Roger Federer’s masterclass display defeats Novak Djokovic in major U.S. Open warmup

Perfection sometimes in tennis is seeing Roger Federer in full flight.

That was certainly the case once again Sunday as the Swiss legend dominated Novak Djokovic 7-6 (1), 6-3 to secure his seventh Western & Southern Open title in the final major warmup for the U.S. Open. It was a vintage Federer masterclass, made more impressive by the fact that he was immaculate on serve against arguably the greatest return of all time. The world No. 1 did not earn a single break point chance against Federer, who finished his five-match week in Mason, Ohio, without being broken once in 49 service games.

The tone for Federer's domination was set in the opening set, as he immediately made Djokovic uncomfortable on serve with aggressive returns and tremendous racquet head speed on both his forehand and backhand. But the Serbian ace showed why he's been the premier player in the game in 2015, holding off Federer’s relentless assault and stepping up in his own service games to not be broken as well.

The first set fittingly went to a tiebreak with both men playing at such a high level that it was too close to call. It would be Federer who maintained his excellence in the tiebreak, serving effectively and flustering Djokovic with his newly implemented half-volley, service line return that caught the reigning Wimbledon champion off guard for a 4-1 lead. Federer would go on to win the next three points, including an overhead smash at 5-1 that was proceeded by a Stefan Edberg skip, a nod to his six-time Grand Slam-winning coach.

Djokovic was simply deflated by the tiebreak -- his form dipped immediately in the second set. The top-ranked man hit three double faults in the second game to be broken, putting his fate completely in Federer’s hands the rest of the way. Try as he might with his wonderful return abilities, Djokovic was unable to get any read on Federer’s tremendous variety on serve, only getting to Deuce once against the 17-time Grand Slam champion in the seventh game. Federer remained calm, dominating the next two points to hold for 5-2. After Djokovic forced him to hold for the match, Federer did just that in style, holding to love to clinch his 87th title.

The win gives Federer the edge over Djokovic once again in their amazing rivalry, 21-20, after their 41st encounter. It also denied Djokovic the chance at finally winning the only Masters 1000 event he hasn’t captured.

"It’s the fifth time that I’ve been in the finals and I’ve never won this title, so I guess I have to wait for Roger to retire and then try to do something after," Djokovic joked in the trophy ceremony.

"I really hope you can win here," Federer replied in his speech before the crowd laughed. "He deserves it, come on, he’s so close over the years."

Federer’s victory in Mason allows him retake the No. 2 spot from Andy Murray in the ATP rankings, meaning he will be the No. 2 seed at the U.S. Open. That’s a crucial detail, because Federer is guaranteed to face Djokovic in the final in New York if they both make it that far.

For as big of a day as it was for Federer, someone else arguably stole the show -- his daughter, who made sure that daddy put on his hat.

* * *