Novak Djokovic def Roger Federer in the US Open final – 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-4
Novak Djokovic has again denied Roger Federer another slice of tennis history to land his second US Open crown in New York.
The world No.1 repelled a spirited fight-back from Federer to carve out a 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-4 victory in a riveting final at Flushing Meadows.
Djokovic’s triumph secured the 28-year-old Serb his 10th grand slam title, placing him alongside American 1920s champion Bill Tilden in equal seventh place on the all-time men’s grand slam leaderboard.
At 34, Federer had been bidding to become the oldest US Open men’s champion in 45 years.
But just as he did at Wimbledon, Djokovic crushed the superstar Swiss’s hopes of an 18th major with a pulsating four-set victory.
Federer’s latest near-miss will inevitably again raise questions about whether the father of four and arguably the game’s greatest ever player will win another slam.
While Federer has managed just one grand slam crown in almost six years, Djokovic has now amassed nine in that time.
One more and Djokovic will join legends Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg with 11 majors such is the Serb’s growing standing among the pantheon of greats.
Only Federer (17), Rafael Nadal (14), Pete Sampras (14) and Roy Emerson (12) have accrued more.
A long standing and fierce rivalry continues at the 2015 US Open Final. Can Novak Djokovic win his third grand slam of the year, or will Roger Federer win his first since 2012? Join The Roar to find out with live scores from 6am (AEST).
For the second time this year Djokovic and Federer will face off in a grand slam final.
Djokovic has had an incredible year so far, having taken out both the Australian Open and the championships at Wimbledon, with a runner’s up performance in the middle at the French Open. This has all handed him the number one seed for the US Open and he has stuck true to his form, making the final.
Here he will play the number two seed Roger Federer who is on the hunt for his sixth US Open crown. He had what you would call an ordinary start to the grand slam year, before he bounced back at Wimbledon losing the final to Djokovic.
Djokovic’s run through the US Open has been as easy as you can get of course being the first seed. However, he has been playing excellent tennis and it is no fluke that he is into his fourth grand slam final for the year. Across his six matches he has only lost two sets and has been very, very dominant.
He has only been taken to a tie-breaking set once and his semi-final win against ninth seed Marin Cilic was a straight sets win, only dropping three games along the way, taking out the victory 6-0, 6-1, 6-2.
However, Federer will prove a much stiffer opposition and has also been in excellent form, not dropping a set at all on his way through the US Open. While he has been pushed in some of the sets, not dropping a set across six matches is an awesome record.
It becomes an even better record when you consider he has faced off against the likes of Stan Wawrinka, Richard Gasquet and John Isner in the last three rounds.
Djokovic and Federer have played a staggering 43 matches against each other so there is no element of surprise heading into this one. Of that Djokovic holds the upper hand, having won 22 compared to Federer’s 21. Of that 32 matches have been on hard courts and the ledger is square at 16 games all.
At the US Open, the pair have previously met five times. The first of these was in the 2007 final, Federer winning that one in straight sets. Since then they have played in four semi-finals, Federer winning the first two, and Djokovic winning the later two.
This year, they have played five times. Djokovic leads the ledger 3-2 including the final at Wimbledon, however their last game at Cincinnati on the hard court was a straight sets win for Federer.
Prediction: There really isn’t much to separate the pair heading into this game. However, based on the match played at Cincinnati earlier in the year and the complete domination of Federer against the likes of Wawrinka I’ll tip him to break his three year grand slam duck.
Federer in five sets.
Join The Roar for live scores of the US Open men’s final from 6am (AEST) and don’t forget to leave your comments in the section below.
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