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3/24/08 2:01 AM | Cheryl Murray
Novak Djokovic defeats the surprise finalist Mardy Fish for the Pacific Life Open title. Fish proved stubborn and resilient, but Djokovic was too tough.
Novak Djokovic did not play a perfect match in the final of the Pacific Life Open. At times he seemed nervous and unsure of himself, though he was playing a guy ranked 98 in the world. He made some uncharacteristic errors, was broken when he should have been serving for the second set. But in the end, the Serbian champion was steady enough to take the win, a result that has become increasingly more common in the past months.
Mardy Fish did not give up easily, even though his first serve percentage was a dismal 40% for the match. Djokovic came storming out of the gates, breaking the American's first service game, but Fish answered back. At 3-1, Fish seemed to find his forehand. An error off the Djokovic racket set up two break points for Fish. A rocket forehand gave Fish the break back. The Serb would not be denied, however. Fish's next service game was the turning point in the set; Djokovic weathered several blistering backhand winners, and clawed his way to deuce. After three deuces and a wasted break point, Fish reeled off two double faults to give the lead back to Djokovic. The crowd tried to inspire Fish, but Djokovic was too tough. He broke Fish again at 5-2 to take the set.
The second set looked for all the world as though it would go the same way as the first set. At 3-2, Djokovic got the first break on a long forehand from the American. Fish was not ready to give up just yet, however. A loose game from Djokovic at 4-2, culminating in a double fault on break point, leveled the set. Both players held for 5-5 when the unlikely happened again. Fish hit a spectacular down the line forehand that curled in at the last minute to go up 0-15. The next point, the American hit an equally impressive cross court backhand winner to put Djokovic in a 0-30 hole. At 15-40, Djokovic's forehand sailed long for the break. Fish made no mistake in serving the set out.
Though the scoreline suggests otherwise, Fish had his chances in the third set. He had three break points in Djokovic's first service game in the set, but brilliant clutch serving allowed Djokovic to dig out of the 0-40 hole and eventually hold. Fish seemed to deflate just the slightest from the missed opportunity. He was broken in his next service game. The single break was all Djokovic needed. He took the decisive set at 6-3 for his second big title of the year.
Great fight from Fish forced Novak to dig deep for the win.
Though entertaining, the match was quite sloppy in places - particularly Fish's terribly first serve percentage.
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janhavi, Nov 21, 2008 1:53 PM
janhavi, Nov 21, 2008 5:53 AM
james007, Nov 21, 2008 3:46 AM
Avalaine, Nov 20, 2008 9:06 PM
james007, Nov 20, 2008 8:03 AM
gordana, Nov 21, 2008 9:50 AM
tennisfan2, Nov 12, 2008 4:24 AM
elle, Nov 10, 2008 2:11 AM
Mardy Fish
Novak Djokovic
Pacific Life Open
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