PETE ZIEBRON in CINCINNATI
Roger Federer advances to his 7th Cincinnati final. He is 6-0 in his previous appearances in the final. Pete Ziebron Images
Together, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have combined to win 47 Masters 1000 tournaments. Djokovic has won 4 in 2015, while Federer's last 1000 win was in Cincinnati last year. In fact, the Cincinnati Masters in the only Masters 1000 event that Djokovic has not won yet despite 4 previous appearances in the final. The match will also be their 41st meeting and 5th this year. The overall mark stands at 20-20 and Djokovic sporting a 3-1 record over Federer in 2015.
This will be the 9th time in Western & Southern history that the top 2 seeds will meet in the final and the first since the then #1 seeded Federer defeated #2 seed Djokovic to win the 2012 final. To set the stage for today's battle between the tournament's #1 seed, Djokovic and #2 seed Federer, both men won challenging semifinal matches yesterday.
Novak Djokovic kicked off the day against Qualifier Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine and the free swinging Dolgopolov stunned Djokovic and the capacity crowd by taking the opening set 6-4. Fans appreciated Dolgopolov's flair on the court and he hit several dazzling winners during the opening set.
In the 7th game of the 2nd set, Dologopolov held a set point but failed to convert and was broken at love in the immediate game as Djokovic now served for 2nd set. However, in shocking fashion, the #1 seed was broken back at love and the set was back on serve. Bothe men held serve in the next 3 games and it was off to the tiebreaker to either determine a winner of the match or if we would see a 3rd and decisive set.
Dolgopolov took the opening 3 points of the breaker and Djokovic would win the next 3 as the scoreboard read 3 all as the players changed ends. Dolgopolov would hold leads of 4-3 and 5-4 but Djokovic would win the final 3 points of the breaker to win it 7-5 and take the match to a 3rd set.
I asked Djokovic about his impressive ability to come back from deep and crucial deficits in matches and if he is more relaxed or more aggressive in such moments: "Just more focused, I guess, and trying to kind of direct my thoughts only towards the next point and what I can influence. I managed to dig deep and refused to give up. I managed to do that because I was all the time there fighting."
Novak Djokovic seeks his 1st Cincinnati title which would give his titles at ALL of the Masters 1000 events. Pete Ziebron Images
Djokovic could now seemingly exhale after leveling the match. He did however squander a break point in the opening game of the set and also needed to stave off a set point against in his service game as both men would hold serve.
After Djokovic broke in the 3rd game to take a 2-1 lead, it certainly felt that the world #1 would continue his upward trajectory of form and roll to victory. Surprisingly, Dolgopolov would have opportunities on Djokovic's serve in the next game but was unable to convert on 2 break point chances.
Now, Djokovic would feel a bit more comfortable with the scenario that was unfolding on court and proceeded to break the Ukrainian at 15 to race to a double break 4-1 lead in the final set.
Both men would hold serve in the final 3 games of the match and Djokovic would reach the final of yet another Masters 1000. He has reached the final in ALL of the 1000's he has played this year, winning in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo and Rome (DNP Madrid) and losing 7 days ago in Montreal.
Next up on Center Court was the 25th meeting between Roger Federer and Andy Murray. Federer came into the match having beaten Murray in their last 4 meetings and taking the last 8 consecutive sets they have played, including the memorable Wimbledon semifinal earlier this year and the stunning 6-0 6-1 blitzing of Murray at the ATP World Tour Finals in London last year.
Federer was not able to convert on a break point on Murray's serve in the opening game of the match but did so in the 3rd game of the match after holding his own serve at love. From that point on, it certainly felt like it would be Federer's day as he was gilding on court and played what looked to be effortless tennis while Murray appeared to be in scramble mode against Federer.
Both men held serve for the remaining 7 games of the set as Federer's early break held up and he won the set 6-4. It would turn out that the break in the 3rd game of the match would be the ONLY break on the day as the only one break point opportunity in the 2nd set belonged to Federer and he did not convert in the 7th game of the set.
In the 2nd set tiebreaker, Federer would hold leads of 3-1 and 4-2 and Murray's only lead would be at 5-4. Following 5 all, Federer would win the next 3 points to win the match, beat Murray for the 5th consecutive time and win the last 10 sets the men have played against each other.
After the match, I asked both men about Federer's 5 match win streak over Murray
Murray: "I wasn't competing at that level last year at all. The match at Wimbledon, I felt like he served extremely well in that match; today it was a tough one. I started slowly the last couple of days. Almost got myself back into the match today, and just didn't return as well as I would've liked. That was the difference."
Federer: "I'm happy that this stretch is not just over six months but over a longer period of time. Now the last few have definitely come when he was playing very well, and that's why clearly (I am) very pleased about the outcome today. I don't know if I've figured anything out in particular (about Murray's game during this winning streak), but I've definitely been holding serve very well against him."
Today, Federer goes for his 24th Masters 1000 and 7th title in Cincinnati and Djokovic seeks his 25th Masters 1000 and 1st title in Cincinnati. Winning today would allow Djokovic to be the ONLY man to have won ALL of the Masters 1000 events.
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