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| Djokovic |
TWENTY-FOUR year-old world number one and top seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia, in the early hours of yesterday, successfully defended the title he won for the second time last year, when he outlasted former world number one and second seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain in five mind-blowing sets 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 in a championship record of five hours and 53 minutes.
It was the longest Grand Slam final of all time, beating the previous record of four hours and 53 minutes by Czech Ivan Lendl and Swede Mats Wilander at the 1988 US Open final.
In denying the Spaniard what would have been his 11th Grand Slam title and his second in Australia, Djokovic won his fifth Grand Slam title, while equally importantly, he won a third consecutive Grand Slam title after winning last year’s Wimbledon and US Open titles.
The Serb thus became only the fifth player since the Open Era in 1968, to have won three straight Grand Slam titles. Others are Australia’s Rod Laver, American Pete Sampras, Roger Federer of Switzerland, and Spain’s Rafael Nadal, who won the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open in 2010.
Tennis faithful the world over, including the capacity 15,000 – strong crowd who planned to make it a date to witness the block-buster final, got exactly what they wanted.
First, their ‘dream’ to watch the two best players in the world confront each other again, for the third successive time in a Men’s Grand Slam final, had become a reality, when Nadal dispatched former world number one Federer in a four-set semi-final, and Djokovic had followed that with a pulsating five-set win over GBR’s Andy Murray lasting four hours and 51 minutes of sensational tennis in the other semi-final.
Secondly, they also wanted to find out if it was possible for any player to defeat the ‘indestructible’ Nadal seven consecutive times, all the ties in finals, especially given the stunning all – conquering form the Spaniard had demonstrated in his convincing win over Federer in the last round.
To many, Nadal, this time around, got his current nemesis exactly where he could have wanted him. Admittedly, Nadal’s only worry since losing to the Serb in the US Open final last September, was what he needed to do to beat the Serb again, in order to get him (Djokovic) off his back.
“I’m still studying to find the way to beat him again, and I think I’m getting close,” he often told reporters since then. The proud, if even humble, professional that the Spaniard is, he always agreed that losing to the same player six straight times was not good for anybody’s psyche.
When Djokovic, at a stage during his semi-final against Great Britain’s Andy Murray, wobbled, fumbled and appeared tired and most possibly on his way to a four sets loss before reaching deep in his resolve to rescue the match, many observers felt convinced he (Djokovic) was in no form, physically or mentally, to stay with a ‘hungry’ and in-form former world number one (Nadal). Some even predicted a straight sets whitewash of the seemingly struggling defending champion.
Yesterday, it was Nadal who drew the first blood by breaking for a 3-2 lead in the first set, a situation which made Djokovic hurl But as it turned out, Djokovic, who had 24 hours of rest before the final, compared to Nadal’s 48 hours, was more than ready, however long the match might last. It could be argued that Nadal was up against a man who is his match, even in the aspect of mental toughness, which over the years has separated him (Nadal) from guys like Murray and Federer, who was voted the greatest player of all time by an opinion poll in the closing stages of this tournament, despite Nadal’s 18-9 won/lost head-to-head superiority over the Swiss.the racquet to the floor in frustration. Although the Serb broke back to draw level for 4-4, the Spaniard broke again in the 11th game for a 6-5 lead, before serving out the set to win it 7-5.
Djokovic came back firing in the second set, breaking Nadal in the fourth game to lead 3-1, and again in the ninth game, before serving out the second set to win it 6-4.
It was all Djokovic in the third set, again breaking in the fourth, and then in the eighth to win the set 6-2.
With Djokovic leading by two sets to one, Nadal knowing that there was no tomorrow for him if he must stop the Serb’s near-complete strangehold over him, dating back to early last year’s first ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells, California, was determined to win the fourth set.
When he won the first point on Djokovic’s serve, Nadal screamed “Come on!,” thus sending a message to his opponent, something like, “I’m still here, mate! I’m not going anywhere!” Djokovic won the game however, on his third game point. By the time Nadal leveled up at 1-1, the quality of the high quality contest even further went up one notch, but the Serb led his opponent 39-27 on outright winners.
Nadal’s biggest problem at this stage of the explosive match mainly was the fact that while Djokovic was winning 66 per cent of the points on his second serve deliveries, Nadal was winning just 41 per cent. The Spaniard hung in there admirably though, and even came back from three breakpoints at 4-3 to win the game for 4-4.
To the Serb’s credit, even a short 10 minutes rain interruption was not enough to derail his game when the match resumed, unlike Federer, whose momentum was negatively affected during his match against Nadal in the semi-final by the momentary interruption caused by the celebratory fireworks in celebration of Australia’s Day.
When Djokovic held serve to love to forge ahead 5-4, he raised his index finger in the general direction of his support team in the stands called ‘TEAM NOLE,’ as if he was telling them, “Just one more game, and we’re in the promised land.”
Maybe the Serb had briefly forgotten that his opponent is popularly acknowledged as the greatest fighter the sport has ever known.
Team Nole stood transfixed in the Players’ Box when Nadal, seemingly down and out, fought back from 3-5 down in the fourth set tie-break to win four straight points to force the healthy-hearts-only match into a fifth and deciding set.
The destination of the Norman Brooke’s Men’s Singles Trophy and the attending $2.3 million winner’s cheque, was still unknown, even after Djokovic had secured a most crucial break in the 11th game for a 6-5 lead. Nadal had broken earlier in the sixth game to lead 4-2, but Djokovic broke back straightaway for 4-3.What a match! In the end, Djokovic won a total of 193 points to Nadal’s 176.
With Djokovic serving for the match and leading 30-0, Nadal fought back again to win three straight points. Suddenly, Nadal was just one point away from prolonging the match to the 13th game (no tie-break in the fifth set).
But Djokovic, leaning into his shots, saved the break point, and on his first championship point, the Serb won his second straight Australian Open title. Equally importantly, from Djokovic’s perspective, it was the Serb’s seventh consecutive victory over Nadal. And that hurts, if you are a Nadal fan.
This is how John Lloyd, former British number one and now BBC sports commentator, saw the match, “incredible. The greatness we talked about last year, but this match was the most important of Djokovic’s career. To beat who he beat after playing Murray in the semi-final and being a break down in the fifth. The amount of respect he will have gained from the other players, having gone toe-to-toe with Nadal with that level of exhaustion. Absolutely stunning stuff.”
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