It was a fascinating semi final: Djokovic displayed a very good tennis and Federer did not look like that bad at the beginning.
The first set was quite interesting. The World Nr.2 looked ‘on the ball’ and determined to get to the final. It was clear he was ‘feeling’ his shots and that he was in a very good physical condition.
But on the other site of the net Nole looked also quite solid.
Both players held their services. There was a slight superiority in Federer’s game. The Swiss looked able to win his serve game with less effort that his opponent.
The openening set went to the tie break. On the paper, Federer had the upper hand… but only on the paper, since Nole had a very solid tennis and he was able to win the tie break 7-3.
The second set was a big mess for the World Nr.2. He was leading 5-2 to lose 5 games in a row (!) and giving the chance to Djokovic to grab a 2 set lead.
The Serb did not get any distraction and won also the third set by 6-4 after breaking Federer on the 5-4.
‘It’s hard to say really, you don’t know if you’re feeling excited because you are one game away from a Grand Slam title, and winning against Roger, he puts a lot of pressure on you,’ said Djokovic. ‘I had to take my chances. The second set I was a break up and in 20 minutes I was 5-2 down. If I would lose that second set, God knows which direction the mach would go.’
‘I’m just happy to play my best tennis. Australian Open is a special tournament because there are a lot of nations, it’s nice, sometimes you feel like you’re in a football match and for us players it’s unusual but it’s great, to get that support.’
‘I’m looking forward to watch that match tomorrow from my bed, they’re both great players, David played a fantastic match against Rafa yesterday. Andy has been playing really well. It’s a Grand Slam final, anything can happen.’
So.. what did it happen today?
Well the impression was that Djokovic was vastly superior in ‘normal rallies’ from the baseline.
Nowadays if Federer plays a non aggressive tennis from the baseline he is a very good top 10 player. If the Swiss has an aggressive tennis (and he is not in a bad day) it is really difficult to find a player that can beat him.
Today Federer was unlucky because he could not play this aggressive tennis and on the other side of the net there was a really inspired Djokovic. And you need much more to beat an inspired Djokovic.
So, well done Nole… he will play in the final against the winner of the match between Ferrer and Murray.
The odds say it will be Murray… well… let’s see.
