Roger Federer vs. Novak Djokovic semi-final preview

Roger Federer will face Novak Djokovic in the most-anticipated match of the Australian Open 2020. The bottom-half semifinal will be an incredible challenge, where the Swiss Maestro will try to avenge the defeat of the 2019 Wimbledon final.

They faced each other only two months ago, in the round-robin of the ATP Finals 2019, a match won by Roger Federer. But today, at the best of the five sets, it will be a very different battle, where energies and mental solidity will make the difference.

Federer and Djokovic face off for the 50th time in their career: in head-to-head Nole leads 26-23. On hard-courts the Serb leads 19-18: basically there is balance in their matches, but in the Grand Slams, Djokovic leads their head-to-head meetings, 10-6. In fact he won the last 5 Slam matches from Wimbledon 2014 to Wimbledon 2020.

The Australian Open 2020 semifinal will have to take into account several elements. Novak Djokovic is the favorite for the victory. He reached the semifinal without problems, showing solid and constant tennis, which improves match-by-match. Furthermore, he wasted less energy than his rival.

Federer, on the contrary, spent a lot of energy in the last three rounds: against Millman, Fucsovics and Sandgren he accumulated about 11 hours of play, winning in the fifth sets against Millman and Sandgren and in the fourth against Fucsovics. Federer also wasted mental energy in the challenge with Sandgren. With two days of recovery and rest, the Swiss will be hoping to regain some physical advantage but he is going into the match as the underdog. He did not have practice on Wednesday while Djokovic had one. 

The playing surface is not as slow as in the early days of the tournament. But this can help both, and not one of them in particular. Novak Djokovic has a few more chances than Roger Federer to reach the Australian Open 2020 final, but as shown against Sandgren, the Swiss can still write the history, showing age and time are only numbers.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/37IkzIQ