Daniil 2019 against DelPo 09 would be a more fitting comparison. Similar plots, albeit different results. The green one is cold, the champ makes it look easy, then the green one goes red hot once they realize they have nothing to lose.
Hard to fit this year in. Daniil went sharp and steady against a snakebitten champ who had some sort of struggle going on. We don't know how well he was capable of playing on that night because Novak hardly pushed him to his limits. If anything, the crowd pushed him somewhat.
DelPo on the other hand was the snakebitten one for almost two sets of that final. Once he loosened up, Fed was lost. I knew that if DelPo plays the way he did against Nadal in the semis, Roger will get beaten baad.
I believe the 09 final is the one Fed fans are in denial about. Federer overachieved that year, his stock was inflated and people acted as if the good times were back. They were not. Anyone who understands the game knew that Roger's ability was a far cry from 2006, and that DelPo was definitely capable of beating him on skill and power alone, but the true fight would be carried out in the head. Once he got that sorted, he sorted annoyed Roger as well. It's absolutely not that Roger allowed him to do anything. He allowed himself.
