1 Response to masters05nalbandian_federer

1. Voo de Mar says:

   October 16, 2020 at 6:03 pm

   Points won by each set: | 41-45, 56-54, 33-26, 30-14, 46-39 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   18 % Nalbandian – 36 of 196
   22 % Federer – 42 of 190

   One of the most bizarre finals in the Open Era, and the second longest ‘Masters’ final in history (lasted 4 hours 33 minutes). In the 2nd set tie-break, Nalbandian led 4:1, 5:3, *8:7, 9:8 & 11:10. Surprisingly two lost tie-breaks didn’t break his will. He won ten consecutive games from *0:1 in the 4th set to build a *4:0 (30/0) lead in the deciding set – Federer, finally feeling the long season in his body, somehow won four straight games then! The Swiss broke in the 11th game and was two points away from the title serving at 6:5 (30/0) – Nalbandian responded with a backhand inside-out return winner and got six straight points… Federer’s first defeat after 35 wins in succession. The Swiss finished the season with an amazing 81–4 (95%) record, comparable only to John McEnroe’s 82–3 (96%), which was accomplished in 1984 so Federer felt the separation of just two points away from equalling the record of the best season percentage-wise. Nalbandian stated: “I surprised the world. He almost never loses. To come back from two sets down against the world number one, with his record, it is just incredible.” Federer admitted: “I congratulate David for coming back from the two tie-breaks, which was tough. He got me and he totally deserved to win.” At the time it seemed that Federer, possessing one of the best serves in the world, wouldn’t lose a match of this kind to the end of his career, but he lost twice similar matches (two-point advantage serving for victory in the 5th set) to Djokovic (US Open ’10 and Wimbledon ’19).

   Nalbandian’s route to his 4th title:
   rr. Roger Federer 3-6, 6-2, 4-6
   rr. Guillermo Coria 7-5, 6-4
   rr. Ivan Ljubicic 6-2, 6-2
   S Nikolay Davydenko 6-0, 7-5
   W Roger Federer 6-7(4), 6-7(11), 6-2, 6-1, 7-6(3)

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