Rogers Cup is Novak's

In a thrilling three-set final, world number one Roger Federer was unable to defend his title at the Canada Masters Series in Montreal as he lost to Novak Djokovic 6-7(4) 6-2 6-7(2) for the first time in six meetings. Federer simply couldn't capitalize on several set point chances in the first set which he eventually lost in a tiebreak. He bounced back however in the second set as he broke Djokovic's serve twice. The brand new world number three however rediscovered his serve and brilliant groundstrokes in the third set as he fought off Federer and eventually prevailed in another tiebreak, 7-2.

Looking back, had Federer won the first set when he was up 6-5 he would have won the match and the championship outright. It's just too bad. This would have been Federer's 50th career singles title and would have been his first in the Montreal edition of the Rogers Cup. But then the 20-year old from Serbia (and not, ahem, Croatia) was a worthy champion in this tournament having claimed the scalps of the number two and three seeds Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick on his way to a second Masters Series title victory and a fourth title this year.
Photo credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Federer's successor?

After his triumph at the Miami ATP Masters Series to become the tournament's youngest title holder, there was already talk that 19-year-old Novak Djokovic will be Roger Federer's successor.

It's only natural I suppose given the young Serb's all-around game--very reminiscent of a young Federer as they say--which was showcased in yesterday's final against Guillermo Cañas. I must admit that I was quite impressed by how he effectively varied his shots to outfox Cañas and remained mentally tough at crucial points. I gaped especially at that crosscourt forehand hit very softly in the midst of a crisis when he brought to many deuces while serving at 3-2 in the second set. Djokovic did say that he models his game after Federer's and it was quite obvious yesterday. (It was amusing too to hear him say a Federer-like "Well done" in congratulations to Cañas during his speech after receiving the trophy just.)

Now, that's a sign of the good Federer is doing for tennis and how he has inspired young players to not just rely on power in their games. We should be grateful to Federer for that and Federer himself should be pleased that Djokovic (and Murray) have followed suit. Of course as a Federer fan, I hope that Djokovic will ascend the throne only after Federer puts down his racket and retires from tennis.

By the way, I find quite interesting the near-identical poses of Federer (during last year's Rogers Cup in Toronto) and Djokovic (at this year's Sony Ericsson Open in Miami) in the following pair of photos:

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.