07758384-9939-46B5-BED6-34D9FD868E7F
By Sean Rudolph
© Natasha Peterson/Corleve
(August 14, 2010) Fireworks erupted above Toronto's Rexall Centre after Roger Federer delivered some flashy shotmaking on pivotal points to defuse an explosive Novak Djokovic, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 and advance to the Rogers Cup final. In a rematch of the Australian Open final, Federer will face defending champion Andy Murray in Sunday's 3 p.m. championship match.
It was a dramatic and entertaining encounter as Djokovic, on the verge of being blown out while facing a 6-1, 2-0, 0-30 deficit, clawed his way back from a 1-4 hole in the final set and was one point from breaking and serving for the match.
Federer, who fought back from a 2-5 third-set deficit in his 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(5), quarterfinal decision over Tomas Berdych in Friday night's quarterfinal, delivered under pressure again tonight.
The most riveting rally of the night ended with Djokovic driving a forehand winner down the line and raising his index finger in celebration to the delight of the Serbian fans in the crowd, gaining his third break point in the 11th game of the last set. Federer erased it with a serve into the body.
Taming a tempestuous forehand that deserted him at times in the second set, Federer hooked a sharp-angle forehand crosscourt drawing an error from Djokovic who smashed his Head racquet in anger then watched Federer fire a service winner to hold for 6-5.
Djokovic's two handed backhand is one of the best in the sport, but it betrayed him repeatedly resulting in 31 backhand errors. He committed consecutive backhand errors in the final game sending Federer into the final.
Continuing his quest for his first tournament title of the season, Murray is bidding to become the first man to win back-to-back titles in Canada since Andre Agassi in 1994-95.
The third-seeded Federer is playing for his first title since he scored a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(11) win over Murray n the Australian Open final to capture his 16th career Grand Slam singles title. Murray holds a 6-5 career edge over Federer — all 11 matches have been played on hard court — but Federer has won three in a row.
"I hope I'm not too banged up for tomorrow," Federer said after prevailing in a physically-demanding two hour, 22-minute win. "Murray played well today and has a lit bit of an advantage playing during the day."
Controlling the center of the court and closing emphatically on serve, Murray swept top-ranked Rafael Nadal, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the Rogers Cup final for the second straight year.
It was Murray's fourth win in his last five hard-court meetings with Nadal. The reigning Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion leads their head-to-head series 8-4.
A spot in the final and the World No. 2 rank was at stake when Federer and Djokovic took the court. Djokovic started the week with a 110-point lead over the third-ranked Federer in the rankings and by virtue of tonight's win Federer will ascend to the second spot when the new ATP Tour rankings are released on tomorrow.
It is a significant advance for Federer, who can avoid being placed in the same half of the draw with Nadal, who stuck around tonight to scout Federer, at the US Open if he can retain the No. 2 ranking.
While Murray is prone to periods of passive play when he relies on his quick court coverage to counter punch, he came out playing the type of assertive tennis he delivered in his crushing quarterfinal win over David Nalbandian on Friday.
"I had to play through the court against Rafa," Murray said. "I saw part of his previous match and when he was up on the baseline he was dictating and I didn't want that to happen."
Two-time Rogers Cup champion Nadal entered the match having won 34 of his last 35 matches since bowing to Andy Roddick in the Sony Ericsson Open semifinals in Miami in April. Nadal's lone loss in that span came on the grass courts of Queen's Club when he fell to Feliciano Lopez.
Shrugging that defeat off, Nadal swept Murray in straight sets in last month's Wimbledon semifinal in a match that was more closely-contested than the 6-4, 7-6(6), 6-4, scoreline suggests.
Playing his first tournament since winning his eighth career Grand Slam championship at Wimbledon, Nadal, who is in Toronto without coach Uncle Toni Nadal, struggled to work the rust of his game in both his 7-6(12), 6-3 opening-round win over Stanislas Wawrinka and his 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Philipp Kohlschreiber in Friday's quarterfinals.
In contrast, Murray, who was runner-up to Sam Querrey in Los Angeles and snapped Nalbandian's career-best 11-match winning streak with a 6-2, 6-2 thrashing on Friday, played clean combinations with conviction for much of the match.
Aided by a no call on a serve that replay showed was a double fault, Murray worked out a hold for 4-3. Alternating between heavier topspin and flat forehands, Murray broke for 5-3 when Nadal nudged a backhand down the line into the net.
In his most impressive serving game of the match, Murray slammed three straight aces, followed by a double fault then reached back for another stinging serve he followed up with a forehand winner to seize the first set, 6-3.