Djokovic Beats Federer, Wins Pirate Ship

The stage was set. Federer and Djokovic were going to duke it out again in a night time epic battle. On the one end, there was Djokovic who has been playing stellar tennis with his confidence at an all time. On the other end, there was Federer, a man who is sick and tired of being beaten up by Nole. In my eyes, this was it. He was going to stand up to the brash Serbian and show him why he’s mother f$#%$# Roger Federer... and then he lost 6-3, 6-3.

It happened so quickly. At 1-1, Federer shanked a routine backhand, Djokovic broke and the tone was set. There were a few minor opportunities for Fed, particularly in the 2nd set when he broke Novak to go up 3-2. In his next service game, he double faulted, missed two easy balls and was broken back. He wouldn’t win another game after that. On Championship point, Djokovic hit a relatively deep ball to Federer’s forehand and he just botched it.

So what’s the deal? Is Djokovic just truly better at this point than Federer? As a long time Federer fan and someone who gets excited about wearing the Federer logo’d jacket out and about, it pains me to say this, but I think the answer is yes.

It’s too easy to comment on how Federer didn’t do this and didn’t do that. His footwork was uncharacteristically out of sync with his strokes and this was a big reason his game looked lackluster. But more importantly, Djokovic has in my opinion reached a Nadal like status. His shots are so deep and so consistent that his opponents are almost always on the defensive.  Djokovic imposes his game on his opponents. As soon as the right moment comes, he takes control by ripping a cross court forehand or his signature backhand up the line. Very much like Nadal, he also takes zero points off. Each game, he looks to get out in front quickly so the pressure is placed on the other player. By winning 2 or 3 points on his opponent's serve each time, the inevitable break happens and Djokovic is in the driver’s seat.

And so Novak Djokovic beat the might Fed again. He clearly now has his number and it’s a bummer to think that this might be how their matches go for the near future. Roger definitely didn’t play his best but I think that playing against Novak will do that. It’s back to the drawing board for Federer and until he comes up with something better, Djokovic will be holding the pirate ship while he holds the weird sword.