US OPEN

Men’s Final: [CR1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. [CR2] Roger Federer (SUI)

Federer denied his eighteenth Major title for the third time. 2012 was the year that Federer won his seventeenth Major title. He was a Wimbledon finalist in 2014 and 2015 and lost both matches to the same opponent, Djokovic. They have competed against each other forty-one times and Federer led 21:20. Djokovic led their head-to-head in finals, 10:6 and that includes a victory that resulted from Federer not competing due to issues with his back.  Thus, the statistics were not in Federer’s favor; however, Federer has found a new source of energy that has rejuvenated his game.  He played top level tennis in his last two tournaments and his last title came last month at the expense of Djokovic. Federer was hoping to repeat the outcome in today’s final.

Their finals usually go the distance or at least include a tiebreak set. Of the fifteen finals contested, only four were relatively straight forward according to the score. Thus, we expected a battle.  Djokovic wanted to re-establish his dominance as the number one ranked player and his recent lost to Federer was an added incentive. Federer was tired of hearing the question whispered, “Will he ever win another Major?” We were not disappointed. It was a rough start for both players and breaks were traded early.  Djokovic took a horrendous spill that momentarily distracted him. However, he regained his equilibrium and broke again to win the first set.  The second set was just as competitive with both players trying their best to hold on to the momentum. Federer won that set.  The third and fourth sets were no less competitive, but Federer just could not derail a determined Djokovic. Djokovic won 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 and gets his tenth Major title.