Seven finals, the SABR and Cincinnati: Why Novak Djokovic v Roger Federer in 2015 was the best of rivalries

Novak Djokovic’s 2015 season is regarded as one of the greatest ever. He won three Grand Slams, lost in the final of the other, won six Masters titles, the ATP Finals, and spent the entire year as world No. 1.

Nobody could get close to him, except Roger Federer. In their 50-match head-to-head record, Djokovic and Federer contested 20 finals against each other. The first was in 2007, the last was in 2019. And seven of the 20 finals were in 2015.

It was a remarkable year for the Djokovic and Federer rivalry, which started in Federer’s favour in the head-to-head record, and ended it with Djokovic in the lead.

Federer dominated the early stages of the rivalry, winning seven of the first 10 meetings, but as Djokovic started to make his move to the top, so too the gap with Federer started to narrow.

From 2011 to 2014 the difference in the head-to-head record shrunk from six down to one and at Wimbledon 2014 Djokovic claimed his first victory over Federer in the final of a major.

Two more slam finals between Djokovic and Federer would follow in 2015, along with five other finals.

Around the middle of the season came the Cincinnati Open final, when Federer unleashed a new trick and had a tournament to remember.

Federer started 2015 on the front foot against Djokovic, winning 6-3 7-5 in the Dubai final.

But Djokovic replied with final wins over Federer in Indian Wells, Rome, and Wimbledon.

Heading into the Cincinnati Open, Djokovic had suffered just four defeats all season. One had been the week before in the Canadian Open final to Andy Murray.

Federer opted not to play the Canadian Open following his Wimbledon final defeat and instead focused on preparing for Cincinnati and the US Open.

His choice of scheduling would perhaps play a part in the creation of one of the biggest talking points of the summer: the 'SABR' (Sneak Attack By Roger).

The SABR was essentially Federer rushing the serve. When the ball was tossed up – usually on a second serve – Federer was shuffling forward and could be nearly at the service line by the time he hit his return. The idea was to make the return more aggressive, to push the server back, and quickly finish the point.

Although it came about after Federer’s Wimbledon defeat to Djokovic, and with Federer not having won a Grand Slam title since 2012, it wasn’t until Cincinnati that the SABR was floated – and it wasn’t in a brainstorming session with Federer's team, but during a jet-lagged practice session with Benoit Paire.

Federer later recalled: “At the end, we were just kidding around almost, and that’s when I said, ‘Okay, I’m going to chip and charge and just keep the points short, I’m tired, I want to get off the court soon anyway’.

“That’s when I started to run in and hit returns. I hit a couple for a winner. They were like ridiculous. He laughed, I laughed, [coach] Severin [Luthi] laughed. Then I did it again in the next practice just to see if it actually would still work again. Then I tried it the next practice and it still worked.

“That’s when Severin said, ‘Well, what about using it in a match?’ I was like, ‘Really?’

“So he pushed me to keep using it and not shy away from using it on big moments, and not just because you don’t know how you look with a full stadium. He was actually the one who pushed me to it.”

The first time the SABR was officially put into action was in Federer’s opening match in Cincinnati against Roberto Bautista Agut. As Bautista Agut tossed the ball up for his serve, Federer was already shuffling forward from the baseline. By the time the ball landed in the service box, Federer was just a few feet away from the service line and hit a low half-volleyed return that pushed back Bautista Agut, who dragged his next shot wide.

Federer would use the tactic again throughout the tournament. While it certainly caught the eye for its novelty, Andy Murray didn’t seem blown away by the SABR. “I don't know how successful it is,” he said after losing to Federer in the semi-finals. “I didn't feel like it was off-putting or anything today, but it's definitely different. I've not seen him try that before.”

The final pitted Federer against Djokovic.

Anyone wondering if Federer would continue to call on the SABR against the world No. 1 would not have to wait long for the answer. Up 30-15 in the third game, Federer came to attack a second serve, flicked it deep and won the point as Djokovic netted. Even more impressively was his SABR in the tie-breaker as he had to lunge to reach a second serve out wide and still won the point, leading to Djokovic almost smashing his racquet down.

“I thought maybe this is the time to do it,” Federer said afterwards about the point.

“I thought he was going to go backhand and he went big forehand. So I had to lunge and had the perfect timing on it. Ended up going in and putting him under pressure. That was will plan, to keep asking question after question. I'm happy it worked out very well.”

Federer would beat Djokovic in straight sets to cap off a tournament when he not only didn’t drop a set, but didn’t once get broken on serve.

But it was the SABR that had everyone talking.

Federer seemed pleased with how it turned out – “I think I was very creative on the return games. That might give me a lot of hints and information moving forward. So many things I actually can do that maybe I didn't always know I could do or didn't dare to do because I thought it was too crazy or too, let's say, the percentages weren't…I wouldn't think they would be in my favour. After this week I might look at that a little bit different” – but Djokovic’s coach at the time, Boris Becker, called it "almost disrespectful".

“If he would have played a [John] McEnroe, [Jimmy] Connors, [Ivan] Lendl or even me, we would have said, ‘Roger, in all honesty, I like you very much [but] I’ll go straight at you’. In my generation, guys would not have accepted as it is now.”

Becker’s stance would later soften, and Murray would say he didn’t understand why it was called disrespectful - “If you’re capable of doing it and it’s successful, then why not”.

The SABR would ultimately not prove a game-changing tactic in Federer’s rivalry with Djokovic.

Federer would use the SABR in the US Open final against Djokovic a few weeks after Cincinnati, but without much success. Djokovic this time had the answers, lobbing Federer when he came into the net and overcoming a partisan crowd to win 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-4 and claim his 10th Grand Slam title.

Federer and Djokovic would meet twice more in the 2015 season at the ATP Finals.

Federer would get the better of the first meeting in the group stage, but Djokovic won the final 6-3 6-4 to round off one of his greatest seasons.

The Federer-Djokovic rivalry would continue for four more years but with only six meetings. The most significant of them was in the 2019 Wimbledon final when Federer had two championship points before losing in five sets. The last match between Djokovic and Federer was in the semi-finals of the 2020 Australian Open when Djokovic won in straight sets.

By then the rivalry was in its twilight, but in 2015 it was arguably at its peak.

- - -

Stream and watch the 2023 Laver Cup exclusively live across Europe on Eurosport and discovery+