Djokovic and Federer resume rivalry in Shanghai

A great tennis rivalry resumes in China as world number one Novak Djokovic takes on former world number one Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters.

Djokovic will be hoping he can stay on top of the race to London rankings by beating Federer, who is hot on his heels to claim the number one spot going into the end of season event. If the Swiss player has any chance of becoming number one by the time the tour reaches London, he has to not only beat Djokovic but also go on to win the event.

The Serbian has certainly not been at his best during the hard court season and was struggling during periods of his match against Kazakhstan based world number 85 Mikhail Kukushkin, losing the second set 6-4. However, the world number one looked back to his imperious best in the quarter final against Andy Murray`s conqueror David Ferrer. Djokovic sealed a comfortable 6-4 6-2 victory over the Spaniard and goes in to the match with Federer as 4/11 favourite with bet365. If Djokovic is on top form, which he seemed to be in that quarter final win over Ferrer, it could turn in to a very difficult afternoon for Federer.

Federer, like his opponent had a struggle in one match on his way to the semi-finals, saving five match points in the process of defeating world number 25 Leonardo Mayer 7-5 3-6 7-6 in the opening round of the tournament. Since that dramatic win, Federer has grown in confidence as the event has progressed, winning his next two matches with ease, not allowing one single break point against opponent Julien Benneteau in the quarter finals. Despite this good run of form, Federer is still the outsider for this one, priced at 12/5 with BetVictor.

This may be due to the fact that Djokovic has had the better of Federer over the last two seasons and although their current season head-to-head statistics show two wins each, Djokovic has always come through in the most important encounters, including their meeting at Wimbledon this summer. Having said that, Federer has been serving superbly this week, as highlighted in his quarter final match and that is a good sign that he`s ready challenge the top players. Therefore, expect this match to go the full three set distance, with ladbrokes offering 13/8 for that to happen.

As it`s a three set match as opposed to the longer five set format, this improves the chances of a Federer win and the Swiss is 11/2 with paddypower to come away with a two sets to one victory. This is the most likely scenario for a Federer win considering the dominance Djokovic has shown when playing in Asia over recent years, winning the Shanghai Masters for the past two years in a row. The way Federer has been serving in recent matches, Djokovic may struggle to break his opponent, especially early on and Federer will want to capitalise on this with an early break of his own and he is 6/4 with BetVictor to make the first service break.

Novak Djokovic is 4/9 with paddypower to win the event and Roger Federer is available at 10/3 with the same firm.

Go To bet365

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11/10/2014     © Frixo 2024