Novak
Djokovic will battle Roger Federer for a place in the finals today. Will Federer
ride the momentum of his superb victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to achieve
another victory over Djokovic or will the law of averages take over and give a
win to Djokovic, would be anybody’s guess. The fact is that Djokovic has
defeated Federer in all the three hard court matches this year. However,
Federer has defeated Djokovic the last time they played, at the French Open in
June, 2011.
The matches
between them have mostly been keen contests. In last year’s semi-final at the
U.S. Open, Federer could not convert his chances for victory over Djokovic and appeared
to fade away towards the end after playing well rest of the time. This was one
of the instances where he failed to serve out or convert numerous match points
and after such failure, capitulated without much fight. Big hitters have
succeeded in taking time away from him, making him shank the ball or barely
reach it. But critics have pointed out that one-dimensional baseliners can not
aspire to win over Djokovic these days since he has more speed, more precision
and more power from back of the court. It is a game of variety that can upset
Djokovic’s game. And Federer is known to have that kind of game. But then, one
might have a game, one might prepare well to execute it only to see that he is
not allowed to play as well as he wanted to play.
Federer
has been accused of being stubborn by not changing his game when things are not
working his way. He still wants to hit the opponent out of the court through
winners. But he has slowed down and therefore, does not hit the ball
from the sweet spot that often. The winners have dwindled and the unforced
errors have mounted. He wins against journeymen like Juan Monaco and plays the
same game against big hitters who can place him in wider position through speed
or angles. In the match against Tsonga at Montreal
last month, he hit 32 unforced errors against 31 winners whereas Tsonga hit 33
winners against 21 unforced errors. But he has turned tables as far as Tsonga
is concerned in the previous round.
Djokovic
is playing the best tennis of his career in 2011. He scores over everybody as
far as speed, power, precision and the mental strength is concerned. He hits so
many winning shots in a single rally that one of these shots is bound to go
through as a winner or an error inducing shot. The bouncing board sends back
balls at higher speed and acute angles. The opponent can not withstand such a barrage,
except over a short period of time. He has to capitulate at some point or the
other. This has been seen in his victories over Rafael Nadal in the five finals
they have played this year. The baseline shots not only have power but have
depth as well and they follow a straight trajectory to land where they are
intended to land. He takes the ball as early as Federer is famed to do, and
swings with all his might. He places top spin even when he swinging downwards
and the ball goes like a guided missile. But he has to get the ball which tends
to sit up or jump up a bit, not the ball that skids or keeps low. What shots he
is going to get when he plays Federer is the key to today’s results.
It
is the most anticipated match of the year so far. The stands will stand for the
underdog, for sure.
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