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here are the stats for the match.
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Thanks for the stats General. Interesting match. Overall, Federer didn't play throughout the match as well as he did against Dolgopolov, especially on serve, but he wasn't poor either. Djokovic played better than he did the whole tournament, but still had lapses, but shorter in scope.
The result? A very even match. It could have gone either way in the end. Even stats, almost even # of games won/lost, almost even # of total points won, Djokovic 99 points, 98 for Federer.
Federer played well the first set, aggressively, charging the net at just the right times, while Djokovic looked nervous early and got broken, which was enough for Federer to take the set, as he continued to serve well at crucial times. He was over 70% won on both 1st and 2nd serves.
Federer seemed to let off the aggression pedal in the second, I don't why, and stayed back and rallied. His 1st serve also declined significantly. I think this let Djokovic back into the match, and Djokovic got stronger, more consistent and confident, while Federer looked weaker and more tired as rallies and points played longer. Djokovic broke Federer once and that was enough for the second.
Djokovic continued to look strong at the start of the third set, while Federer still seemed lost or tired or something, giving an early break to Djokovic, and it looked like that would be enough for Djokovic, until he tried to serve out the match. Then Federer, with his back against the wall, played some great attacking tennis, 3 points in succession for love-40, which seemed to startle Djokovic out of his zone of good play, and Federer broke him at 15 to even the match at 5-5.
Federer once again regained confidence serving to love in his next game for a 6-5 lead, but then looked disinterested on the Djokovic serve and seemed content to have it decided in the tiebreak. Not sure I agreed with that way of thinking, even at that moment, not after the fact. I think Federer was on a roll and should have gone all out as in the 4-5 game to break Djokovic. But he didn't. Perhaps the effort to break previously sapped him a bit, and he was saving himself energy.
Then the tiebreak was a poor effort from Federer. Djokovic didn't need to do much but play steady, as Federer had 4 unforced errors on his serve. One certainly can't expect to win a tiebreak like that.
Regardless, Djokovic did up his game in general from the previous matches in the tournament, still had some lapses here and there, but it did not deter him, and he won it in the end. Federer's play was up and down, brilliant at times, and then seemingly on cruise control at others. He did very well to break Djokovic at the end of the third, but didn't take advantage of that, and played a poor tiebreaker, and due to that did not deserve the victory. With his former career #1 tiebreaker record .649 pct, now #2 just behind Isner .650, who has played about 1/2 the tiebreakers Federer has, one would think he should have done better.
Congratulations to Nole, his fans, and his team. He should play with more confidence after this.
Commiserations to Roger and his supporters. I don't think this loss hurts him a lot. He played a good tournament, just missed, so his level looks good going into his next training block before his clay season starts in Madrid. He said he had not expected to be at his best level till after the next training block so to have these good results prior to that was a bit of a surprise to him.
Maybe General CETSVids will have the match and some interviews to share with us.
On to Miami!
Respectfully,
masterclass -
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If you go by the points - 98 to Federer and 99 to Nole - then yes, it does seem like a close match or an even match, but in reality Nole was always ahead in the final set. He pushed Federer in at least two of his service games and converted one. Was also serving for the match at 5-4 but ended up getting tight. Nole also dominated the TB. After Nole won the 2nd set, Federer was always on surviving mode and was trying to catch Nole up whereas Nole was on more control of the match. So I didn't think it was all that even and the deduction based on the points is misleading.
Anyway, 34 winners and 34 errors from Federer so the match wasn't very pretty by any means. It had drama, yes but the supposedly 'high quality' wasn't there from either party. There were glimpses but that's all that were there.
Nole did have a tougher path to the final and beat some on form players like Cilic, Isner and Federer to win the title, so definitely the best man won. Dolgo would have been much more affective against Federer had he met with him early like he did against Nadal. But by the time he met with Federer in the semi, the long path and the glorious victory was already behind and I don't think he had much left in the tank to offer at that point. Tursunov, early in the tournament, did give a glimpse of Federer true form if anyone was watching. -
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Cool story. Very entertaining...
Respectfully,
masterclass
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I am sure both Cilic and Isner are far more lethal than Anderson right now. Only a blind supporter would consider otherwise. And if it weren't for Dolgo, Federer wouldn't have even made the final here. He got lucky when someone else took Nadal out if I am to be honest. Perhaps it's only Federer fans who read too much into his new 'comeback', when in reality he did get beat by the same old Nadal at the Australian Open yet again and now here in Indian Wells as well but this time by Nole.
And if Federer played a 'poor TB' and then Nole too played a poor game to give away the break at a point when he was serving for match. So yeah, let's include that as well. Let's call it even in the true sense. -
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Keep talking... Your story gets better... Back in Tennis4You form, I see.
Here, let's see if I can do it also:
We obviously shouldn't forget the 3 stalwart unseeded players Nole had to beat, one of them, a surprise true champion challenger ringer who had never won a tour level match before this tournament, who somehow managed to get a set off Nole, which had to weaken Nole for his following matches. And don't forget the dangerous Benneteau who had previously beaten Nole the last time they met at Indian Wells. That proves the draw was extremely tough for Nole. Landmines everywhere. That he got through to the quarters was amazing.
Now some might say that neither player had to play a top 10 ranked player till the final. However, the #2 Djokovic had to unexpectedly face a dangerous near top 10 player in the semifinal, and an in form Cilic who was highly motivated to win his first match in 8 tries against Nole, while the #8 Federer was fortunate enough to play a top 20 player who must be close to retirement in the round of 16, and warm up in his first round against a poor unseeded player. Also as you mention, Kevin Anderson, though a top 20 player, definitely proved an easy QF opponent for Federer after he must have played way over his head beating undefeated in 2014 Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka, So definitely easy pickings there. And Dolgopolov definitely lost form after gaining confidence cruising through and winning every match he played after beating Nadal until he met Federer.
We can't forget that the #8 player had a projected much easier task facing the much less accomplished #2, while the #2 had an almost impossible task in facing the #8, who is acknowledged world wide as one of the greatest of all time and expected by many of his fans to play that great until he retires at 40 in another 7 years or so. For Nole to come through that was a near miracle. Well done, Mr. Djokovic!
Respectfully,
masterclass
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My story remains the same while you remain bitter. Your problem is, not only you were overly confident about a win by Federer, but you also wanted it so badly that you are not even seeing the obvious.
And you can be as sarcastic as you want but you did pick Benneteau to upset Nole, in case you need me to remind you. So you need to rewrite your own history there, buddy. You can't hype Benneteau up only to hype him down for your own argument's sake.
And I see both Cilic and Isner far more worthy opponents than both Dolgo and Anderson. Anyone who truly follows tennis should see it too - plain and simple. Dolgo is not even consistent to be a real threat and Anderson whilst he's playing really well lately, his win over Wawrinka was huge to pull another big upset right after. So as I see it, your Federer got lucky one too many times.
Anyway, sarcasm is only known as a defense mechanism. There's nothing more there. -
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Anyway, a couple of positives to take from Federer (for me anyway): first, he looked rather happy even after the loss. I take it he understood that Nole was the better player especially towards the end of the match, perhaps from 2nd set on. Second, his speech was nice so he was rather gracious in defeat. But of course he's won so much that any win at this point is just a pure bonus.
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Yes, your story is always the same and predictable. LOL I've been laughing for the better part of the last hour. Now you sure that I'm bitter. More mind reading. Maybe I can take notes. What sarcasm? I'm just using your own obviously impeccable reasoning to add support for your incredible story. Seems to work for you.
Anyway, I need to get back to the real world; things to do before bedtime. Have fun!
Respectfully,
masterclass
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Yes, your story is always the same and predictable. LOL I've been laughing for the better part of the last hour. Now you sure that I'm bitter. More mind reading. Maybe I can take notes. What sarcasm? I'm just using your own obviously impeccable reasoning to add support for your incredible story. Seems to work for you.
Anyway, I need to get back to the real world; things to do before bedtime. Have fun!
Respectfully,
masterclass
And that wasn't sarcasm at all. And what incredible story? The fact that I said that Nole path was tougher? Yes, it was. Maybe someday when you stop being a blind Federer supporter, you will see it too.
In the world I live in, Nole beat Cilic, Inser and Federer to win the title. And from the beginning of the 3rd set, he was always in winning position including the TB and that's the reality of it. -
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Sure General, no problem.
Read this about Becker's issues...
https://www.euroweeklynews.com/news/mallorca/itemlist/tag/Majorca
Respectfully,
masterclass
Wow! It's one thing to have a ton of money, but it's another thing to be able to manage it and be culpable for everything everyone else does, regarding permits, licenses, etc.
#GladI'mBroke. -
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Thanks for the stats General. Interesting match. Overall, Federer didn't play throughout the match as well as he did against Dolgopolov, especially on serve, but he wasn't poor either. Djokovic played better than he did the whole tournament, but still had lapses, but shorter in scope.
The result? A very even match. It could have gone either way in the end. Even stats, almost even # of games won/lost, almost even # of total points won, Djokovic 99 points, 98 for Federer.
Federer played well the first set, aggressively, charging the net at just the right times, while Djokovic looked nervous early and got broken, which was enough for Federer to take the set, as he continued to serve well at crucial times. He was over 70% won on both 1st and 2nd serves.
Federer seemed to let off the aggression pedal in the second, I don't why, and stayed back and rallied. His 1st serve also declined significantly. I think this let Djokovic back into the match, and Djokovic got stronger, more consistent and confident, while Federer looked weaker and more tired as rallies and points played longer. Djokovic broke Federer once and that was enough for the second.
Djokovic continued to look strong at the start of the third set, while Federer still seemed lost or tired or something, giving an early break to Djokovic, and it looked like that would be enough for Djokovic, until he tried to serve out the match. Then Federer, with his back against the wall, played some great attacking tennis, 3 points in succession for love-40, which seemed to startle Djokovic out of his zone of good play, and Federer broke him at 15 to even the match at 5-5.
Federer once again regained confidence serving to love in his next game for a 6-5 lead, but then looked disinterested on the Djokovic serve and seemed content to have it decided in the tiebreak. Not sure I agreed with that way of thinking, even at that moment, not after the fact. I think Federer was on a roll and should have gone all out as in the 4-5 game to break Djokovic. But he didn't. Perhaps the effort to break previously sapped him a bit, and he was saving himself energy.
Then the tiebreak was a poor effort from Federer. Djokovic didn't need to do much but play steady, as Federer had 4 unforced errors on his serve. One certainly can't expect to win a tiebreak like that.
Regardless, Djokovic did up his game in general from the previous matches in the tournament, still had some lapses here and there, but it did not deter him, and he won it in the end. Federer's play was up and down, brilliant at times, and then seemingly on cruise control at others. He did very well to break Djokovic at the end of the third, but didn't take advantage of that, and played a poor tiebreaker, and due to that did not deserve the victory. With his former career #1 tiebreaker record .649 pct, now #2 just behind Isner .650, who has played about 1/2 the tiebreakers Federer has, one would think he should have done better.
Congratulations to Nole, his fans, and his team. He should play with more confidence after this.
Commiserations to Roger and his supporters. I don't think this loss hurts him a lot. He played a good tournament, just missed, so his level looks good going into his next training block before his clay season starts in Madrid. He said he had not expected to be at his best level till after the next training block so to have these good results prior to that was a bit of a surprise to him.
Maybe General CETSVids will have the match and some interviews to share with us.
On to Miami!
Respectfully,
masterclass
I thought that was weird too. Federer was playing great and then stopped employing the very tactics that got him the first set. I also agree that Nole seemed unusually nervous in that first set, too. I wonder why? There seems to be a very strange dynamic between the two of them.
Overall, I thought it was pretty good quality regarding play, but full of fluctuating momentum.
Good showing from both and sets us up for great tennis moving forward.
This is going to be a very interesting tennis season. -
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Fully agree, Lady TT.
Nole summed it up pretty well in his interview (I've bolded some phrases for emphasis...):
"That was definitely a relief in the end of the match. The last point when he hit the backhand in the net, I just focused on each point individually. Didn't really try to think about what happened or what's going to happen, if it happens. I just tried to be in the present moment and that helped, especially in the tiebreak of the last set. "
"It was a very even match. One break was enough for him to win the first. It was exactly the same for me in the second. As I said before the match today, very few points will decide a winner, and that's what happened. "
"I know that he's not going to give me anything, you know. As the match progressed, I felt like he started to make a little bit more unforced errors, and it allowed me to step into the court. Of course when I served for the match, he played a fantastic game." "I made I think all my first serves in and he returned well, he was aggressive, he made a couple of winners. I couldn't do much about it." "I was under pressure. I managed to regroup and get into the tiebreak. That was absolutely great for me, I mean, from the first to the last point. "
"I'm just very happy and thrilled to be able to win the first title in this season. It was the first final that I played this year. It was necessary for my confidence, and hopefully I can carry that into Miami and the rest of the season."
Again, well done to Novak in another tough match between the two.
Oh, by the way, Novak also confirmed that though Boris Becker wasn't present, that he was on the phone with him and also he with Marian Vajda throughout the tournament. And that Boris would be in Miami. He also spoke about the relationship:
"Boris is new to our team, so it's still a process of getting to know each other, and, you know, people of course always question if Boris should be there or not be there, you know, now that Marian, first tournament he won the title with me, and Boris didn't do that in Australia and Dubai.
But, look, it's the start of the season. We are all working together as a team. It doesn't make any difference now. Boris is the head coach and Marian respects that, I respect that, and we hope for success. "
Oh, and before someone accuses me of being biased toward Novak, I'll include what Roger had to say about the match, mostly near the end of it:
"I think I played a good game to break back. Got the first serve returns back, and then played well from the baseline.
I think I was playing with the wind at that moment, as well. A bit more wind coming from my side, which made it more difficult for him maybe to serve it out.
It would have been easier for me to get on the offensive, you know, in the rallies. And then the same thing switched around in the breaker. He then played the first six points with the wind. He took advantage of that, and, you know, maybe against the wind that's when you have to get those easy points and those service winners I couldn't get and he couldn't get.
So it was an interesting end to the match, no doubt. But I think he played well, you know. At the end he made sure he kept the ball in play and I might have made a few too many errors when it really mattered.
But, you know, I think he made a crucial sort of 20 minutes, half an hour midway through the second set and third set where things could have gone either way. But credit to him for toughening it out and winning that second set and getting the breaker in the third."
Interesting that Federer gave his technical reasons regarding the wind why he was better able to do well and why Djokovic had a more difficult time in that game to break.
When asked about his satisfaction regarding his level of play, he responded:
"Yeah, very happy. I think I'm playing really good tennis. I'm moving well. Serving well, consistently well, you know.
So many things are working. I'm just surprised that I'm able to keep it up week for week now. I expected myself to have a breakthrough tournament, but then maybe a couple of early exits. Who knows, maybe that's all upon me, I don't know (smiling).
But overall I'm just happy I'm playing consistent tennis and I'm going deep in tournaments and I'm giving myself chances to win. So clearly would have been amazing to win here and win back to back tournaments with Dubai.
But I got very, very close, so it's encouraging for Miami and for the rest of the season, no doubt."
About playing or skipping Miami he said:
"I mean, normally I'll go. I'm going to leave tonight to Miami, and then I will see how I feel over there. But I will definitely go to that direction and have an event as well over there, so most likely, yes, I will play."
Respectfully,
masterclass
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Fully agree, Lady TT.
Nole summed it up pretty well in his interview (I've bolded some phrases for emphasis...):
"That was definitely a relief in the end of the match. The last point when he hit the backhand in the net, I just focused on each point individually. Didn't really try to think about what happened or what's going to happen, if it happens. I just tried to be in the present moment and that helped, especially in the tiebreak of the last set. "
"It was a very even match. One break was enough for him to win the first. It was exactly the same for me in the second. As I said before the match today, very few points will decide a winner, and that's what happened. "
"I know that he's not going to give me anything, you know. As the match progressed, I felt like he started to make a little bit more unforced errors, and it allowed me to step into the court. Of course when I served for the match, he played a fantastic game." "I made I think all my first serves in and he returned well, he was aggressive, he made a couple of winners. I couldn't do much about it." "I was under pressure. I managed to regroup and get into the tiebreak. That was absolutely great for me, I mean, from the first to the last point. "
"I'm just very happy and thrilled to be able to win the first title in this season. It was the first final that I played this year. It was necessary for my confidence, and hopefully I can carry that into Miami and the rest of the season."
Again, well done to Novak in another tough match between the two.
Oh, by the way, Novak also confirmed that though Boris Becker wasn't present, that he was on the phone with him and also he with Marian Vajda throughout the tournament. And that Boris would be in Miami. He also spoke about the relationship:
"Boris is new to our team, so it's still a process of getting to know each other, and, you know, people of course always question if Boris should be there or not be there, you know, now that Marian, first tournament he won the title with me, and Boris didn't do that in Australia and Dubai.
But, look, it's the start of the season. We are all working together as a team. It doesn't make any difference now. Boris is the head coach and Marian respects that, I respect that, and we hope for success. "
Oh, and before someone accuses me of being biased toward Novak, I'll include what Roger had to say about the match, mostly near the end of it:
"I think I played a good game to break back. Got the first serve returns back, and then played well from the baseline.
I think I was playing with the wind at that moment, as well. A bit more wind coming from my side, which made it more difficult for him maybe to serve it out.
It would have been easier for me to get on the offensive, you know, in the rallies. And then the same thing switched around in the breaker. He then played the first six points with the wind. He took advantage of that, and, you know, maybe against the wind that's when you have to get those easy points and those service winners I couldn't get and he couldn't get.
So it was an interesting end to the match, no doubt. But I think he played well, you know. At the end he made sure he kept the ball in play and I might have made a few too many errors when it really mattered.
But, you know, I think he made a crucial sort of 20 minutes, half an hour midway through the second set and third set where things could have gone either way. But credit to him for toughening it out and winning that second set and getting the breaker in the third."
Interesting that Federer gave his technical reasons regarding the wind why he was better able to do well and why Djokovic had a more difficult time in that game to break.
When asked about his satisfaction regarding his level of play, he responded:
"Yeah, very happy. I think I'm playing really good tennis. I'm moving well. Serving well, consistently well, you know.
So many things are working. I'm just surprised that I'm able to keep it up week for week now. I expected myself to have a breakthrough tournament, but then maybe a couple of early exits. Who knows, maybe that's all upon me, I don't know (smiling).
But overall I'm just happy I'm playing consistent tennis and I'm going deep in tournaments and I'm giving myself chances to win. So clearly would have been amazing to win here and win back to back tournaments with Dubai.
But I got very, very close, so it's encouraging for Miami and for the rest of the season, no doubt."
About playing or skipping Miami he said:
"I mean, normally I'll go. I'm going to leave tonight to Miami, and then I will see how I feel over there. But I will definitely go to that direction and have an event as well over there, so most likely, yes, I will play."
Respectfully,
masterclass
I have to admit that I was pretty surprised. I thought Nole would win outright with little doubt as to the winner, but Federer very nearly pulled it off. Those stats were crazy. The most even match I think I've ever seen. -
