Novak Djokovic vs Roger Federer – Semi-final Preview: US Open 2011
Excitement rises to the top most level at the last Grand Slam tournament of the current, as the rain-stricken US Open enters the semi-final draws. World number one, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, will compete against the five time US
Open champion, third seed, Roger Federer of Switzerland, in the first semi-final of the tournament on Saturday.
The highly anticipated competition will be played on the Arthur Ashe Stadium of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Park, of Queens, New York City, United States, with two of the world’s finest
tennis players competing for a place in the final of the Grand Slam.
The top seeded Djokovic has continued with his unmatchable ballistic form in the initial rounds of the US Open and has powered his way to the semi-final draws. The Serbian, currently known as the “Mister Invincible” for his outstanding
performances in the current ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season, has already won two Grand Slam tournaments and is running a 62-2 winning record this year.
The mighty top seed Serb came to Flushing Meadows as the hot favourite for winning his third Major tournament of the year and he has displayed his tremendous power hitting in all the matches he has played so far, annihilating every
single competitor he faced in the earlier rounds. Djokovic registered straight sets victories against Conor Niland, Carlos Berlocq, Nikolay Davydenko and the 22nd seed Alexandr Dolgopolov to reach the quarters. He went through some tough time in
the quarter-final clash against the 20th ranked fellow compatriot, Janko Tipsarevic, but got a pass to the semis after the other Serb retired from the competition after injuring his toe.
Winner of 16 Grand Slam titles, the Swiss maestro has been witnessed in his vintage form after a long time at his current US Open campaign. Federer has just bagged one title in 2011 so far but he has been a lot more aggressive
and composed in his early round matches at Flushing meadows. The third seed Swiss forced his way to the quarter-finals draws after devastating Santiago Giraldo, Dudi Sela, Marin Cilic and Juan Monaco. He faced the 11th seeded hard-hitting Frenchman,
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals and finally avenged his two defeats, which he suffered at the hands of Tsonga earlier this season, to meet the top seeded Djokovic in the round of four.
Djokovic and Federer have already faced four times in the running ATP season, with Djokovic having a 3-1 lead over the former world number one. Federer leads the all-time head-to-head series against the Serb by 14-9 and has also
won the last meeting with Djokovic in the semi-final of the French Open to break the 42-match winning streak of the top seed.
Both men have faced each other 19 times on hard courts, with Federer bagging victories 12 times and Djokovic winning on seven occurrences. It is quite evident that Federer is the more successful player on hard surfaces against
the world number one but the blistering form of Djokovic and his three victories over him in the running year gives him the slight edge over the Swiss.
Federer has already registered two victories in the US Open against Djokovic in their prior encounters and with the current form he is having, it can be said that the winner of five US Open titles will dispose of the world number
one to make it to yet another Grand Slam final of his career.
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