Underrated biggest choke in Tennis History - Federer-Djokovic 2011 US Open Semis

N

NYTennisfan

Professional
I'm sure this match has gotten talked about plenty around here but the reason why I think this is noteworthy is because 2011 Djokovic is talked about as arguably the tennis player of all time and while I wholeheartedly agree with that statement, he was an absolute machine that year, he doesn't even get to the US Open finals if Federer doesn't completely choke it away.

Every diehard tennis fan remembers 5-3 40-15 in the 5th set so the subsequent points go like this...
Djokovic hits a forehand winner - 40-30
Federer hits the net cord with an easy forehand after Djokovic serves up a weak return right in his wheelhouse - 40-40
Federer hits forehand wide after Djokovic serves up a pizza right in the center of the court - Adv. Djokovic
Federer ace - Deuce
Federer dumps a basic forehand into the net - Adv. Djokovic
Double fault - Game Djokovic and we know the rest, he sweeps the rest of the games and.... match.

There's been many many chokes throughout tennis history but considering the importance of the match and the importance of the players, I might even rank this one above Wimbledon 2019 which usually gets more choke talk.
Not only those 4 tanked points at 5-3 but getting beatdown in the next 3 games to lose 7-5.
Here's the video for visuals...

 
jm1980

jm1980

Talk Tennis Guru
NYTennisfan said:
I'm sure this match has gotten talked about plenty around here but the reason why I think this is noteworthy is because 2011 Djokovic is talked about as arguably the tennis player of all time and while I wholeheartedly agree with that statement, he was an absolute machine that year, he doesn't even get to the US Open finals if Federer doesn't completely choke it away.

Every diehard tennis fan remembers 5-3 40-15 in the 5th set so the subsequent points go like this...
Djokovic hits a forehand winner - 40-30
Federer hits the net cord with an easy forehand after Djokovic serves up a weak return right in his wheelhouse - 40-40
Federer hits forehand wide after Djokovic serves up a pizza right in the center of the court - Adv. Djokovic
Federer ace - Deuce
Federer dumps a basic forehand into the net - Adv. Djokovic
Double fault - Game Djokovic and we know the rest, he sweeps the rest of the games and.... match.

There's been many many chokes throughout tennis history but considering the importance of the match and the importance of the players, I might even rank this one above Wimbledon 2019 which usually gets more choke talk.
Not only those 4 tanked points at 5-3 but getting beatdown in the next 3 games to lose 7-5.
Here's the video for visuals...

Click to expand...
I've rewatched the tail-end of this match quite a few times. The British comms were the best. A lot of bitterness and disappointment after the forehand return.

5-3 40-15:
"There's near hysteria here... Two match points for Federer."
5-3 40-30:
"Oh my word! Where on Earth did Djokovic find that!?"
5-3 40-40
"It's out. It's not even over the net. That miracle forehand, does that change things?"

5-5 15-40
"Again, he finds the lines. Phenomenal. Two more break points."
5-6
"He's possessed, is Djokovic. Three games in a row. He breaks Federer again, and maybe his heart with it"
"When we saw him nodding at match points down, you could almost think it was a nod of resignation..."

5-7 (GSM Djokovic)

"He's done it. Second year in a row in the semifinal of the US Open Djokovic beats Federer saving two match points.
[...]
This man just will NOT be denied! It is he who's in his third final in the last five years. That miracle forehand has seen him through."
 
ibbi

ibbi

G.O.A.T.
The really key part of it is the two points that immediately follow the one that everybody remembers. It's like he was so flustered by that return that he wanted to give exactly the same thing back, and missed. Twice.

It's crazy to think how many of these single points this entire race between these guys revolved around that may have warped the entire trivalry in who knows how many ways had they gone the other way.
 
ghostofMecir

ghostofMecir

Legend
ibbi said:
The really key part of it is the two points that immediately follow the one that everybody remembers. It's like he was so flustered by that return that he wanted to give exactly the same thing back, and missed. Twice.

It's crazy to think how many of these single points this entire race between these guys revolved around that may have warped the entire trivalry in who knows how many ways had they gone the other way.
Click to expand...

Which is why saying one is the definitive GOAT is a bit silly. Djokovic didn’t even win half the points vs. Federer over 50 matches, with the most matches happening in 2011 and 2015, with none in 2017.
 
Last edited:
ibbi

ibbi

G.O.A.T.
ghostofMecir said:
Which is why saying one is the definitive GOAT is a bit silly. Djokovic didn’t even win half the points vs. Federer over 50 matches, with the most matches happening in 2011 and 2015, with nine in 2017.
Click to expand...
It's more than a bit silly, but since when has that stopped anyone? :-D
 
N

NYTennisfan

Professional
ibbi said:
The really key part of it is the two points that immediately follow the one that everybody remembers. It's like he was so flustered by that return that he wanted to give exactly the same thing back, and missed. Twice.

It's crazy to think how many of these single points this entire race between these guys revolved around that may have warped the entire trivalry in who knows how many ways had they gone the other way.
Click to expand...
That's what makes debates like this fascinating.

In reference to this particular match, there's this general perception that 2011 Djokovic is arguably the best player of all time while 2011 Federer is well past peak according to some but this peak Djokovic was within a whisker of losing 2 out of 3 slam matches (which is what REALLY matters, lets be honest) to this "watered down" version of Federer neither of which were finals. It just illustrates how razor thin the margins were between these three and how different history could have been looked at had a few balls bounced the other way.
 
H

helterskelter

G.O.A.T.
NYTennisfan said:
That's what makes debates like this fascinating.

In reference to this particular match, there's this general perception that 2011 Djokovic is arguably the best player of all time while 2011 Federer is well past peak according to some but this peak Djokovic was within a whisker of losing 2 out of 3 slam matches (which is what REALLY matters, lets be honest) to this "watered down" version of Federer neither of which were finals. It just illustrates how razor thin the margins were between these three and how different history could have been looked at had a few balls bounced the other way.
Click to expand...

The claim that Federer was well past his best in 2011 is made mostly by Federer fans themselves, which would be especially bizarre if someone who were a stranger to the debate suddenly encountered it for the first time.
 
N

NYTennisfan

Professional
MichaelNadal said:
Novak had basically accepted he lost and Federer still gave it to him, smh lol
Click to expand...
Yep, the head nod he gave at 40-15 was resignation to his fate. Even when he broke Federer at 5-3, there was no fist pumping or anything because he knew he had just received a gift from the Tennis Gods. Just an inexplicable chokejob.
 
jm1980

jm1980

Talk Tennis Guru
vMPudy2.gif
 
N

neytron

Semi-Pro
ibbi said:
It's crazy to think how many of these single points this entire race between these guys revolved around that may have warped the entire trivalry in who knows how many ways had they gone the other way.
Click to expand...
Novak is just much stronger mentally than Roger. It would be possible to talk about other ways if this were an isolated case. But Roger lost many such matches.
 
R

RelentlessAttack

Hall of Fame
ibbi said:
The really key part of it is the two points that immediately follow the one that everybody remembers. It's like he was so flustered by that return that he wanted to give exactly the same thing back, and missed. Twice.

It's crazy to think how many of these single points this entire race between these guys revolved around that may have warped the entire trivalry in who knows how many ways had they gone the other way.
Click to expand...

Fedovic rivalry in particular is defined by a few mm difference in 2 matches. Federer’s missed serve in W19 and the Djokovic return winner in US11. That’s just randomness frankly
 
Third Serve

Third Serve

Talk Tennis Guru
Djokovic was the better player throughout the match so Fed winning would have actually been kinda surprising.

But yes that service game was bad from Fed no doubt.
 
S

StrongRule

Talk Tennis Guru
Third Serve said:
Djokovic was the better player throughout the match so Fed winning would have actually been kinda surprising.

But yes that service game was bad from Fed no doubt.
Click to expand...
That's a strange statement, given that Federer was 2-0 up. He totally failed in the third and fourth sets though.
 
Third Serve

Third Serve

Talk Tennis Guru
StrongRule said:
That's a strange statement, given that Federer was 2-0 up. He totally failed in the third and fourth sets though.
Click to expand...
Djokovic did a ton of choking to end up in that hole in the first place.

I view this match the same as the RG 2009 fourth round between Federer and Haas. Yeah Fed was down 2-0 but he really had to choke an awful lot to end up 2-0 down in the first place.
 
Young Grigor

Young Grigor

New User
jm1980 said:
I've rewatched the tail-end of this match quite a few times. The British comms were the best. A lot of bitterness and disappointment after the forehand return.

5-3 40-15:
"There's near hysteria here... Two match points for Federer."
5-3 40-30:
"Oh my word! Where on Earth did Djokovic find that!?"
5-3 40-40
"It's out. It's not even over the net. That miracle forehand, does that change things?"

5-5 15-40
"Again, he finds the lines. Phenomenal. Two more break points."
5-6
"He's possessed, is Djokovic. Three games in a row. He breaks Federer again, and maybe his heart with it"
"When we saw him nodding at match points down, you could almost think it was a nod of resignation..."

5-7 (GSM Djokovic)

"He's done it. Second year in a row in the semifinal of the US Open Djokovic beats Federer saving two match points.
[...]
This man just will NOT be denied! It is he who's in his third final in the last five years. That miracle forehand has seen him through."
Click to expand...
British commentators are the worst period. Not just in tennis
 
metsman

metsman

G.O.A.T.
Third Serve said:
Djokovic was the better player throughout the match so Fed winning would have actually been kinda surprising.

But yes that service game was bad from Fed no doubt.
Click to expand...
Djokovic wasn't the better player in either of the first two sets, he maybe should have been given the gap in base level and physicality, but he didn't carry that into an advantage.

But of course given that this is likely Djokovic's best match at the US Open, and there's probably only a couple other matches that are even anywhere close, it's a bit odd to say he underperformed or choked because that would imply that he had a higher level to go to. Which at the USO, he never showed.
 
LaVie en Rose

LaVie en Rose

Hall of Fame
ibbi said:
The really key part of it is the two points that immediately follow the one that everybody remembers. It's like he was so flustered by that return that he wanted to give exactly the same thing back, and missed. Twice.

It's crazy to think how many of these single points this entire race between these guys revolved around that may have warped the entire trivalry in who knows how many ways had they gone the other way.
Click to expand...
Nadal fan and IFs
jm1980 said:
I've rewatched the tail-end of this match quite a few times. The British comms were the best. A lot of bitterness and disappointment after the forehand return.

5-3 40-15:
"There's near hysteria here... Two match points for Federer."
5-3 40-30:
"Oh my word! Where on Earth did Djokovic find that!?"
5-3 40-40
"It's out. It's not even over the net. That miracle forehand, does that change things?"

5-5 15-40
"Again, he finds the lines. Phenomenal. Two more break points."
5-6
"He's possessed, is Djokovic. Three games in a row. He breaks Federer again, and maybe his heart with it"
"When we saw him nodding at match points down, you could almost think it was a nod of resignation..."

5-7 (GSM Djokovic)

"He's done it. Second year in a row in the semifinal of the US Open Djokovic beats Federer saving two match points.
[...]
This man just will NOT be denied! It is he who's in his third final in the last five years. That miracle forehand has seen him through."
Click to expand...
“Roger Federer moment has arived” ———-
 
Razer

Razer

Legend
MichaelNadal said:
Novak had basically accepted he lost and Federer still gave it to him, smh lol
Click to expand...

Accepted he lost?

Novak's face at MP was like "Bring it on jabroni, lets see what you've got... "

There is a reason we call Novak mentally tougher than Nadal and of course Federer, his stubbornness when his back is pushed against the wall is monumental and second to none.
 
platypus50

platypus50

Rookie
Loved Djoker's nod and smirk when he was facing the 1st MP - it was as though he was saying to Federer: "let's play ball Roger, see if you can finish me off this time...remember this time last year lol"

I liked watching Federer play tennis but I did not like him as a person and watching his super salty press conference afterwards made me dislike him even more.

Best part was Djoker silencing the obnoxious pro-Federer crowd and commentators after this match.
 
jl809

jl809

Hall of Fame
NYTennisfan said:
Also, I wonder if the perception of 2011 Djokovic changes somewhat if Federer puts away just one of those forehands due to Federer taking 2 of 3 slam matches from him that year. I know, woulda coulda shoulda, but that 5-3 game was a gift.
Click to expand...
This is why I struggle a bit with 2011 Djoker as such a GOAT season because when one point changes the entire read on it, that’s a lot. Nevertheless he did convert and had that 10-1 H2H overall
ibbi said:
The really key part of it is the two points that immediately follow the one that everybody remembers. It's like he was so flustered by that return that he wanted to give exactly the same thing back, and missed. Twice.

It's crazy to think how many of these single points this entire race between these guys revolved around that may have warped the entire trivalry in who knows how many ways had they gone the other way.
Click to expand...
Yeah Fed choked worse on the 2nd MP at the USO than he did in any other individual point I can remember. Really makeable FH and he doesn’t even put it in the court. You could see it in his face as well right before that point, that moody look he shot across to Djoker while Djoker was walking around getting applauded, and then the way he fumed after the match about the shot that had just happened… he had totally let it get to him.
 
D

Deleted member 779124

Guest
Federer has no excuse for not taking MP's here. I know there was somewhat a little age disadvantage but still 2 MP's and 2 sets up.
 
mike danny

mike danny

Bionic Poster
uscwang said:
The MPs at USO 2011 broke Federer's faith. And 2012 AO final broke Nadal's body.
Click to expand...
Nah, he came back and beat Novak at Wimb on his way to winning it and becoming no.1 the following year. If anything, that loss fired him up even more.
 
N

NYTennisfan

Professional
metsman said:
Yeah, very few people know about this match
Click to expand...
That's not what I said.
I said that very few people talk about this chokejob compared to Wimby 2019. You could just read the OP to know that, it doesn't take much effort.

Edit: Unless you were being serious with this comment in which case I'm confused haha
 
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