By Mike McIntyre
Roger Federer defeated Novak Djokovic 6-1, 7-5 in the final of the Western and Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati on Sunday. With convincing wins over both Andy Murray and Djokovic in the tournament, Federer seems to have the inside track to add to his record-breaking Grand Slam total at the U.S. Open.
Federer raced out to an early 5-0 lead in the match, breaking Djokovic's serve twice in the process. Mirka must have been taking good care of the kids last night because Roger looked flawless in the early going. He would take the first set 6-1. He won 93% of his first serve points and had double the amount of winners to errors.
Djokovic came out stronger in the second with a break in Federer's first service game to go up 2-0. I wondered if Djokovic would continue his recent trend against Federer in which he managed to lose the opening set before pulling out the win. Instead, Federer broke back soon after to even things up at three games apiece. Djokovic had a set point at 4-5 on Roger's serve but Federer managed to save the break point and took the next two points to keep the score even. The two stayed on serve until Federer broke to go up 6-5 and serve for the match. Federer would not waiver again and closed it out 6-1, 7-5.
Federer had not defeated Djokovic since their semi-final encounter at the U.S. Open in 2008, and had lost to the Serbian twice since that time. The world number one has now managed to reverse the losing streak he had against his three biggest rivals, winning his most recent battles against Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and now Djokovic.
What a great match. I am really looking forward to the Open now.
Posted by: Lisa | August 24, 2009 at 03:05 AM