Wimbledon: The Final 2

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

It is Federer/Djokovic in the final. I am going to talk about three of their previous matches from a position of unbias. Well, I will attempt to. Is "unbias" a word? I am sure it is. The problem with being a Federer fan is that I tend to be irritating. I know we are an annoying bunch. In fact, I can't stand certain Federer fans, but that is by the by. They have not always endured the best relationship. I will let Federer tell you all about it:

"I was just upset at him calling the trainer out for no obvious reason against my buddy, Stan, in a five setter," said Federer. "That was it. We had a quick chat about it in Madrid after that, and things are cool since a long time between me and him. I've always respected him. Have I gone out for dinner with him? No. But we have had many meetings at the players council, and then now with the grand slams. He's been nice to work with. We've met on several occasions because of other things together. I have no issues with him, and I hope you believe me."

The first one... Monte Carlo 2006. Federer defeated Djokovic 6-3/2-6/6-3 in one hour and forty-nine minutes. As a qualifier, Djokovic was dangerous, especially on clay. Federer went on to lose in four to Nadal in the final. Djokovic had beaten Bollelli and Zimonjic in straights to qualify. Who would have thought this would soon become one of the premier rivalries in the sport. It was full of long rallies and classic clay courting nous. Federer had a lull in the second but was too good in the first and third sets. It was a decent start to a classic rivalry but there was nothing to suggest just how big a rivalry it would become. Djokovic would go on to make the final of three tournaments -- the Dutch Open, Metz and Umag. He won two. He had a successful year, especially considering it was his first on the tour. He would slowly rise in 2007. Then suddenly he would shoot to the top and form "The Big 3." Who can forget all those years he was ranked 3-4?

The day the streak was broken: French Open 2011. A Federer supposedly on the way out outdoes Djokovic 7-6/6-3/3-6/7-6 in three hours and thirty-nine minutes. Their third-longest match and the longest outside of the US Open by some forty minutes. It can be summed up by this.



Federer's eerie calm throughout the match punctuated by moments of fiery passion proved too much for Djokovic. 43 matches in a row Djokovic won. Not even Nadal could solve him. It took Federer to finally beat him on his second-worst surface. Djokovic would go on to win the US Open to complete the three-peat. He would not get the Serena-Slam but he did win three in year. Federer would go on to have the worst year of his career.
In the match, Federer proved to be, if possible, almost more agile than Djokovic. His forehand was excellent and his defensive play was better than it had ever been. Djokovic did not know how to handle Federer. Federer aged pretty well but can you imagine if Federer had aged like Tina Turner? He'd be winning slams aged forty.

That forehand: US Open 2011. Djokovic won through 6–7/4-6/6-3/6–2/7–5 in three hours and fifty-one minutes. This was their longest match. Some say the forehand was skill, some say luck. I think it as desperation and I also think Djokovic thought he was finished. He just took a swing. He had given in. It could have gone anywhere. He essentially said "I don't really care," but then it landed in and it changed maybe the careers of both. Federer lead 5-3, 40/15 in that fifth set. The maestro could not close it out. Djokovic was out-classed here. Federer showed in the slams that year he was better than Djokovic over five. Federer would go on to have a stellar 2012 and reclaim the number one ranking. He could reclaim the number one ranking again this year. He would need a lot of luck, but he could do it. Djokovic has not looked the same since 2011. Maybe players have started to figure out how to play him. Maybe he just hasn't been able to recapture the magic. Who knows if he will ever win another slam?

But there were semifinals on Friday in several disciplines...


CENTRE COURT: FEDERER [4] D. [8] RAONIC
...Guess who get sent back to school. It was a grass court master class from the greatest grass player ever. Federer showed Raonic how one plays on grass. He showed the youngster that he is 32 years young. That is the best grass court match I have seen Federer play since 2008, I think. Perhaps the most flawless. Raonic was a bit nervous, yes, but he would not have beaten Federer in that mood. He won 6-4/6-4/6-4. The first two sets both took 34 minutes. The third was much quicker at 33 minutes. An hour and forty minutes of subtle demolition. Federer's defense was incredible. I love his chip return. Yes, it pales to near insignificance when compared to more aggressive returns. I think it is so old-school and it works so well against just about everybody. The other thing that was oh so impressive -- Federer's up the line backhand. Time and again Raonic would be sitting comfortably in the left hand corner hammering at Federer's backhand inside out. Then Federer would just redirect it down that wing. It wouldn't be too hard or too quick, just enough for the winner. A fantastic percentage shot and far away from the lines. He can use that against Djokovic. Raonic went 36-17 in the winners with 17 aces thrown in. Federer managed just 32-11 with 6 aces only. The stats say Raonic looked good. That's because he was dominant on a lot of his service games. Federer just picked his moments. Here is a stat that shows you what really happened -- Federer had to save one break point and did so. Raonic had to save seven and did so four times. I have also stolen data from Wimbledon to present to you in a table like fashion:

1st Serves in: (Federer) 52/80 = 65%; (Raonic) 46/84 = 55%
1st Serve pts won: (Federer) 42/52 = 81%; (Raonic) 37/46 = 80%
2nd Serve pts won: (Federer) 19/28 = 68%; (Raonic) 19/38 = 50%

Raonic may well make the semifinals of the US Open. He may well win the whole thing. Tomorrow, however, is not to be his day.
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CENTRE COURT: DJOKOVIC [1] D. [12] DIMITROV
...Dimitrov had it. He had the fourth set and then he didn't. Dimitrov played a fairly good match he just did not quite get over the hill this time. After losing the first set and being very nervy during it, Dimi improved. The hunk managed to take the second set. From there it became a three set match. And Djokovic needed two breakers to triumph. On another day he might not have. Yes, there were some very bad games from Dimitrov [three doubles to go down love/40] but he really acquitted himself well. In the end, Djokovic proved to be too good. Down 6-3 in that breaker he won it 9-7. He was mentally strong enough to win the breaker despite having one of his match points saved. Djokovic looked a little off the pace. Grass is his worst surface, he just outstrips such a large majority of the field so it becomes irrelevant. If he played a Kohlschreiber or a Petzschner or a Roddick early on he would really struggle. Stepanek nearly took him to five. Djokovic will use his backhand up the line to out-do Federer. Djokovic has been serving big and that will help him. He served pretty big against Dimitrov -- 17 aces to 15. Djokovic has also been returning well. Surprise, surprise.

I know you want another fun little table. Well here is one.

Winners: (Djokovic) 45; (Dimitrov) 48
Unforced Errors: (Djokovic) 26; (Dimitrov) 33
Total Points Won: (Djokovic) 140; (Dimitrov) 136

Dimitrov will go away in the world's top ten. That will mean he will be consistently a top two seed at 250 tournaments. I think he will win at
least two more titles this year. I think he will crack the top five before the Olympics. I think he will also win a slam before we have a Republican president. Yeah, I know what a bold statement that is. I'm going to go off topic here and say that one of my big fears is the Republicans getting elected again.
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Any other notes?

* - Federer's total of 17 grand slams will never be matched if he wins on Sunday. I just don't think anyone will be that dominant again. It can happen in the women's game, but Federer's 2004-2007 sphere of dominance was almost uninterrupted. If Nadal had not been around, it would have been like the Graf or Navratilova days of the WTA.

* - Raonic now has big match experience.There is only one stage bigger than the Wimbledon semi-finals. I think even other grand slam finals may not be of more importance.

* - Dimitrov seems to have no weakness in his game. The double-faults were a little alarming but other than that he seems to have a finely sculpted game style. It seems Sharapova has been working on the mental side.

* - Serena Williams is rumoured to be pregnant. No comment.

* - I like Roger Rasheed. Maybe it is because we both have Australian passports or because he knows his stuff. Can I hire him? To be honest I don't need a coach, I need mental sports therapy. My shot selection is terrible. Ahem.

* - Jimmy Connors is another great American commentator. Yes, there are some shocking ones, Todd can attest to that [Wickmayer Gate] but there are a lot of fantastic commentators. Navratilova and Connors I like very much, with Chris Evert. My favourite, and it's not close, is Jim Courier. He makes me laugh and he explains the game so clearly. Even my friends who don't know anything about tennis can get a good decent understanding of why Nadal is so dominant on clay.

* - This year marks 50 years since Barbra Streisand sang "People." Yes, that has nothing to do with tennis. Babs has been in showbiz some 65 years. I'd be relatively happy if I lived that long. I found a way it related to tennis:




...My pick? Federer in four. Federer will use his backhand up the line to defeat Djokovic. He will return well and he will attack the net well. I think Djokovic will actually struggle to pass Federer. Djokovic is not a grass courter and Federer will use old school tricks to win through. Federer is old, yes, and he is not as good as he was, yes, but nobody will ever be as good as Federer was. Djokovic will make him run, will make him hit one more ball. I just think an on-sons Federer is too good.

Thanx all and visit WTABACKSPIN please.

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