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. He won 10 consecutive games from *0:1 in the 4th set to build a *4:0 (30/0) lead in the deciding set – Federer 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 got six straight points… Federer’s first defeat after 35 wins in succession. The Swiss finished the season with amazing 81–4 (95%) record, comparable only to John McEnroe’s 82–3 (96%), which was accomplished in 1984 so Federer was 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.”

   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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