Rain delay improves Djokovic’s US Open title chances
After fighting his way past Roger Federer in five sets in his semi-final match, Novak Djokovic was facing an uphill battle to front up against top seed Rafael Nadal in the final less than 24 hours later.
The weather gods though seem to be in Djokovic’s corner, and with rain delaying the men’s final from Sunday afternoon to a scheduled 4pm (local time) start on Monday, the Serb has surely seen his chances of becoming the 2010 US Open champion improve.
It took Djokovic three hours and 44 minutes to overhaul Federer in the semis, taking revenge for his losses to the 16-time Grand Slam champion at Flushing Meadows in the previous three tournaments (in the final in 2007 and the semis in 2008 and 2009).
With the US Open scheduling the final on the day following the semis, however, it was a victory that had the potential to exact its toll on the third seed in the decider against an opponent who has not dropped a set all tournament as Nadal muscled his way to his maiden US Open final.
The Spaniard is now just one win from completing his career Grand Slam; Djokovic a single victory from claiming the second maiden title of his career.
Fresh legs should no longer be a factor, and having prevented Federer from reaching his seventh straight US Open final, the 2008 Australian Open champion could be primed to be the spoiler to Nadal’s title dreams as well.
The pair have not played one another in 2010, but Djokovic has won their last three matches, all played on hard courts last year. The caveat is that those three matches (in the semi-finals in Cincinnati and Paris and in the round robin stage of the World Tour Finals in London) were played after Nadal’s return from the knee tendinitis that forced the world No. 1 to miss his Wimbledon title defence, and at a point in time where a slim-line Nadal was playing as though he was a shadow of his former self.
Across their careers, Nadal has amassed a 14-6 win-loss record against the Serb, but the US Open has historically been his weakest Grand Slam tournament, while Djokovic’s stocks rise in the hard court majors.
The left-handed Nadal, however, has been playing out of his skin in New York over the past couple of weeks, and indeed had not had his serve broken all tournament until his quarter-final against countryman Fernando Verdasco, who managed to convert the one break point opportunity he created for the match.
Mikhail Youzhny also managed to break Nadal in the semis, also just the once, but there’s no doubt the top seed’s improved serve has made it just that bit tougher to make inroads into his Majorcan’s punishing, physical brand of tennis.
Expect Djokovic though to arrive back on Arthur Ashe Stadium in the aggressive frame of mind that helped him survive match points against Federer and go on to book his place in the final, and more importantly with the time to recover from that match in order to mount a genuine challenge to Nadal’s title hopes.
Prediction: Before the semis, Federer was looking like the 2010 US Open champion. If Djokovic can stop the Fed Express in its tracks, then surely with the extra recovery time provided by New York’s inclement weather he’s a chance of repeating the dose against Nadal.
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