Unlike the Ladies’ singles, the gentlemen’s singles draw folded out in a more predictable manner. Although Richard Gasquet’s semifinal appearance was a surprise to many, it could still be argued that Stan Wawrinka’s game doesn’t suit grass courts and Richard beat him only marginally. Also, Richard played really amazing tennis in the match and completely deserved to win. His performance in the semifinal match was also really good, except his ridiculously low first serve percentage (51.3%). In the other semifinal between Roger Federer and Andy Murray, Federer showed glimpses of his vintage best and beat Andy in straight sets to make his 10th final at Wimbledon. Federer had complete control over the game in the most crucial moments of the match. Now we have arrived at the final, which is going to be the 40th meeting between Djokovic and Federer.
The final preview:
Roger Federer leads the
head-to-head narrowly by 20-19 against Djokovic. But Federer has not been able
to beat Djokovic in big finals since Cincinnati 2012. So, Djokovic might have a
mental edge over Federer. But after last year’s loss here in the final, Federer
will be very hungry for revenge and his 8th Wimbledon title. Federer
has also won Halle this year riding on a very strong first serve. His form
continues in Wimbledon, as his serve has become better and better. Even Andy
Roddick said during the semifinal against Murray, “I’ve seen some 50 aces go
past me in the 2009 final. And I don’t think he served as well as he’s serving
today.” Such has been the dominance of the Federer serve that he has faced just
4 break points in Wimbledon this year and broken just once.
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| Djokovic vs Federer: First serve statistics |
But Djokovic is regarded as the
best returner of all time and he will probably unsettle Federer’s serve much
more than anyone else. And Djokovic has also been pretty good with his own
first serve. As for net play, Federer has been more aggressive at the net
approaching 199 times and 72.9% times compared to Djokovic’s 166 approaches and
69.9% wins. Federer will like to keep the rallies short by approaching the net
more often while Djokovic has a clear edge in long rallies. So, if Djokovic
wants to neutralise the Federer serve, he will have to prolong rallies just
like Andy Murray was able to do in some points in the semifinal. But that is
going to be a very tough task because Federer will come into the match as a
more refreshed player (Federer has spent 3 hours less and ran 2.4km less than
Djokovic).
Verdict:
As the stats are highly in
favour of Federer, he is our favourite to win the title. But Djokovic will give
a very tough fight and will not let this one pass like the French Open. He will
be more determined than ever.
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