Cincinnati Masters, Day 7 Action: Roger Federer Wins 16th Masters 1000 Title
August 23, 2009 · Print This Article
Cincinnati—An early afternoon setting in Mason, Ohio was the perfect back drop for a battle between two of the game’s elite. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic had not only played each other at the grandest stages on the planet—they were also well groomed to the high pressures of numerous top tier finals.
Federer had lost the last two meetings to Djokovic in 2009; the Serb was in desperate need of a caffeine boast in his game heading into New York.
The match-up was set, and the combatants did not disappoint.
Although the first set was done faster than the fans could say “The Western & Southern Financial Group Masters,” Federer blew through Djokovic in less than half an hour.
The care-free swagger of Roger Federer was back. Playing with no pressure, the Swiss allocated all of his fine-tuned resources to picking apart his formidable opponent.
Taking full swings off the Djokovic serve, Federer readily hit his backhand up-the-line on deuce side, only to follow up his pin-point return with a deft volley cross-court.
Djokovic was in trouble—everyone in the crowd knew it—including the Serb’s cheering section.
After being broken on two occasions in the first set, which featured Federer winning 89 percent of his first serve points, Djokovic converted his once defined concrete game-style into a 3-0 second set lead.
The one glaring deferential when Djokovic’s takes the court nowadays is his uncertainly towards point construction.
When he first stepped on tour, Djokovic was a brash, let-loose type of player with the whole world in front of him. However, since his victory in Melbourne at the beginning of 2008, the role of being the hunted has not been an easy one to digest.
The criticisms to the Djokovic game have been evident throughout the 2009 season. He has been present in many major finals, but has consistently come up short.
Today’s final in Cincinnati proclaimed the continued confusion of the young Serb’s game—he went onto squander his 3-0 lead, only to be broken at 5-6 serving.
Final score: 6-1, 7-5.
The win for Federer became his fourth tournament title in his last five outings. The Swiss will now head to New York as the unanimous favorite in his quest to add onto his legacy of 15 Grand Slam titles. He also captured his first title as a father.
“Yeah I think that’s the special part, especially winning for the first time as a dad. It’s a great thing,” said Federer.
“Gets me going emotionally a little bit, because I know it’s been a wonderful summer. And going through all of what I’ve been through and then now right away having success again, it’s a great moment in my career again.”
By contrast, Djokvoic falls to 2-8 on the year in final appearances. Although Djokovic’s employment on Sunday leads the tour this year, losing on six occasions is never a stat a player will be proud off.
How do I sum up Djokovic’s chances heading into the US Open? Much better than when he entered Mason, Ohio.
At the very least, Djokovic heads into NYC with a few more wins under his belt. His confidence is not sky-high by any means, but at least he has a better gauge into what he needs to work on going into the final Grand Slam of the season.
Simply put, Djokovic needs to get back on the road to being aggressive, taking initiative in points, and not allowing his opponents the luxury of a free-for-all on his service games.
Project Todd Martin is upon us.
“Yeah, it’s gonna be next week. But I’m not stopping with my coach, because I have seen the media talking about me stopping with Marian Vajda,” said Djokovic.
“Todd being two time finalist of a the Grand Slams and being top 5 player and playing on a highest tennis level, professional tennis level for a long time, makes him very experienced. I’m very, very happy, and I’m really looking forward to it. He’s got a lot of ideas and things I can improve on, a lot of things in my game. One week is not gonna be enough for all of that, but it’s a process.”
Finally, the word “process” becomes a part of the Djokovic lingo. Yes, it’s a process, this game of tennis, and believe it or not Djokovic must start from the bottom up, in order get his game back to its prominence of 2008. In fact, he will have to improve on every facet of his game in order to achieve what he once did, because everyone around him has improved considerably.
Well folks, another Masters 1000 event is in the bag. Roger Federer not only captured his 16th Masters 1000 title this week, he also solidified his standing as a dominate favorite heading to his record sixth straight title at Flushing Meadows.
Please check back on Monday, when I will shift gears to New Haven, Connecticut and the Pilot Penn Tennis event. Stay tuned tennis fans, the US Open is creeping up quickly, and many fantastic story-lines await. Cheers.
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