Storms rumbled over Roland Garros on Friday afternoon, delaying the start of the semi-final between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. Those hoping that that we would witness an encounter as epic as last year’s were disappointed, as the Serbian world No.1 ran out a comfortable winner, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 winner in 2 hours 5 minutes.
That today’s semi-final did not live up to last year’s is hardly surprising. How could it? After all, lightning does not strike twice. There was to be no heroic performance from the 30-year-old Swiss this year; no holding back the sands of time. Instead, it was the 25-year-old Djokovic who made his seeding tell.
Djokovic more consistent
The reigning Wimbledon, US and Australian Open champion marches on to what promises to be a fabulous final, one that will go down in history come what may, either via a record-breaking seventh Roland Garros title for Rafael Nadal or a ‘Novak Slam’ for the Serb, who would become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four majors titles at the same time. As for Federer, the question has to be: will we see him again in a French Open final?
On too many occasions it felt like today's match was being lost rather than won, as Federer’s game failed him at all the vital times. Take nothing away from Djokovic, who was much more consistent than in his last two matches in which Andreas Seppi then Jo-Wilfried Tsonga took him the distance, but he was as much a spectator of the Swiss’ self-inflicted downfall as the rest of us. Djokovic let the victory come to him, intelligently, and applied the coup de grace when he needed to.
Despite reaching the semis, Roger Federer had not had the best of tournaments, requiring extra sets in the early rounds and five to down a diminished Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarter-final. True, he was appearing in his 31st Grand Slam semi-final and his eighth against Novak – both of those being records – but we had not been witnessing the Roger of old, virtually infallible and ruthless on the big points.
The first two sets were very much a reflection of Federer’s up-and-down form. At times breathtakingly brilliant, he won some points that were superb in their audacity and execution, only to follow them up with uncharacteristic unforced errors – 17 in the first set and 18 in the second. The No.3 seed would carve out breaks – one in the first set and no fewer than three in the second – and then promptly hand them all back as his mistimed drives sailed long and wide. His first service percentage, only 55% all match long, certainly did not help him either.
46 unforced errors
It was difficult to grasp quite why the Swiss was so off-kilter today. The wind was a factor certainly, gusty and unpleasant at times, and Djokovic forced him back, but more often than not it seemed a matter of timing. The Serb in contrast kept his own unforced errors down to only three in the first set, and though that figure had risen to 13 by the end of the second, he kept his mind resolutely on the job. More focused than against Seppi and Tsonga, he had the look of a champion again, breaking at 5-4 to take the first set and then coming back from 4-2 down to win the second 7-5.
In the third set things went from bad to worse for Federer as he fell apart at 2-2, handing Djokovic three quick games, and a 5-2 score-line became 6-3 when a big service sealed the match for the grateful Serb. Perhaps the most telling statistic at the end of the match was the total unforced error count, with Federer guilty of a whopping 46 compared with Djokovic’s 17. To win tennis matches you need to keep the ball in the court, whatever the level, and the usually metronomic Swiss simply did not manage to do that today.
Djokovic knows he will not be the recipient of such largesse from the ultra-impressive Rafael Nadal on Sunday. That match will be a whole different ball game, and what a contest it promises to be…
via http://www.rolandgarros.com
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