Monday, May 18, 2015

Roger Federer fails to capture 1st Rome Masters title

Novak Djokovic continued his rich vein of form Sunday when he lifted the Internazionali BNL d'Italia trophy for a fourth time.

The World No. 1 clinched his fifth title of the season with victory over No. 2-ranked Roger Federer 6-4, 6-3 in the Rome final. Djokovic is now 19-20 lifetime in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

Read: How The Final Was Won | Novak vs. Roger: The Rivalry

Djokovic moved clear of Federer with his 24th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown, just three shy of all-time titles leader Rafael Nadal on 27.

He has won four of the five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in 2015 and is riding a 22-match winning streak, with his last loss coming to Federer on 28 February in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final. This year, the Serbian is also 14-1 against Top 10 opponents in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

BIG SEVEN TITLE FEAT? Djokovic is on a 37-match winning streak at the highest-level tournaments: Grand Slams, ATP Masters 1000s and Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The run dates back to his title in Paris-Bercy last November:

Tournament
Final Opponent
Win-Loss Record

2015 ATP Masters 1000 Rome
Roger Federer
37-0

2015 ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo
Tomas Berdych
32-0

2015 ATP Masters 1000 Miami
Andy Murray
27-0

2015 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells
Roger Federer
21-0

2015 Australian Open
Andy Murray
16-0

2014 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals
Roger Federer
9-0

2014 ATP Masters 1000 Paris
Milos Raonic
5-0


Djokovic, who will celebrate his 28th birthday on 22 May, earned $628,100 in prize money and 1000 Emirates ATP Rankings points. He is now 35-2 on the season, which includes titles at the Australian Open (d. Murray), the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (d. Federer), the Miami Open presented by Itaui n Miami (d. Murray) and the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (d. Berdych).

Federer, who was competing in Rome for the 15th time, also finished runner-up in 2003 (l. to Felix Mantilla), 2006 and 2013 (l. to Nadal both times).

The Swiss walks away with $308,000 and 600 Emirates ATP Rankings points. He is now 85-44 in tour-level finals, including 23-18 in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title matches.


atpworldtour.com

This was a very disappointing match excitement wise, I thought Federer would at least be able to take things to third set. 

Djokovic didn't even play that outstanding to give Roger trouble, and Federer did have break point chances. 

I would say both played mediocre in this final.  Roland Garros next, I must say I'll be happy with whoever wins that one as long as it's not Rafael Nadal again. 

It was a good run for Roger nonetheless. Hopefully his performance in the French will be even better (hey I can dream).

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