Game. Set. Federer?
Posted on September 8th, 2007 by Yours Truly under Uncategorized
Roger Federer reached his 10th consecutive Grand Slam final with a 7-5, 6-1, 7-5 victory over a game Nikolay Davydenko this afternoon. The fourth-seeded, unassuming Russian challenged the world’s No. 1, never giving up and even earning set points in the third set. But it was yet another match in which the Russian kept it close but fell short.
The 26-year-old Federer had too many weapons, as he displayed in the final games of the second and third sets. Federer saved three break points and won the second set with a forehand crosscourt winner. He won the match and conquered the absurdity of the third set by pounding four first serves.
Federer is bidding to become the first man since the 1920s to win the American Grand Slam four times in a row. He took a 9-0 record against Davydenko into their match, and another victory for Federer would make him the first man in tennis history to reach 10 consecutive Grand Slam finals.
Tennis’ Next Emerging Star
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic had a harder time with the heat and humidity than with his overmatched opponent.
In the end, the No. 3-seeded Djokovic dealt with all of those obstacles well enough Saturday to reach his first Grand Slam final, beating No. 15 seed David Ferrer 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 at the U.S. Open.
“The conditions were extreme,” Djokovic said. “It was so hot.”
The 20-year-old Djokovic is the youngest men’s finalist at Flushing Meadows since Pete Sampras was 19 when he won the 1990 title. Djokovic is also the first man from Serbia to get to any major final.
Celebration
Roger Federer watched his opponent’s last shot of their U.S. Open semifinal sail wide, then calmly walked to the net for a handshake.
He didn’t drop to his knees, didn’t thrust an index finger to the sky to declare, “I’m No. 1,” didn’t take off his shirt — the sort of celebratory gestures Novak Djokovic came up with earlier Saturday upon reaching his first Grand Slam final.
Men’s Final @ 12:30 pm
In tomorrow’s championship, Federer will face the last man to defeat him, No. 3 Novak Djokovic, w had defeated Dhoavid Ferrer in the first semifinal of the day.
Djokovic will be a heavy underdog to Federer, of course. But the charismatic Djokovic is an emerging star in the sport, however my bet is on Federer avenging his loss in Montreal leading to a fourth consecutive U.S. Open title.
1.00%
4.50%
6.50%
6.00% 
3.75%
2.50%
2.25%
0.30%
September 9th, 2007 at 12:09 am
here is my spin on this. i dont think djoker has much of a chance at all. if there is a small chance and i mean a tiny chance then everything must go right:
1. he has to serve like hell–65%-70% or better
2. he must return like hell and this means getting a good read on roger`s serve as soon a s possible
3. he must win one of the first 2 sets and the very first set if possible.
4. in addition to the first 3, roger has to be a little off or all bets are off.
translation: djoker has damn near no chance. my prediction: federer in 3
September 9th, 2007 at 12:13 am
I love your analysis of the match and I definitely agree with your points and with the way Djokovic is playing, i’m gonna say that he’ll go down in 4 sets.. He must a tired guy with all those 5 set matches he played earlier during the week.
Here’s a great video from sportcaster Charlie Rose interviewing other tennis greats about Federer:
http://www.charlierose.com/guests/roger-federer
September 9th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
VICTORY, BOW DOWN TO THE MIGHTY FEDeX!!