Though the dream final of Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal is no more, the resurgence of Novak Djokovic as a Grand Slam title contender brings a much needed dimension to the men’s tennis game. Coming into the 2010 US Open, aside from Federer and Nadal, a lot of people had predicted World No. 4 ranked, Andy Murray to potentially be a finalist, but once again the Scot choked on the big stage. There was also talk about back-to-back French Open finalist, Robin Soderling potentially playing for a title, but Federer dismissed that possibility rather routinely. Finally, Americans had high hopes of a possible return of Andy Roddick to a New York final or even “red hot” Mardy Fish, but those hopes were shattered early on. Very few people bothered to talk about World No. 3 ranked, Novak Djokovic. Djokovic had fallen under the radar for quite some time. After making back-to-back finals at the 2007 US Open (where he lost to Federer), and the 2008 Australian Open (where he defeated Jo-Wilfred Tsonga), the Serb had not been back to a Grand Slam final until today.
Djokovic brings into the final, a 7-14 lifetime record against Nadal. I believe the more relevant head-to-head statistic though, is Djokovic’s 7-3 advantage over the Spaniard on hard court. In their last 6 hard court meetings, Djokovic has won 5 times, not dropping a single set in those victories. The cooler conditions also help Djokovic, because his breathing problems will be less of a factor. So, while Nadal has clearly been the best player on tour in 2010 and is also playing the most dominant hard court tennis of his career at this US Open, I still give Djokovic a fighting chance. I believe the Serb will prevail in a classic 5 set match that will go down as one of the best finals in US Open history.
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