Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will kick off their London campaigns on Tuesday. Djokovic beat Federer in last year’s title match.
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will be squaring off for the 31st time in their careers and for the second time in the last four days when they meet during Group B competition at the World Tour Finals on Tuesday night.
Federer leads the head-to-head series 16-14, including 12-11 on hard courts. Djokovic, though, has won five of their last seven encounters dating back to the 2011 U.S. Open and eight of their last 11 dating back to the start of that season. This is a rematch of last year’s World Tour Finals championship, which Djokovic won 7-6(6), 7-5. They also faced each other just last Saturday in the Paris semifinals, with the Serb recovering from a set deficit for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory.
Djokovic went on to capture the Paris title, his third triumph in as many events since the U.S. Open. The world No. 2’s record during this fall swing is a perfect 17-0, having also lifted trophies in Beijing and Shanghai.
While his 2013 campaign has been much different from that of Djokovic, Federer is also playing his best tennis of the season this fall. The 32-year-old Swiss lost a tough three-setter to Gael Monfils in the Shanghai third round, but he finished runner-up to an on-fire Juan Martin Del Potro in Basel before reaching the semis in Paris.
“I have had a good couple of weeks now,” Federer assured after his loss on Saturday. “Maybe the extra day I will get over Novak (for losing in the Paris semis instead of reaching final) could be an advantage. But I doubt it. He didn’t play Basel.“
Federer’s extra day certainly won’t hurt, but he’s also correct in assuming that a long week in Paris won’t affect Djokovic. The defending London champion has played only three of the last seven weeks. By comparison, David Ferrer–also one of the fittest players on tour–had already played five in a row before reaching the Paris title match. If anything, in this kind of form Djokovic will be eager to play more and more matches to stay on top of his game and maintain the hot streak.
Even though Federer has improved greatly since this summer, Djokovic’s defense will once again force the 17-time Grand Slam champion to hit too many balls. Federer’s necessary net-charging tactics worked for a while in Paris, but Djokovic quickly figured out how to solve the puzzle. The No. 2 seed should be able to do it again.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
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Even Hawkeye has called it a day.
I had to laugh when Federer asked Cedric whether Hawkeye was working yet.
He who hated it and complained bitterly about its use.
Federer has blown his chances big time in the match.Costly UE at crucial junctures
I want Djokovic to win this so that he wins his Group and Fed comes second. This way Rafa can avoid Djoko at the semis stage if he wins his Group………….
rib, that would be a good scenario. It would give Rafa a well-deserved break on the last indoor tournament after a long year, a break that might help to maybe win this thing this time. How would you rate his chances if he meets Novak in the final?
Watching Novak now, he still is playing sublime HC tennis. However, he is looking a little jaded, making some uncharacteristic errors. I just get the feeling Rafa wants to finish the season with a flourish. Not only does he want YE#1, he also wants to snag his first WTF. If he gets to the final, I rate his chances very, very highly indeed…………
One set all.
Fed is doing a good job tiring Djokovic out. Stan the Man might have a chance of taking him down.
Stan is in Rafa’s group.
If Novak wins the decider, probably will, he should still be in good shape to end up top of his group, no? Also depends on how well Roger plays the other RRs, again assuming Novak wins this. If Roger wins the old lion will rear his head more.
Doesn’t Fed have a BHDTL at all, always going cross-court….
This has been some ugly stuff from Fed. So many blown opportunities. But Djoker had a ragged patch in the middle of the second set. His serve went off, had a few double faults and just seemed out of sorts.
I don’t think Djoker is unbeatable by any means. It’s just that Fed is simply not up to it anymore.
And this is the player some people reckon could still win another slam?
Pleeeeze.
I’m actually hating this. Watching Federer humiliate himself. It’s not like Djokovic is playing particularly well.
I think both of them together may have piled up 80 plus errors..43 were in 2nd set itself
That very narrowly missed forehand in 1st set at BP cost Fed very dear
Djoko is also leaking errors..he is showing signs of fatigue
serving for the match
Things going according to plan so far:
– Rafa is on course to winning his Group;
– Novak is on course to winning his Group, thus avoiding Rafa in the semis;
– Fed can still finish off #2 in his Group, playing Rafa in the semis, extending that humiliating H2H.
he doesn’t want any part of Delpo in the semis, either
I have a hunch, that Fed won’t make it out of this group… and he might not even want to, if his reward will be a semi against Rafa. It might spoil his pristine indoor head to head.
88 errors to 56 winners in the match..geez
ugly
That H2H does not count because Rafa is using high spin balls to Roger’s left shoulder, like ALWAYS, and they meet on the non-traditional ugly surface of clay, like, ALWAYS.
I have a feeling this is going to be another of those years when the WTF turns into the March of the Walking Wounded – the winner being The Last Man Standing. I’m not complaining as long as that’s Rafa.
Nah. People are way more healthy than usual at this time of the year.
Agree, they are just a little tired, that’s all.