The 2012 French Open semi between Federer and Djokovic promises much as the two titans will face of for the second time this year. It was Djokovic who won their clash in Rome , but who could forget the match these two played last year in the semis of Roland Garros 2011.Without a doubt , both players are struggling with their games especially Federer, who has won just one match in straight sets.
Djokovic was far below par in his 4th round match making 77 unforced errors while managing to hit just 45 but still managed to get the W. Surely , this type of tennis won't suffice against the veteran. Despite being so close to defeat in his QF match against Tsonga , Djokovic , in my opinion, played a pretty good match hitting 44 winners to 34 unforced errors. The only fault in Djokovic's game that I could notice was the break point conversion rate. Stats say 6/13 , but all of those 6 were in sets 1,2 and 5 (when the pressure was off Djokovic) . He had his chances at 5 all in sets 2, 3 and 4 , but failed to convert. Almost all of those break opportunities that he missed were because of errors from the Djokovic racket. That is surely something to watch out for in his semi --- the break point conversion rate.
Federer on the other hand hasn't been too impressive either. His 1st set against del Potro was probably his worst of the tournament. Federer ended up hitting 59 winners and 43 errors against del Potro, but most of Roger's winners were in sets 3 and 4 , when del Potro was struggling a bit . Serve and Forehand are going to be absolutely vital for Federer.
2011 stats ( Federer Vs Djokovic)
Djokovic hasn't been playing great , and as we can see , even though Djokovic played a pretty good match in 2011 he still came up short . Djokovic hasn't been hitting through the court too well so its surely going to come down to how Federer plays. There's going to be a lot of pressure on Djokovic and despite doing so well to cope with the same last time around , its hard to imagine he'll do so again
The pick : Federer in 5 sets
Djokovic was far below par in his 4th round match making 77 unforced errors while managing to hit just 45 but still managed to get the W. Surely , this type of tennis won't suffice against the veteran. Despite being so close to defeat in his QF match against Tsonga , Djokovic , in my opinion, played a pretty good match hitting 44 winners to 34 unforced errors. The only fault in Djokovic's game that I could notice was the break point conversion rate. Stats say 6/13 , but all of those 6 were in sets 1,2 and 5 (when the pressure was off Djokovic) . He had his chances at 5 all in sets 2, 3 and 4 , but failed to convert. Almost all of those break opportunities that he missed were because of errors from the Djokovic racket. That is surely something to watch out for in his semi --- the break point conversion rate.
Federer on the other hand hasn't been too impressive either. His 1st set against del Potro was probably his worst of the tournament. Federer ended up hitting 59 winners and 43 errors against del Potro, but most of Roger's winners were in sets 3 and 4 , when del Potro was struggling a bit . Serve and Forehand are going to be absolutely vital for Federer.
2011 stats ( Federer Vs Djokovic)
| Match Summary | ||||
| Federer (SUI) | Djokovic (SRB) | |||
| 1st Serve % | 91 of 141 = 65 % | 112 of 168 = 67 % | ||
| Aces | 18 | 7 | ||
| Double Faults | 2 | 2 | ||
| Unforced Errors | 46 | 41 | ||
| Winning % on 1st Serve | 70 of 91 = 77 % | 67 of 112 = 60 % | ||
| Winning % on 2nd Serve | 25 of 50 = 50 % | 34 of 56 = 61 % | ||
| Winners (Including Service) | 48 | 40 | ||
| Receiving Points Won | 67 of 168 = 40 % | 46 of 141 = 33 % | ||
| Break Point Conversions | 4 of 25 = 16 % | 4 of 13 = 31 % | ||
| Net Approaches | 15 of 19 = 79 % | 12 of 24 = 50 % | ||
| Total Points Won | 162 | 147 | ||
| Fastest Serve Speed | 214 KMH | 204 KMH | ||
| Average 1st Serve Speed | 196 KMH | 191 KMH | ||
| Average 2nd Serve Speed | 158 KMH | 152 KMH | ||
| Serve and Volley Points Won | 0 of 0 = 0 % | 1 of 2 = 50 % | ||
Djokovic hasn't been playing great , and as we can see , even though Djokovic played a pretty good match in 2011 he still came up short . Djokovic hasn't been hitting through the court too well so its surely going to come down to how Federer plays. There's going to be a lot of pressure on Djokovic and despite doing so well to cope with the same last time around , its hard to imagine he'll do so again
The pick : Federer in 5 sets
I pick djokovic in 4 sets.
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