Federer conqueror vs. Djokovic in Miami finals

Guillermo Canas, who beat number one player Roger Federer in two successive occasions will face young but promising Serbian Novak Djokovic in the finals of the Sony Ericsson Open at Key Biscayne, Florida. Canas overcame hard-serving Ivan Ljubicic 7-5 6-2 while Djokovic played a brilliant tactical game to crush a disappointingly listless Andy Murray 6-1 6-0 in the other semifinals. (It was amusing to see the grin disappear from Brad Gilbert's face as the first set progressed.)

If Canas wins the finals, he would be the first unseeded player to win the title since Tim Mayotte won in the inaugural event in 1985. On the other hand, a stunning victory over Federer's one-time nemesis, Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals plus yesterday's demolition of Murray made Djokovic one of the few teenagers to reach the final of the Miami ATP Masters Series event. If he wins the title, he will join Andre Agassi to be just the second teenager to do so.

Personally, I'd prefer Djokovic to win the title. After all, I voted for him at the ATP website to be the first among Murray, Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils to break into the top 10 in the ATP rankings. The growing rivalry between him and Murray certainly bring a refreshing change to the tour and, in my humble opinion, both are more worthy successors to Federer with their more all-around game than baseliners Roddick or Nadal. While majority voted for Murray, I felt that Djokovic was the more level-headed of the two and possessed a steadier game and was therefore the more likely to succeed. Naturally I was pleased when he did make the top 10 after reaching the finals at Indian Wells and even more delighted when he avenged his loss to Nadal in the Indian Wells final with a 6-3 6-4 win here in Miami. Since Canas appears to play in the same style as Nadal hopefully Djokovic will be able to neutralize him as he did Nadal.