ROGER FEDERER CUTS DJOKOVIC TO THE QUICK AS HE SEALS A RECORD 7TH CINCY TITLE BY ROS SATAR

Written by: Staff on 23rd August 2015

ROGER FEDERER CUTS DJOKOVIC TO THE QUICK AS HE SEALS A RECORD 7TH CINCY TITLE BY ROS SATAR

epa04895270 Roger Federer of Switzerland holds the winner's trophy after winning it by defeating Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the final of the Western & Southern Open at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Mason, near Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 23 August 2015. EPA/TANNEN MAURY |

Although neither man would admit to it during the week, there was always a lot at stake this week. For World No. 1 Novak Djokovic – it was a chance to become the first man to own all nine Masters titles within his Career. While we are on the subject, this is a Career Masters, not Golden anything!

In the disturbingly pink corner though was Roger Federer, who still had a chance to steal the No. 2 seeding for the US Open with the defence of his title. Again, let’s be honest with ourselves. Players at the level brush off the angst and wailing of their fans at the forthcoming draw of a Slam. Andy Murray wryly commented that people would stress about the toughest draw ever and then within a couple of days could be cheering his best chance to win the Slam – at the stage, with players this elite, it really does not matter.

Maybe some players are big-vibe players. Andy Murray has always enjoyed the energy of the Australian Open and the US Open, loud, brash and always on the move. Whereas Federer likened the quieter Cincinnati as a little like home, given his performance this week, don’t lets underestimate the power of a settling environment.

Whatever this quiet part of the Midwest has, it brought out the clinically aggressive in Federer has he not only denied Djokovic the one Masters title that eludes him, but left him to ruefully admit that after five attempts in the final – he probably needs to wait for Federer to retire.

The courts here suit this uber-aggressive returning he has been playing with, and he admitted it was fun for him to try and do, to figure out when to do it, and that it means he has to be super-committed.

But come New York where the pace of the courts favour other players and are not so quick, it will be fascinating to see if Federer adopts that same tactic once more.

For Djokovic, twice now he has been denied two of the sport’s most glittering prizes that are missing from his collection, beaten by Stan Wawrinka in the French Open final, and now by Federer in Cincinnati.

Djokovic said: “I think he’s more aggressive here than in any other tournament because the surface and conditions allow him to play very fast. He generally copes well with the fast balls, fast game. He likes this rhythm.

I don’t too much. It was right tactics for him. I knew coming into the match he was going to be aggressive. No question about it. So I tried to handle. I’ve done well until the tiebreak first set; after that, he was just the better player.

He continued: “This year I got to the finals, step closer. Let’s see. I’m going to keep going, keep fighting to make the history. Obviously it’s a great incentive and inspired me to come back and play my best tennis.”

For Federer, all the stars aligned in what has been great preparation for the US Open. Wisely giving the prospect of back-to-back Masters a miss, when you watch Djokovic and Murray labour on court, you have to credit the guy with perhaps good sense, at this stage in his career.

“I just realised over all the years that I’ve played it’s just really difficult to win back‑to‑back Montréal and Cincinnati, or Toronto and Cincinnati for that matter. So I just chose to roll the dice a little bit and see how things were going to go. If they went great here then it was a great plan. If not, I was going to go back and practice and be really motivated for the US Open to start.

“Now I’ve got the confidence, I’ve got the matches, and I’m actually still feeling really fresh even after this week, because the matches have been rather short. And because I didn’t play both tournaments, I can really pace myself next week and see how much practice I actually really need. It’s more about getting used to the different surface speed, and then switching to different balls, which I think is usually going to always be the biggest change to us, the players.”

But by the same token – trying new things which made it ‘fun’ for him was the key to success this week, but he is not letting it go to his head.

“I’m not going to play the way they like it. I’ll always come out and make it an athletic match or make it uncomfortable in the sense that they don’t know what’s coming.

“Can’t always do it. Some surfaces allow you to do it better than others, but this week it worked out well. Let’s be honest, I didn’t do it on every single second serve, but I was very aggressive the second serves, and I am happy to see that actually it’s also a way forward for me, because for quite a long time my career I was very content to chip it and be aggressive with the forehand. I’m doing different things now on the backhand, which is really good, I think.”

Looking forward of course to the US Open, the No. 2 seeding takes some of the pressure off, not matter how many times players tell us they don’t look at the draw.

“I think No. 2, 3 doesn’t really matter. Now it’s out of the question. I won’t see [Djokovic] before the finals. To be quite honest, I don’t think that far ahead because I haven’t been in a final since 2009.

“So I got my work cut out. A lot of guys are really eager to do well at the Open as well, and usually everybody does play well in New York. It’s a fast surface, good court. Everybody knows it’s your last chance to do well at a slam or win a slam. So there are not really easy matches out there. Just want to make sure I get going good at the very beginning.”

Federer Tidbits

Federer held 49 times with no breaks of his serve to win the title. The last time he did that was in 2012, with 47 holds, on the way to the title.

He wraps up the No. 2 seeding for the US Open, and regains the World No. 2 ranking from Andy Murray – although there is consolation for the Brit who tops the US Open Series Bonus Challenge

Federer was seeded second when he won his last US Open title in 2008, where he beat Murray in the final.

Djokovic and Federer are second in the Most Open Era Match-ups – just three meetings behind Djokovic v Rafael Nadal. The pair’s respective coaches (Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg) met 35 times.

Topics: Atp World Tour, Cincinnati, Cincy tennis final, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Ros Satar, sports news, Tennis, Western and Southern Open

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10sBalls_com says:

August 23, 2015 at 2:45 pm

-@rogerfederer CUTS @DjokerNole TO THE QUICK AS HE SEALS A RECORD 7TH @CincyTennis TITLE BY @rfsatar- http://t.co/zC94io6zZW #Federer #ATP
ElenaFoundation says:

August 24, 2015 at 5:10 am

@rogerfederer wins his 7th #Cincinnati title – Congratulations! http://t.co/TlPQVNRRKM (via @10sBalls_com)