‘I could have beaten Roger Federer, I’m dissapointed’
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Qualifying for the main draw, an 18-year-old Novak Djokovic made the Monte Carlo debut against world no. 1 Roger Federer in 2006! It was the first clash in their extraordinary rivalry, and Federer scored a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 triumph in an hour and 49 minutes.
After gaining over 100 positions on the ATP list in 2005, the young Serb was eager for more in the following season, carving his way towards the top-20 and showing incredible skills against the world’s leading player, especially in the second set when he had the upper hand.
They had a similar number of unforced errors, and Novak pushed Federer’s backhand to the limits to force many errors from that wing. However, that was not enough to keep him safe, losing energy in the decider to propel world no.
1 over the top. Federer served at 53% but experienced only two loose service games in the set he lost, with Novak unable to reach at least a deuce in the remaining return games! The pressure was on the Serb in sets one and three, and he could not endure it, getting broken three times from 11 chances offered to Federer to finish his journey in the first round despite a solid effort.
The Swiss had a 22-14 advantage in service winners and a 25-20 in the winners from the field department, creating a buffer that kept him safe from those 20 forced errors he committed, with nothing to separate them in the area of the unforced mistakes.
Roger had a massive 52-39 advantage in the shortest rallies up to four strokes thanks to those service winners.
Novak Djokovic lost to Roger Federer in three sets in Monte Carlo 2006.
The Swiss earned his victory there, as Djokovic stayed in touch in the mid-range exchanges and had a 10-6 lead in the most extended ones.
Federer converted the fifth break chance to gain an early advantage in the third game and delivered another break at 5-3 to secure the opener after 33 minutes. Playing on a much higher level in set number two, Novak broke Roger in games three and seven,…
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Source : tennisworldusa
