You have to admire Roger Federer’s optimism.
The Swiss has lost four of his past five duels against Novak Djokovic, all finals, including Wimbledon and the US Open, and he trails the world No 1 by 7,945 points on the ATP Tour rankings.
Yet, when asked about Djokovic’s dominance of men’s tennis and the distance between him and the Serb, the world No 3 said: “I don’t think I’m that far off.
“Then again, let’s speak in two days,” said the Swiss, who started his 14th consecutive ATP World Tour Finals campaign with a 6-4, 6-2 triumph of Tomas Berdych on Sunday.
Federer’s next opponent is the three-time defending champion Djokovic, who notched his 15th straight finals win, another record in the 45-year history of the year-end championship, with a merciless 6-1, 6-1 demolition of No 8 seed Kei Nishikori.
Federer said his match against Djokovic tonight “is not the match that I care the most about, to be quite honest” and that “it’s going to be interesting to see how I play that one. I’m curious to find out myself”.
Federer, of course, can be excused for not sounding terribly excited about his 43rd duel against Djokovic.
Thirty-seven of their past 38 matches have been either semis (21) or finals (16) – the lone exception is their opening Group B clash on Day 2 of the 2013 World Tour Finals.
Since then, Djokovic and Federer have played each other 11 times, excluding last year’s Tour final when an injured Federer conceded a walkover, and the Serb has a slight 6-5 lead in head-to-head meetings during this period, during which he has lost only 13 of 153 matches, won 17 titles, including four of his 10 grand slams and 10 of his 26 Masters 1000 titles, and hogged the No 1 ranking.
Who is next best on that list with most wins against Djokovic during the past 24 months? Stan Wawrinka with two from six matches.
Andy Murray, the current No 2, has only one win in 11 attempts against Djokovic during this period, while Rafael Nadal has one win from six matches. So much for that elite Big Four, or Big Five now, we reminiscence about.
So Federer, as these numbers suggest, is not really being delusional in saying he is “not that far off”.
He is the only player to consistently trouble Djokovic during his run of dominance, particularly in best-of-three set matches.
The Serb has won the big ones – two Wimbledon and a US Open final – but the Swiss has won five of the eight best-of-three-set matches, including three at the Masters.
Remember the Indian Wells final between the two earlier this year? Djokovic was serving at 5-4 in the second set tie-break after winning the first 6-3, but double-faulted twice in row.
The Serb did go on to win the match in three sets, but as he sat on his chair after losing that second set, he struggled to take a sip off his bottle because his hands, usually the steadiest pair in the business, were shaking violently. Earlier in that match, the usually unflappable Djokovic wrecked a racquet in a fit of rage.
Then in August, in the final of the Cincinnati Masters, Federer unleashed his SABR (Sneak Attack by Roger) on an unsuspecting Djokovic, which involves him moving forward towards the edge of the service box on an opponent’s second service, and cruised to victory in straight sets.
The world No 1 has won 23 matches in succession since and could stretch that streak further tonight, but Federer does manage to upset his Zen-like rhythm as much as anyone.
So, while he might not have sounded too excited about this clash, it should still be an engrossing battle.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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