Novak Djokovic beats Roger Federer to win US Open 2015

The Serbian takes his second US Open victory, previously winning in 2011

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has taken the US Open title from World No. 2 Roger Federer with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory over the Swiss at Flushing Meadows. It is his second Grand Slam victory over the Swiss this year, having previously defeated him in the Wimbledon final earlier this year.

This was their 6th meeting at the US Open, with each taking 3 wins. Djokovic now has 10 Majors in his career, just four short of Rafael Nadal and seven short of Federer.

The Serb played a stronger game straight off the bat, taking the first set 6-4 in a relatively quick 41 minutes. The Swiss former No. 1 came into the match as the only player to not have dropped a set in the entire tournament, but that record was obliterated soon. Federer hit 3 aces to his competitor’s 1 in that first set, but he committed nearly twice the unforced errors as Djokovic – 15 to 8.

With today’s win, Djokovic has taken his 2nd US Open title – he previously won the title in 2011, beating defending champion Rafael Nadal. He has also won his third Grand Slam title of the year, winning both the Australian Open – where he beat World No. 3 Andy Murray – and Wimbledon this year, where, just as at the US Open, Federer was the runner-up.

The Serb missed out on the Calendar Slam however, losing the French Open to Swiss Stan Wawrinka.

Although Djokovic won the last Grand Slam meeting between the two, Federer took victory at the pair’s last meeting at the finals of the Cincinnati Masters in the USA. That victory had also been on a hard surface, which gave the Swiss the edge over his also-in-form competitor.

Following a new resurgence in form after bringing tennis legend Stefan Edberg onto his coaching team, Federer’s ‘SABR’ was touted as the newest lethal weapon in his arsenal. It involved charging on a second serve, and bamboozled several of his opponents in the earlier stages of the Open. But it didn’t earn him too much joy against Djokovic.

Both tournament favourites – Roger Federer and Serena Williams – were defeated at the Open. While Federer was ousted by the World No. 1 in the final, Williams was defeated by the unseeded Roberta Vinci in the semi-finals.

This result means that each player has won 21 times in the 42 occasions the pair have squared off in the past. 14 of these matches have come at the Grand Slams. The Federer-Djokovic rivalry, considered one of the best in modern-day tennis, is very evenly matched – each player is the only one to have beaten the other in all four majors.