/technique is not enough. Not even close. If there’s no risk there’s no reward. He may not have played so many matches as Federer but he has a considerable number of them anyway. How long can he continue to be content with relying on his defense? Of course, you never know, he might just recover and go for another run but you can see how much it takes out of him in the long run. I won’t be surprised if it affects his post-career life as well. I’ve never seen anyone who punishes their body like he does. Novak to some extent does that but he can clue in to finishing points quicker much better than Nadal when required (plus he’s hyper-flexible which is an advantage in tennis).
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshkatzowitz/2015/09/12/u-s-open-finals-three-reasons-why-novak-djokovic-will-beat-roger-federer/
A good article
By the way that SABR is actually disturbing when you look at it. He is moving when the guy is serving. How is that not distracting? Look at the video. I am more than curious to see what Djoker will do. I hope he hits direct at Roger, it will add more spice to the final and make it tasty 🙂
Djoker will get rattled and throw in a few double faults.?
Sanju,
I have already posted some thoughts about that tactic in response to the interview link you posted with BB. I don’t like it. To me it’s kind of bush league. I really hope that Novak comes out with an answer. But the ESPN commies were saying yesterday that the problem with finding an answer, is that there is no way to know when Fed will use it.
Sanju, here is the other side of the article.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshkatzowitz/2015/09/12/u-s-open-finals-three-reasons-why-roger-federer-will-beat-novak-djokovic/
http://espn.go.com/tennis/usopen15/story/_/id/13634493/tennis-said-roger-federer-justifies-sneak-attack