Roger vs. Rafa Final Showdown In London

By Sean Rudolph
© Grand Slams Facebook

(November 27, 2010) Slashing across the blue court with the severity of a scar, Roger Federer ravaged Novak Djokovic 6-1, 6-4, to set up a blockbuster ATP World Tour Finals title match against Rafael Nadal at the 02 Arena in London on Sunday. Rafa and Roger will renew their rivalry in a rematch of the classic 2008 Wimbledon final. It will be the 18th final face-off in the storied Federer-Nadal rivalry.

It marks the first time since 1986 when Ivan Lendl played Boris Becker that the world's top two men have squared off in the year-end title match.

World No. 1 Nadal held off a tenacious Andy Murray, 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(6), in today's pulsating opening semifinal to advance to his first career season-ending final.

Four-time tournament champion Federer is bidding to become the first man to win ATP World Tour Finals titles in three different cities. He captured consecutive championships in Houston in 2003-2004, lost a dramatic five-set final to David Nalbandian in the 2005 final and beat James Blake and David Ferrer in successive Shanghai finals in 2006 and 2007.

Continuing the dynamic brand of tennis he's brought to the blute stage this week, Federer burst out of the blocks, slamming and ace and following with a forehand winner to hold at love and ignite what would be a sustained level of quality shotmaking that left Djokovic reduced to admiring smiles at times.

"Every ball kind of listens to him," Djokovic said. "I think he was playing unbelievable from the first moment. He was playing smart. He was coming in. He didn't give me any time to try to get into the match. In just half an hour, it was already 6-1."

Running down a drop shot, Djokovic looked startled by Federer's sudden movement at net and steered a forehand reply wide, giving Federer break point.

On a second serve, Djokovic tried to drive a flat one up the middle but found the top of the tape with a 115 mph delivery, handing Federer the break and a 2-0 lead.

The feel Federer has for the ball was evident early when he danced into a backhand half volley he turned into a slice winner and followed with a serve-and-volley winner for 30-0. Djokovic responded with two deep returns and created an open-court opportunity with an inside-out forehand only to badly bungle a forehand volley into net as Federer shot out to a 3-0 advantage.

Playing determined defense, Federer broke open the point slashing a backhand winner up the line for deuce. When a Federer mis-hit floated wide, Djokovic raised his arms to the skies as in mock gratitude for the rare Siwss miss.

Getting back to business, Djokovic banged an ace for a hard-fought hold to get on the board.

Federer used the wide serve and inside-out forehand winner to dig out of a double deuce game for 4-1.

At that stage, Djokovic wasn't playing poorly, he was simply outplayed by an in-form Federer, who was flinging forcing forehands around the court with all the ease of a man swatting his child's birthday balloon with a rolled up newspaper. A triple-break point deficit confronted Djokovic in the sixth game. He fought off the second break point with a flurry of forehands and on the 19th shot of the next rally, Federer's crosscourt backhand collided with the top of the tape and plopped back over on his side.

Federer cornered Djokovic on the backhand side then ran around a backhand and flattened a forehand winner down the line for a fourth break point. An uncommitted Djokovic came to net but butchered a forehand volley drop shot into net as Federer broke for 5-1.



When Djokovic's forehand return flew over Federer's Nike shoetops and beyond the baseline, the second seed completed a commanding first set in which he had an emphatic answer for anything.

Although Federer and Nadal have dominated the sport for the last eight years, their head-to-head meetings have become increasingly infrequent in recent years. They held the top two rankings on the ATP Tour for more than four years (July 2005 -  September 2009), and are the only pair of men to finish five consecutive calendar years at the top. 

Nevertheless, their personal rivalry stands at only 21 matches. The muscular Mallorcan holds a 14-7 edge in the rivalry, thanks to a 10-2 advantage on clay.  On hard courts, they are even at three wins each. Their 2008 Wimbledon final is widely regarded as the greatest tennis match in history.  In the longest final in Wimbledon history (4 hours and 48 minutes) and ending in near darkness, Nadal ended Federer’s five-year reign 6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5), 6–7(8), 9–7.

Since Nadal defeated Federer in the masterpiece match that was the 2008 Wimbledon final, they have met just three times in the past two years. Nadal beat Federer 6-4, 7-6(5) in their lone meeting this year in the Madrid final in May on red clay.

Today's semifinal match was a rematch of the US Open semifinals that saw Djokovic fire a pair of gutsy forehands to fight off match points and prevail in a five-set thriller that spoiled the prospect of the first Roger-Rafa US Open match.



Federer, who said earlier this week he is aiming to reclaim the World No. 1 ranking next year, has played superalitive tennis throughout the tournament and will be highly motivated to capture his fifth season-ending crown.

The blue court inside the 02 Arena elicits a lower bounce than the red clay court in Madrid where Nadal and Federer have faced off in their last two encounters. The lower bounce should favor Federer, who has often been handcuffed by Nadal's tremendous topspin shots to can force Federer to hit off his back foot on his one-handed backhand.

Indoor hard courts are Nadal's least favorite surface, however the nine-time Grand Slam champion seemingly always raises his game in championship matches and has had Federer's number in finals.

Nadal owns a 12-5 advantage in finals over his nemesis, winning six of the last seven finals the pair have played with five of those finals contested on clay. Sunday's final marks the first hard-court championship between Federer and Nadal since the 2009 Australian Open final which Nadal won in five sets.