Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic played one of the best Grand Slam matches in the open era when they met each other at the semi-finals of the US Open in 2011. Federer looked the favorite to win the match and had two match points on his own serve, however the Serb turned it around to win the match and get through to the final of the US Open. Federer was visibly upset by this defeat especially having come so close to a victory and took a dig at Novak Djokovic post game.
This was a deja vu for Roger Federer who was in the exact same position the previous year against Novak Djokovic as well and had both of his match points saved on that occasion too. Talking after the game, Federer looked a dejected figure and it felt like one of those rare moments when the Swiss lost his composure while talking to the media.
Novak Djokovic saves match points against Roger Federer…again
Roger Federer was leading Novak Djokovic by 2 sets to love and looked set to set up a final clash with Rafael Nadal at the US Open. The Serb came back to level the match at two sets all and forcing the tie into a deciding set. The Swiss was leading 5-3 in the deciding set and had 2 match points on his own serve, but Djokovic saved both with amazing return of serve and went on to win the fifth set 7-5 to complete an extraordinary 6-7 (7-9), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 win against Roger Federer.
Djokovic had saved match points against Federer in the same tournament the year before as well and went on to win the match against Federer, so the frustration was evident when the Swiss maestro arrived at his post game conference.
Federer mentioned that it was not the best service from him but Djokovic’s return felt halfhearted and not of a man who believed he could win. The Swiss further added that he felt that Djokovic had mentally given up and his shot was ‘lucky’. Federer also said that he believed he should be the one playing in the final and not Djokovic.
“I didn’t hit the best serve but it’s just the way he returns that, it’s not a guy who believes much anymore in winning & then to lose to someone like that it’s very disappointing because you feel he was mentally out of it already & just gets the lucky shot in & off you go. I feel I should be the one doing the other press conference”
This was one of the most controversial press conferences from Roger Federer and he was tagged as a ‘sore-loser’ from many fans around the world. With such high stakes and expectations, even the great Roger Federer could not deal with the pressure after a lose.
Djokovic : The mentality monster
Novak Djokovic has incredible mentality when it comes to tough points. The Serb is known to bring his A-game when things are looking difficult and generally performs well under pressure. That was the case again when he saved two match points on Federer’s serve and went on to win an epic match of tennis.
The craziest return in tennis history by Novak Djokovic!!! 2011 US Open SF vs Federer 🙌 pic.twitter.com/VAcKSAjnaz
— Luigi Gatto (@gigicat7_) August 24, 2023
Speaking after his incredible victory, Djokovic admitted that it was one of his biggest wins of his career and said that beating Federer under such difficult circumstances was a huge boost for him.
“It was definitely the biggest win of this year, one of the biggest wins of the career, under the circumstances. I was two sets down. Roger was in control, he was playing better and then I switched gears and I managed to play much better in three sets.”
Novak Djokovic went on to beat Rafael Nadal in the final of the US Open 2011 and won his first US Open title. This was also the first time since 2002, that Roger Federer ended a year without winning a Grand Slam.
