If he’d just gone inside-in…

Written by: Tennischiro on 11th September 2011

If he'd just gone inside-in…

Roger Federer of Switzerland hits a return to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their Semifinal round match on the thirteenth day of the 2011 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA 10 September 2011. The US Open has been extended due to weather for the fourth year in a row and the men's final will now be played on 12 September 2011. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO |

I looked at that point again and if he had just gone inside-in to the deuce corner, he’d have gone over the lower part of the net and we wouldn’t have to be in mourning. We’ll nobody died, but a quest for another major just did. It seemed to me that Nole was guessing ad corner anyway. Either way, Roger should have made that shot. He wouldn’t admit to anything in the post match interview, but I could swear he looked just a little bit irritated before he made the 40-30 serve. The return on the first match point was tremendous, but I think Djokovic won the match when he asked for the applause. And got it. Great shot! OK! But Roger had to stop and refocus and, instead, he was just a little bit irritated or at least distracted by Novak’s showmanship. And in that moment, Djokovic thought, …no, knew that he had Federer. At least he knew he had a chance. What if Roger had just tried four 135mph serves at 40-15! He would have made one!

After the break at the beginning of the third set, Roger looked like he was out of gas. Roger wouldn’t admit to that either, but it was pretty obvious to those of us on the outside looking in. Djokovic got ahead early in the 4th and Roger was just trying to regroup. In fact, Roger probably was trying every game in the 4th set and that may have hurt him late in the fifth set. The “aerobic system” I talked about yesterday finally kicked in and with a little adrenalin and help from the crowd, Roger was able to pull it together for the fifth. But he had no reserves. Once Djokovic survived the match points and got Roger to play one long tough point, it was all over but the scorekeeping.

Where Djokovic’s confidence is now, I don’t see how Nadal stands a chance Monday night. Forget Monday night, I wouldn’t be surprised if Djokovic doesn’t lose another match the rest of the year. You have to give him credit. He looked the dark,dismal face of defeat right in the eye and laughed; he even admitted the return was a little bit lucky. But he tried it. He embraced the moment. Nole will win his first US Open championship on Monday night. And probably not his last!

Where do I sign up for that gluten-free diet?

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