Topic: Western & Southern Open

[medwatt]

For some reason D-Pot has not got back to his summer '09 self.

You meant when Federer donated that slam ?

[Babblelot]

Watching the Kerber-Kvitova match, Kerber up 2-0, and havng a tough time holding to go up 3-0...
Mary Jo Fernandez talking about Kvitova :
"she's either going to win this match, or lose it"
Very good insight....

Kerber finally holds serve to make it 3-0.

   I know what she meant, but to the casual fan, she sounds like an idiot.

[FedFanForever]

You meant when Federer donated that slam ?

If you actually watched the final you'd not say such utter crap. D-Pot was absolutely annihilating the ball in that match. One of the finest power displays in history.

[oracle86]

You meant when Federer donated that slam ?

If you actually watched the final you'd not say such utter crap. D-Pot was absolutely annihilating the ball in that match. One of the finest power displays in history.

There is no doubt that Del Potro was awesome in USO 2009. But we shouldn't forget that Federer had dominated the first set and a half. He just lost the plot after that [remember his reaction to that late challenge by Del Potro?] and then Juan Martin just took the initiative and never looked back.

If only he had won that match, he would have achieved the Roger Slam [RG 09, W 09, USO 09* and AO 10].   

[euroka1]

On this day of the Cincy finals, I very much miss not seeing Maria Sharapova who was such a feature of the last two years. 

[oracle86]

Djokovic has to be favourite today. After all, he has won the last 4 times these two played each other on hardcourts.

[Gawdblessya]

Well done to Djokovic to get through to his second consecutive final. I saw the second set & he was impressive against a somewhat subdued Del Potro. 

I'm watch the second SF.  Sw is putting up a good challenge, and Federer sloppy at times. Plenty of double faults from him too.   About to get broken for SW to go up 2-0.

well, at least he had to play a real man, unlike that other guy 

Alex   they shouldn't let cardboard cutouts into these tournaments!   
Actually, both Del Potro & Wawrinka must have left their balls (the ones containing their gonads, not tennis balls    ) at home, because how else could Djokovic & Federer ( the top two players) have beaten them?         
 
Wawrinka was excellent in the frst set.  He has a superb game when it's on. I was hoping he could take it to a third set. He couldn't break Federer in that 2nd game of the second set, lost his focus a little, & Federer was able to go up a level.   

I suspect the QF match against Fish took its toll on Federer.   Playing at that level cannot be sustained by him nowadays. 
He'll need to play his best tennis against Djokovic, who looks very relaxed & focused.

This final will hopefully be a treat with some top tennis from both men.

Li Na -v- Kerber leaves me less than rivetted, but having lost her way somewhat since she won the AO 2011, I hope Li Na can win it.

Lindstedt / Tacau surprised me by getting past the Bryans.  I enjoy men's doubles so will be watching them play Bhopanna / Bhupathi. 

What a treat for the crowd, to get the men's & women's finals plus both the doubles finals.

[Djokovic Champion]

Djokovic has to be favourite today. After all, he has won the last 4 times these two played each other on hardcourts.

Yes, he is favorite, but Federer can win too. Come on Djoko.

[swish]

Watching the Kerber-Kvitova match, Kerber up 2-0, and havng a tough time holding to go up 3-0...
Mary Jo Fernandez talking about Kvitova :
"she's either going to win this match, or lose it"
Very good insight....

Kerber finally holds serve to make it 3-0.

   I know what she meant, but to the casual fan, she sounds like an idiot.

Sounds silly but it was meant that the result depends on how well Kvitova plays.
 
 

[mtt]

I know what she meant...

But come on, these folks are supposed to be professionals..
Sometimes it seems  like they are paid by the spoken word, and therefore feel the need to be constantly commenting,
even if there are moments where there's not really anything to say.

Verbal incontinence....

[Start da Game]

a fact fed fans should remember - federer has never beaten djokovic after losing the first set........so you know how much the first set matters as far as fed's chances are concerned........

[masterclass]

Analysis: W&S 2012 Cincinnati Final: [#1] Roger Federer (SUI) vs. [#2] Novak Djokovic (SRB)

Historical class at tournament:
Federer: 4 titles, defeating Roddick, Blake, Djokovic, Fish, QF loss to Berdych, 25-7 match record
Djokovic: 0 titles, 3 finals losing to Murray twice, and Federer once, 1 QF losing to Roddick. 15-7 match record.
H2H: Federer 1-0

Cincinnati 2009 - Federer d. Djokovic 6-1, 7-5 Full Match

R.Federer vs N.Djokovic 2009 Cincinnati Final

Historical relevant class career:

Open Era Records
Career Hardcourt Titles        Career Outdoor Titles (all Surfaces)
# - Name                               # - Name
51 Roger Federer                  56 Guillermo Vilas
46 Andre Agassi                      55 Jimmy Connors
44 Jimmy Connors                   55 Roger Federer
36 Pete Sampras                     52 Ivan Lendl                   
31 Ivan Lendl                          49 Rafael Nadal
23 Stefan Edberg                    48 Andre Agassi
23 Novak Djokovic                43 Thomas Muster
22 John McEnroe                     41 Pete Sampras
21 Michael Chang                    40 Bjorn Borg
21 Andy Roddick                      34 Ilie Năstase

ATP Reliability Zone
On Hardcourts
                         Current*  YTD  YTD      Career
                              Index Titles W-L    Index Win-Loss
1. Roger Federer    .902    3    23-2    .832    515-104
2. Ivan Lendl           .000     0       0-0    .826      394-83
3. Jimmy Connors    .000     0       0-0    .825      509-108
4. Rod Laver            .000     0       0-0    .813      126-29
5. John McEnroe      .000     0       0-0    .811      292-68
6. Pete Sampras      .000     0      0-0    .804      427-104
7. Novak Djokovic  .857    3    25-2    .802    272-67
8. Andre Agassi        .000    0       0-0    .790      598-159
9. Stefan Edberg      .000    0       0-0    .788      387-104
10. Andy Murray       .846    1     18-4    .778      246-70
* Current Index reflects last 52 weeks

Current (recent) form:
We all know what happened at Wimbledon in the Championships and the Olympics - Federer Win and Silver medal, Djokovic SF and no medal.
But now that Djokovic is back on the hard court where his great movement isn't as compromised by poorer footwork in more slippery conditions, he seems to have regained some confidence. His Toronto win was good, but other than his compatriot #9 Tipsarevic, he didn't face a top 20 player there, so it's hard to judge how well he was playing.

In Cincinnati, it's been somewhat difficult to tell as well. He's faced and won rather easily against an out of form Seppi, an apparently injured Davydenko, and a good matchup for him, Marin Cilic. In the last match he defeated a quality player in Del Potro who though did not look his healthiest, beat him at the Olympics, so the win was very good for Djokovic.

Federer did not play in Toronto. He's come back in Cincinnati, and expectedly dominated Bogomolov, Jr. and Tomic. He then had to play very well to beat an excellent Mardy Fish, and played fairly well to beat an excellent in form Wawrinka who had previously defeated #4 Ferrer easily.

Both players are unbroken in the tournament to the final! Federer has had only 3 break points against him and saved them holding 100% of his 38 service games, while Djokovic has saved 10 break points in holding 100% of his 31 service games.

Still troubling to me is Djokovic's negative Winners/Unforced Errors ratio on a medium-fast court.
Federer on the other hand has had an excellent positive Winners/UE ratio.
Federer also has had excellent net play.

I believe if Federer serves more like he did previous to the Wawrinka match and continues to play aggressively he could win in a manner similar to his 2009 performance.  For Djokovic to win, he'll have to keep his errors down quite low, to offset his lack of winners and hope that his great defense can cause Federer's unforced errors to rise high in an attempt to hit winners.  The court is playing relatively medium-fast, but the ball seems to be bouncing rather high in the warm weather. This might allow Djokovic to have more time get to a few more balls, which could frustrate Federer into attempting more risky shots. Federer will have to use good variety in pace and placement to overcome this as well and serving well will get him some easier points.

Obviously, the critical item will be to see who can take more advantage of their break point opportunities, since neither has been broken so far. My guess is that Federer will get more break opportunities, but may convert a lower percentage. Djokovic will get fewer opportunities, but might convert a higher percentage.  In their last match in Cincinnati, Federer converted 4 of 15 (26%), while Djokovic converted 1 of 4 (25%).  The way they have played recently, I'm guessing Federer will have perhaps 1/2 as many chances this time, and perhaps 2-4 chances for Djokovic.

Let's see who is more successful in executing.
I hope for a good match! Good luck to both players and their fans!

Respectfully,
masterclass

[FedFanForever]

Any livestreams for this?

[swish]

Nice MC. Those are some good stats!!!
 
I had breakfast and finishing up my morning coffee, I'm ready!! 
 
 
 

[mtt]

According to the cincytennis.com website, it will be aired 12:30 on CBS

[Gawdblessya]

Masterclass  -  you certainly live up to your name!  An excellent analysis, providing a tasty appetiser before for the main course!  Thanks.

 

[williamchung7]

Djokovic is not in form in these three games and gives Federer easy double breaks.

[Babblelot]

Second set please! This isn't even fun to watch.

Sent from my SPH-D600 using Tapatalk 2

[williamchung7]

Djokovic cannot get serve in, he serves three double faults already.

[williamchung7]

Second set please! This isn't even fun to watch.

Sent from my SPH-D600 using Tapatalk 2

I want to know what happen to him, he makes 4th double faults already.  Is the sun too bright to him?