1 Response to gstaad03novak.federer

1. Voo de Mar says:

   March 16, 2025 at 12:25 am

   Points won by each set: [ 34-42, 36-30, 32-20, 17-30, 30-19 ]
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   24 % Novak – 35 of 142
   27 % Federer – 41 of 148

   A few years before Federer [3] began his fascinating & extremely tough rivalry with Novak Djokovic, Jiri Novak [10] was one of his toughest opponents. Federer entered the Gstaad final as a new Wimbledon champion on his longest winning streak at the time (11), hoping to get his first title in front of the home crowd, employing serve-and-volley tactics behind the 1st serve, as he did at Wimbledon ’03. Federer was on his way to notch a straight set victory, but leading 7-5, 3-all (40/15) he committed a double fault, and Novak found his second wind. The Czech converted his first match point after 2 hours 47 minutes forcing Federer’s backhand error. Novak behaved throughout the final in Borg’s style – he didn’t show any emotions until the last point when he fell on his knees with a broad smile. Actually in retrospect, I’d say it’s Novak’s biggest win, with knowledge what an extraordinary champion Federer became following his first Wimbledon triumph. After the Gstaad final Novak tied his H2H record vs Federer (4:4), but the Swiss won their next and last mutual meeting.

   Novak’s route to his 5th title (second in Gstaad):
   1 Sargis Sargsian 6-3, 6-3
   2 Paul Henri Mathieu 1-6, 6-2, 6-3
   Q Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 6-3
   S Radek Stepanek 7-5, 6-1
   W Roger Federer 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3

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