The U.S. Open title is coming down to the top two players in the world–Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. Sunday’s championship match pits the game’s best against each other at this stage of a second major in succession.
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will be meeting for the 42nd time in their careers when they battle for the U.S. Open title on Sunday afternoon.
The head-to-head series could not be any closer, to the extent that it may be all tied up again by the time this one ends. Federer holds a 21-20 edge after beating Djokovic 7-6(1), 6-3 in this summer’s Cincinnati final. Djokovic, however, has won three of their five 2015 encounters–including a 7-6(1), 6-7(10), 6-4, 6-3 victory in the Wimbledon championship match. The Serb is 7-6 at his rival’s expense in Grand Slams despite losing four of their first five such showdowns.
Since toppling Djokovic in Cincinnati, an on-fire Federer has not looked back. Playing without question the best tennis in the world right now, Federer has not lost a set so far this fortnight. The 34-year-old Swiss punched his ticket to the title match by disposing of Leonardo Mayer, Steve Darcis, Philipp Kohlschreiber, John Isner, Richard Gasquet, and Stan Wawrinka. Only Isner pushed him to a pair of tiebreakers and nobody else even came within 7-5 in any set.
An aggressive Federer is striking winners from all over the court and he has continued to execute the Sneak Attack By Roger (SABR) tactic–although to what extent depends on the opponent. The world No. 2 never did it against Isner for obvious reasons, but he fared well with it on occasion versus Djokovic in Cincinnati.
“For me, if it makes sense–which I think it does–I’ll use it in the finals,” Federer commented. “I used it to great effect against [Djokovic] in the tough situation at 4-1 in the ‘breaker in Cincy. We will see if the occasion presents itself. It’s got to be the right point, right frame of mind, the right place to do it. I hope I’ll have the opportunity to do it.”
Djokovic has an opportunity to win his third major title of the year and effectively come within one match–besting Serena Williams, who was two matches away–of capturing the calendar-year Grand Slam. The top seed previously triumphed at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon to go along with his runner-up showing at Roland Garros. So far in New York he has defeated Joao Souza, Andreas Haider-Maurer, Andreas Seppi, Roberto Bautista Agut, Feliciano Lopez, and Marin Cilic–dropping sets to Bautista Agut and Lopez in the process.
“I came here with a wish and a mission: to reach the finals and fight for the trophy,” Djokovic assured. “So I got myself in that position. It’s already a great result. But I want to get that final step on Sunday and get my hands on that trophy. Obviously I’m not the only one who wants that. [A] Swiss player will be on (the) opposite side of the net. We will definitely want to have the same kind of mission.”
When the world’s two best players with the same goal collide, the result should be another instant classic. Federer is showcasing the better form, but can he sustain his incredible level from start to finish in a best-of-five situation? He has not been able to do that against Djokovic in recent times–and he will once again come painfully close.
Pick: Djokovic in 5
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I hope fed gets big lead early because if he does’t and it gets tight, Djokovic’s fitness will be the end of roger, plus roger could go away if he lets novak get up early.
i hope djokovic wins in 3 or 4.
Reblogged this on Tennis Abides.
The result will be the same as Wimbledon. Tight competition in the beginning and Fed will fade away eventually. Novak in 4 sets 67 75 64 63
Yep
Yep.
I hope he wins. I am always for rafole.
I will stick with Fed this time. Although there are a lot of factors which speak in favor of Novak I will go with Fed being ready to counterattack the Serb…
I always appreciate improvements and varieties in someone’s game. Fed has worked hard to find solutions for his much younger nemesis. If he holds it together mentally he will win his 18th and become yet again history. Serena couldn’t do her piece. Hope we witness another historic moment in men’s tennis.
Fed in 4
Yep.
(Except Fed in 3 is more likely)
No way 3
Two of the all time classy, great competitors….Fed in 4.
Classy?
Ricky is adamant and has been steadfast in his believe from the outset. He’s there in NY so privy to all the inside gossip which he’s not sharing with us 😉
Ricky: btw. I didn’t mean to cast aspersions on your analytical/prediction skills. Apologies if it came across that way.
Fed in 4. This surface is where Fed has the greatest advantage and he’s only been broken twice in 81 service games.
.. and Fed’s much more aggressive with his forehand and approaches, forcing Djokovic into error by coming forward. This has been a work in progress since Edberg took over and I believe we are witnessing the complete product right now. The maestro is at the peak of his powers.
… and Fed hasn’t dropped a set all tournament whereas Djokovic has dropped 2. Cilic is a terrible form-line because Djokovic knows Cilic can’t hurt him so I’m not convinced Djokovic is where he needs to be to win this.
yes but nole didn’t play well at wimby until the final when he really raised his level..he had to go 5 against anderson and was pretty desultory against gasquet although again never threatened…he is capable of being a completely different beast in finals…
by the same token fed was sublime against andy but couldn’t maintain that level against nole..and wimby is fed’s best surface…
Wait. What’s Nole’s final record for GS? Barely .500
amy,
Don’t you know that if you pick Novak then you don’t know what you are talking about? 🙂
It has to be Fed. It’s a done deal. It’s in the stars. I don’t know why they even have to play the match at all.
That’s what I love about this sport. These two guys have to go out on the court and try to win, no matter what anyone predicts.
nny, ha ha..well said…am not sure i am picking nole….a bit hard for me to pick anyone given i haven’t seen any of the uso and have yet to witness the famous scoundrel attack by roger….(see what i just did there!?)
i just don’t think you can rule nole out in best of 5….but he will have to show tonight why so many rate him the GOAT returner and also not let the crowd get to him…
^ Good point.
My responses don’t appear where they should. My comment @ 4:40 pm was meant in response to Mark’s comment @ 1:39 pm.
Cilic had an injury guys wake up
The Ashe stadium minimizes the wind effect. Unless it’s blowing a gale Nole wins for that reason.
I meant new Ashe with roof almost blocking out all wind.
amy,
I didn’t know that you had not seen the matches. Hey, I like it! Scoundrel attack. It was funny because I didn’t know what they were talking about on ESPN with this SABR, so then they realized that maybe not everyone realized what was going on and they explained it. The first time I saw Fed do it was against Stan.
I have been going back and forth as to who will win. It really could go either way. We went through this before Wimbledon. Fed was playing great, it’s Wimbledon, done deal. But Novak just outplayed him. It could happen again. I agree with the points you made about him being the best returner. The ESPN commies have talked about that all week. Can he break Fed’s serve? Also, will the crowd support for Fed get to him? That could be one of the intangible factors in the match.
Are you going to be watching the final?
nny, i would love to watch the final but i just don’t think i can risk it, especially as there was a bizarre incident last night where the people in the flat below locked themselves out and had to get someone round to help which seemed to involve them virtually breaking the door down!! so i’ve had very little sleep!
don’t think it’s just about nole’s return…remember wimby 2014?? fed had a lot of problems returning nole’s serve (which is very underrated) and if he struggles with that how is he going to break him?? nole usually plays well in tie breaks….
i do think that the crowd baying for fed could rattle nole…he got through it at wimby but the us crowd will be a lot lot louder….this is where boris needs to earn his dollar and i don’t think he’s helping going on about the scoundrel attack…….!!!
Brad Gilbert saying Fed in 4 tight sets.
That’s interesting from BG.
By his own admission as he got older Federer had become risk averse and was playing the percentage game. He is now playing with a greater sense of freedom and is prepared to take risks which is a fundamental change in his approach.
In recent years, when he has talked about playing purely for the love of the game, I suspected it was bravado to cover up disappointment at losing matches to players he once owned. The next time I hear those words I will believe him. It is clear for all to see he has rekindled his joy in playing tennis.
Which is why he will win.
i guess in that case you have to take your hat off to him ed….
that’s what rafa needs again isn’t it…to be able to love the sport again…be able to access his old heart and passion…
Yes, I sincerely hope that Rafa can find that again. Because he sure didn’t look like he was enjoying himself for most of the year. I hope we see Rafa back to his best next year.
I lifted my hat to him before the start of this tournament. Albeit reluctantly ;-
And yes. Time for Rafa to throw away what he’s doing and get back to those winning ways. If Federer can do it, so can he.
I think a lot of people are playing safe by relying on results in past years.
what is your pred ed? Fed?
^^ Fed in four.
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/09/us-open-mens-final-preview-novak-djokovic-vs-roger-federer/56314/#.VfWgvhGqqko
Tignor picking Djoko..good article
http://espn.go.com/tennis/usopen15/story/_/id/13637603/us-open-one-two-points-decide-novak-djokovic-roger-federer-finale
Debate on the final. Bodo and his utter disdain for Rafa is shocking. He calls Fed Djoko the best rivalry and says the last best rivalry was Pete Agassi. He forgets Rafa Nole and Rafa Fed completely 🙂
Sanju,
You know that Bodo has never been a fan of Rafa. So I am honestly not surprised at his disdain. He’s been trashing Rafa for so long. That’s why I don’t read him anymore.
The best rivalry has been Rafa/Fed, except that recently it’s gotten even more lopsided. But when Fed dominating and then Rafa came along to challenge him, their matches were outstanding. Now I think Rafa/Novak has been the best rivalry up until this year.
Some say Rafa/Fed is not a rivalry it’s a Rafa domination.
BTW.. i don’t remember nole hitting a single competent lob against fed at wimby….in fact that shot was a borderline atrocity giving fed some pleasant easy smashes and endless free points…
i hope that boris has had nole out practicing it and that he can hit a few good ones tonight because he needs that shot in his arsenal to put doubts in fed’s mind going to net…
also nole’s second serve is excellent…i hope that shot really holds up tonight and gets fed frustrated because he can’t break….