U.S. Open 2011: Novak Djokovic Defeats Roger Federer To Advance To Final

Novak Djokovic will face the winner of the Andy Murray-Rafael Nadal match in the 2011 U.S. Open Men’s Final on Monday after defeating Roger Federer in a five-set classic. The five-time tournament champion, Federer, won the first two sets and appeared to be on his way to another final. However, Djokovic won the following two sets and came from a break down to win the final set 7-5, eventually winning the match 6-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5.

The crowd was behind Djokovic during the third and fourth sets - everyone wants five sets - but was very, very vocally behind Federer for most of the fifth set. Djokovic, visibly upset by this, began taunting the crowd. Because the U.S. Open takes place in New York City, the crowd actually enjoyed this and began to get behind him again because of his taunting.

Federer pulled off a massive break in the middle of the set, going up 5-3 at one point, but Djokovic won the next four consecutive games to win the set without needing a tiebreak. The definitive moment of the match was with Federer leading 40-15 at 5-3, serving for the match with two match points. Djokovic, looking defeated, hit an absolutely stunning forehand winner that completely turned the momentum of the game.

He would go on to win the game in deuce and completely turn around the match. Federer did well to avoid a complete collapse after losing two match points, challenging Djokovic in every game until the end of the match, but he was obviously not the same player after Djokovic’s massive forehand winner.

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