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Wimbledon 2015: Men's final preview

Roar Guru
11th July, 2015
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After two weeks of highly entertaining tennis from the world’s leading men, this year’s Wimbledon Championships will reach its climax with a repeat of last year’s classic championship decider between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

World number one Djokovic has moved on from his French Open disappointment with minimal fuss, reaching his fourth Wimbledon final in the last five years. Federer will attempt to add to his Grand Slam tally of 17 which has remained the same since he last won at the All England Club in 2012.

If last year’s five-set final is anything to go by, then the potential is there for yet another thrilling episode in the Djokovic-Federer rivalry as both men will do all they can to win the most prestigious Grand Slam title on offer.

Let’s now preview the 2015 Wimbledon men’s final in full detail.

Novak Djokovic (1) versus Roger Federer (2)
Head-to-head
Overall: Federer 20-19
At Grand Slams: tied, 6-all
In Grand Slam finals: tied, 1-all
In finals overall: Djokovic 9-5
At Wimbledon: tied, 1-all

Last meeting: Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, final, 2015 Rome Masters

Novak Djokovic’s road to the final
Round 1: defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
Round 2: defeated Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 6-2, 6-3
Round 3: defeated Bernard Tomic (27) 6-3, 6-3, 6-3
Round 4: defeated Kevin Anderson (14) 6-7 (6-8), 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 6-4, 7-5
Quarter-finals: defeated Marin Cilic (9) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
Semi-finals: defeated Richard Gasquet (21) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, 6-4

Roger Federer’s road to the final
Round 1: defeated Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 6-3
Round 2: defeated Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
Round 3: defeated Sam Groth 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2
Round 4: defeated Roberto Bautista-Agut (20) 6-2, 6-2, 6-3
Quarter-finals: defeated Gilles Simon (12) 6-3, 7-5, 6-2
Semi-finals: defeated Andy Murray (3) 7-5, 7-5, 6-4

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Preview
For just the third time since Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal contested the last of their three classic finals at the All England Club in 2008, the world’s top two men will fight it out for the Wimbledon title, and if their form over the last fortnight is anything to go by, then we could be in for yet another classic men’s decider.

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer have cleared all before them to set up the first repeat final at the Championships in seven years, thus showing why they have reigned as the world’s top two men since October last year.

Djokovic breezed through his opening three rounds without encountering much trouble until he found himself two sets to love down against Kevin Anderson in the fourth round and with their match being suspended at two-sets all on Monday.

That left the whole tennis world holding their breaths for 24 hours before the Djoker was able to complete the comeback win the following day, keeping his Wimbledon title defence on track and releasing the tension among his fans in the process.

The Serb returned to his destructive best in the quarter and semi-finals, defeating Marin Cilic and Richard Gasquet both in straight sets and being broken just once across those two matches.

Meanwhile, Roger Federer continues to prove that he isn’t a spent force in men’s tennis just yet, even though his 34th birthday is only a month away.

The Swiss Maestro has dropped serve just once throughout the entire tournament and also dropped only one set, against Sam Groth in Round 3, en route to his tenth Wimbledon final in the last 13 years.

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Federer couldn’t have performed better in the semi-finals when he defeated Andy Murray in straight sets, doing so without being threatened on his serve. This left the Scot surprised at how well the Swiss Maestro played, even at his age.

Not only does Federer have the chance to add to his Grand Slam tally which has remained at 17 since claiming his most recent Wimbledon title in 2012, he also has the chance to break Pete Sampras’ record of seven Wimbledon titles, which has stood since 2000, three years before Federer won his first title at SW19.

So, will the lure of making more Wimbledon history drive Federer to title number eight at the All England Club and eighteen overall, or will Novak Djokovic successfully retain his title and level his rivalry with the Fed Express at 20-all?

Stats that matter
* This will be Roger Federer’s 10th Wimbledon final and 26th Grand Slam final overall, while for Novak Djokovic this will be his fourth and 17th in these respective categories. Both are aiming for their 18th and ninth Grand Slam titles respectively.
* This will be their 40th meeting overall, thirteenth at Grand Slam level and 15th in any final, but just their third meeting in a Grand Slam final.
* This is the first Grand Slam final this millennium to pit two fathers head-to-head.
* This is the first repeat final at any Grand Slam tournament since Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal contested two consecutive US Open finals in 2010 and 2011.
* This is the first repeat Wimbledon final since Federer and Nadal contested three consecutive finals between 2006 and 2008.
* Novak Djokovic is attempting to become the first man since Roger Federer in 2003-2007 to win consecutive Wimbledon titles.
* Roger Federer is attempting to break Pete Sampras’ record of seven Wimbledon titles, and can further extend the record for most Grand Slam titles by a man to 18.
* Only Rafael Nadal (six times) has beaten Roger Federer more than once in a Grand Slam final.

The verdict
It will be hard to predict a winner with any real confidence, not only on the basis of both Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer’s form over the last fortnight, but also in their overall rivalry which Federer just leads 20-19.

While Federer may have been unable to mount the Wimbledon dais since he last won here in 2012, he has shown why he has won the tournament seven times, and will be out to win perhaps one last Wimbledon title before he retires.

Djokovic, on the other hand, couldn’t have been in good form this year, despite being set back by another failure at the French Open where he lost to Stan Wawrinka in the final in four sets. The Djoker has moved on as if that never happened, and will be eager to continue adding to his Grand Slam tally of eight.

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Prediction
Novak Djokovic in five sets.

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