Wimbledon 2019 Men’s Singles Final: Roger Federer vs Novak Djokovic, Preview and Prediction
There was some controversy regarding the seeding system at 2019 Wimbledon Championships, the world number three Roger Federer was seeded second ahead of world number two Rafael Nadal. As it turns out, the organizers have been proved right and the top two seeds have vanquished all before them, and will now face each other in the final, to create another slice of history in their respective careers.
This will be the 48th time that Federer and Novak Djokovic will face each other. The Serbian leads the head to head 25 – 22. However, in the last nine years, he has dominated his illustrious rival, as can be seen from the fact that he has a 19 – 9 record since 2011. Some of those wins have come on the biggest of stages, including the Wimbledon finals of 2014 and 2015.
In fact, Federer’s last win over Djokovic was way back in 2015, in the round-robin stage of the ATP Finals, and there too he had lost to the top seed in the final match. Since then, they have met each other three times, and Djokovic has won all of them.
Statistics may not lie, but they may not present the entire truth. Federer had gone through a slump since 2015 and is now back to (almost) his very best. He has won three Grand Slams since 2017 and looks like a title contender in all non-clay grand slams.
Furthermore, his performance at his favorite Slam, the Wimbledon, has been extremely encouraging so far, the crown jewel among all his performances, of course, being the epic semi-final win over Nadal in the semi-final - the duo’s first match in the tournament since 2008.
One of the most heartening features for Federer from that match was the way he handled the pressure moments. Usually, it is the Spaniard who had the wood on the Swiss maestro when it came to long rallies, but Federer showcased immense mental fortitude to withstand the pressure exerted by Nadal.
He will need to continue in the same vein against his other great rival, Novak Djokovic, who is arguably a better grass-court player than Nadal.
Prediction: Roger Federer to win in Five Sets