Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will throw up a classic, says Annabel Croft
Sunday 22 November 2015 08:12, UK
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will throw up a feast of world-class tennis when they meet in the ATP World Tour Final on Sunday, says Annabel Croft.
The Serb said clashes between the pair were always nervy affairs as he prepared to face his rival for a second time at London's O2 Arena this week - Federer having got the better of the world No 1 in the group stage.
But Djokovic pulled out a near-perfect performance as he downed the resurgent Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-3 in their semi-final clash while Federer then defeated Swiss compatriot Stan Wawrinka 7-5 6-3 to book his place in the final - live on Sky Sports 3 HD from 3.30pm.
Sunday's match will be a repeat of last year's final, which Djokovic won by a walkover after Federer withdrew with an injury, something he has rarely done in his career.
Croft believes the 17-time major winner is changing the face of the men's game with his new aggressive, attacking game style of serve volleying, which had an impact earlier in the week against Djokovic and expects a repeat performance, although she believes the 28-year-old will alter his tactics.
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"It is going to be great because there is a lot of spice when these two play each other," she told Sky Sports. "The history is there to see and of course the match-ups recently have gone the way of Novak in the bigger events - two Wimbledon finals and of course that US Open.
"But best-of-three is a slightly different situation - it puts a little bit more stress on both of them because the scoreline can go away quickly - a break here or there or missed opportunity, the match can swing very quickly, so adds that little extra bit of pressure actually.
"I'm just interested to see how Novak adapts to that fast, furious up tempo tennis that Roger took to him earlier in the week and it paid dividends.
"Novak was a bit flat as well in that second set, he kind of went away, but you know he's not going to do that tomorrow - it's going to be wonderful - I mean finals don't get much better than this."
Peter Fleming believes the atmosphere at London's O2 Arena won't get to the world No 1 and expects him to pass another test of his steely-eyed resilience and character.
"I expect him to come through in flying colours," he said. "One thing, you play best-of-five, it's a marathon and in fact there are moments in that when mentally you just get fatigued and so when you are fatigued and the crowd is baying for the other guy it gets really hard to summon up your strength.
"Three sets, I don't think fatigue will play a part in this at all, even though it's the last match of a long season for both guys.
"I think that Novak will be able to handle whatever the crowd brings pretty handily."
Watch Novak Djokovic v Roger Federer, live on Sky Sports 3 HD after the doubles final from 3.30pm on Sunday.
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