Stefan Edberg saw his man, Roger Federer, stun Novak Djokovic and then said the two players are part of the greatest generation tennis has ever seen.
The Swiss master beat the world No1 7-5, 6-2 at the 02 last night to qualify for the semi-finals of the Barclays ATP Tour Finals.
Edberg, who has been coaching the world No3 for two years, watched the 17-time Grand Slam champion deliver a vintage performance and leave Djokovic blaming his own errors for the defeat.
However, this was all about Federer who proved, at the age of 34, that he can still be a major force in a sport in which the battle among the elite is fierce.
“This is the greatest generation of all time in tennis,” said Edberg. “Roger is a great guy and it is pleasure for me to be around him.”
Federer ended Djokovic’s 23-match winning run and the Serb’s previous defeat was also to the Swiss in the final of the Cincinnati Open in August.
“Novak wasn’t as good as in the first set but with the way he’s played this season, you still have to put him away,” said Federer. “It’s not an easy thing to do. It’s not like he played terrible. I know he can play better. Why did he play that way? I’d like to give myself credit for that. But, to me Novak is still the favourite.”
Djokovic had won his pervious 15 matches at the end-of-year finals and victory over Tomas Berdych tomorrow will confirm his semi-final place.
The world No1 will spend today identifying the reasons for the defeat with coach Boris Becker.
Djokovic said: “I made a lot of unforced errors and handed him the win but I still have the chance to make the semi-finals. My first match against Kei Nishikori could not have been better but this one could not have been worse. This is the last week of the season and I need to push myself physically and mentally as far as I can.”
