JOKER VS. FED IS THE TOPS
THE MORE YOU watched Friday night’s men’s semifinals in Arthur Ashe Stadium, the more it seemed as if Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer were playing the tennis equivalent of can-you-top-this.
Djokovic, the No. 1 seed, was absolutely brilliant in his destruction of Marin Cilic, Federer, the No. 2 seed, no less so in wiping out his Swiss compatriot, Stan Wawrinka.
The last center-court Open match without a roof arrives on Sunday afternoon, and it seems entirely appropriate that the two best tennis players on the planet will be contesting it, Federer in pursuit of his sixth Open title, and Djokovic his second.
“I think it’s just a straight shootout, and I think that’s the cool thing about our rivalry,” Federer said. “It’s very athletic.”
Said Djokovic, “(Roger) is always going to perform on a high level. Rarely he drops his level. He always make you play your best.”
Federer, 34, is six years Djokovic’s senior, and has 17 Grand Slam titles to Djokovic’s nine. Djokovic’s recent resume is a good bit stronger, though, having won eight of the last 19 Slams dating to 2011, and making it to all four Slam finals in 2015, winning in Australia and at Wimbledon, where he has defeated Federer in the last two finals.
Otherwise, this rivalry is as level as the courts they compete on. Sunday’s final will be their 42nd meeting, Federer winning 21 times, Djokovic 20. They’ve gone 5-5 vs. each other over the last two years, and while Djokovic has scored the biggest prizes with the two Wimbledon victories, Federer has won three of their last four meetings on hardcourt, including a 7-6 (1), 6-3 victory last month at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, and has been more consistently dominant in the first six rounds of the Open.
Indeed, Federer, in his first Open final since 2009, has won 28 straight sets, serving and moving better than he has in years, and playing with unrelenting aggressiveness.
Federer’s on-court mission is to go on the attack and shorten points, and his new tactic of rushing toward the service line as his opponent is serving — the so-called SABR (Sneak Attack By Roger) — seems to be unnerving opponents. Federer used it successfully against Djokovic in Cincinnati, and helped forge an early break against Wawrinka with it Friday night.
“It worked a couple of times,” Djokovic said. “It’s an exciting shot for him. For the player opposite side of the net, not so much. So I have nothing else to say about that.”
Said Federer, “For me, if it makes sense, you know, which I think it does, I’ll use it in the finals. 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.”
A player of uncommon mental strength, Djokovic doesn’t figure to be unnerved by a SABR move. He will count on his peerless return game, his world-class quickness, his surgical slugging from the baseline, hoping to lengthen points even as Federer is trying to shorten them.
It’s No. 1 vs. No. 2. Let one more match of canyou-top-this begin.