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Once Again, It's Federer
Roger Federer faced several match points in the first two sets erased all of them, showing the craft and cool that have allowed him to hold the No. 1 ranking for the past 188 weeks, the longest run by any man or woman.
(Kevin Lamarque - Reuters)
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Djokovic could have been despondent or proud afterward. He chose pride.
"This has been one of the best tournaments for me -- one of the most amazing experience," Djokovic said.
Djokovic proved that Federer finally has a worthy foil on hard courts. But in rising to the challenge, Federer proved that he has yet another dimension of greatness -- one he doesn't waste on lesser talents.
It was fascinating to watch Federer, knocked on his heels, facing set point, conjure winners time and again. Djokovic helped by double-faulting or erring on several backhands, to be sure. But Federer won the match more than Djokovic lost it.
Still, there was a foreboding message amid the straight-sets victory. If Federer is to surpass Sampras's mark of 14 Grand Slam titles, he'd better do it soon. At the rate Djokovic is improving, Federer's perch atop tennis may not be safe much longer.
Djokovic had an easier time holding serve than Federer in the opening set, but they stayed even until 5-5, when the Swiss was broken on two uncharacteristic forehand errors.
Serving for the match at 6-5, Djokovic bolted to a 40-love lead. He failed to capitalize, squandering five set points in all -- the last on a double-fault.
The wind picked up during the tiebreak that followed, as did the Serb's nerves. He double-faulted twice to give the set away.
The second set mirrored the first. Djokovic again had two set points with the Swiss serving at 5-6. That's when Federer came up with his sixth ace, and a Djokovic forehand sailed long by no more than the width of a racket string.
"He had his chances today -- many of them," Federer said. "You could sing a song about it. It's a tough one for him to swallow, because especially him losing in the end, straight sets."
