For Novak Djokovic, it was Groundhog Day, a day that kept repeating itself year after year with the same result.
In 2007, Novak Djokovic had had a breakout year. He reached the semis of the French Open and Wimbledon. He rushed up the ranks and entrenched himself at number 3. Then, at the US Open, he made his first US Open finals. It was a straight set win by the incomparable Roger Federer.
In 2008, Djokovic won the Australian Open, reached the semifinals of the French Open, faltered early at Wimbledon, but made it to the semifinals of the US Open again. He had just beaten Andy Roddick and called Roddick out on some comments he made about Djokovic faking his health problems. Although Roddick had had an abysmal summer, by his standards, losing to del Potro and Troicki, he managed to have one of his better US Opens, and he was still well-liked by the crowd. The crowd didn’t like Djokovic’s remarks, and they mercilessly booed him.
He went into the semifinals and looked a bit flat against Federer. The match had been moved up about an hour or so to avoid the rain that threatened to wash out the afternoon’s play. This time, Djokovic won a set, but Roger took sets 3 and 4, and made the finals once again.
Last year, Djokovic had a subpar year for him. He had switched to a new racquet in January. He retired against Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals. He had played great clay court tennis last summer, but had no energy in the French Open and was upset in the third round. At Wimbledon, he reached the quarterfinals, but lost to Tommy Haas, the second time it had happened in as many weeks. The US Open, again, turned out to be his best Slam, and he again reached the semifinals where he met Roger Federer for the third year in a row.
This was a peculiar match lacking energy. Federer wasn’t playing great, and neither was Novak. It just seemed destined that Federer would win this match. Had it not been for a tweener hit at 0-30, the semifinal might have gone as a yawn.
And, so in 2010, Djokovic came to the US Open. This year, Djokovic’s path to the semifinals was not so certain. In the first round in desperate heat, Djokovic played his countryman, Victor Troicki. Troicki had never beaten Djokovic. But he took a 2 sets to 1 lead. But Djokovic recovered and won in 5. It was perhaps no surprise that the tournament organizers, who like their seeded players, put Djokovic in night matches for his next two rounds. By then, the heat had gone away. Although there was a near miss by Hurricane Earl, what was left behind was a week of wind, and the players had to deal with it. And the top players managed it better than anyone.
By the time the semifinals rolled around, 3 of the top 4 seeds had arrived. Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic. The only missing player was Andy Murray, who faded against one of his buddies on the tour, Stanislas Wawrinka. The one player that many thought might make a breakthrough at the US Open faded badly. Murray will look at 2010 as a year that went badly for him after starting off so well.
Djokovic entered the match having only beaten Federer in a Slam in 2008, when mono slowed Fed down. The last time Djokovic beat Federer was in Basel, but he had lost to him more recently in Toronto.
The match see-sawed. The first set was close, but Roger got a late break and won it 7-5. Then, when it looked like he’d charge to a win like he had the year before, Roger’s game broke down some, and Djokovic got one break, then another, and took the second set easily, 6-1. Roger tightened up in the third set, and the two held onto serve until very late when Roger was able to break at love, and win the third set.
And, again, despite the lead, Djokovic was able to break twice again, and take the second set, 6-2.
But Roger played solid tennis once again in the fifth set. Since he started the fifth set. He had his chances at 4-3 up, and then at 5-4, Federer had what he must have thought was his destiny. Two break points. Two match points.
15-40.
Novak must have thought, why, why has this happened to him again. Had he not worked hard? Had he not been the third best player in the world? Wasn’t Roger getting older? Why did he have to lose to him again?
And in that moment, Novak did something that few thought he could do. He dug deep. He had a rally, came to net, hit a swinging forehand volley inside out and got to 30-40. Then, he got in another rally and just belted a forehand just inside the right sideline and got back to deuce. This was a seesaw game, but each time the score got back to deuce, Djokovic would hit a big winner. He finally held to get to 5-all.
And with his now-or-never face on, he went for his shots again Federer and managed to get a break. Djokovic got down early in his service game and it seemed the match would, indeed, head to a tiebreak and Roger would come back. But instead, Djokovic came back. On match point, Djokovic decided to go into steady mode realizing that he could outlast Federer and yet Federer would be a little concerned going for a big shot, but eventually would give in and go for that big shot. And Federer would hit a shot wide.
Djokovic, as irreverent as he seems to be, shows his religion a bit more than most. He wears a cross. He often makes the sign of the cross, touching forehead, chest, and either shoulder. He clasped his hands as if in prayer, then knelt and kissed the ground, reminiscent of Marcos Baghdatis. He turned to the four corners to a crowd that was, yes, pro Roger Federer, but incredulous at how hard Djokovic fought. As Jimmy Connors said, that’s what they paid for, that’s what they wanted to see.
Of course, a five set match is just something Djokovic didn’t want. Neither did Federer for that matter. Rafael Nadal has been cruising through the US Open without the drop of a set.
Although Mikhail Youzhny had beaten Nadal in 2006, few expected that he’d give Nadal trouble. He is no Murray, no del Potro, nor even Robin Soderling. Although Youzhny has played well the last year or so, Nadal is just a different player, and Youzhny is not the kind of guy that looks like he can hurt Nadal. In particular, Youzhny doesn’t have a particularly good serve.
Nadal plowed through Youzhny in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.
Now that Nadal has reached his first US Open, he can achieve two feats at once, and perhaps the first time a certain feat has been accomplished since Rod Laver in 1969. Nadal can complete the career Grand Slam. He can win a small Slam (three of four Slams in a year). And if does this, he will have won three Slams on three different surfaces. Roger has accomplished the feat three times, but never with the French. Roger came close last year. If he had sealed the deal against del Potro, he would have had his small Slam, exactly the feat that Nadal is trying to accomplish.
The good news for Djokovic, should he recover, is that he’s the better hard court player. Djokovic has beaten Nadal three times in a row, all on hard courts. He’s striking the ball pretty well. Now, there’s a small chance of rain. This will keep the weather cool. The wind isn’t too bad. So, Djokovic will like the conditions provided it doesn’t rain, or even if it does, the breaks might do him some good.
Now consider this. When Rafa came back and played in Toronto and Cincinnati, his form looked off. He was losing sets. He was misfiring on his shots. I felt, at the time, his uncle would come by, and figure out a way to iron out the patches, and indeed, that’s what’s happened. He’s tamed his errant backhand and his serve got big.
I’d say Nadal has to be favored to win his first US Open, but if Djokovic is in good shape tomorrow, I think he has a better than good shot of giving Nadal trouble. As Roger gets older, this may become the rivalry of the next few years.
Djokovic has one more weapon at his disposal. Ever since his father donned that gaudy shirt of his son painted on his shirt wearing a shirt with an eagle on it, and his mother reluctantly wearing a similar shirt, Djokovic has been winning. And he’ll likely wear that shirt one more time, and he’ll hope that it’s got a little more good luck for his son.
And what of Roger Federer? He came to the US Open playing some of his best tennis of the year. He reached the finals of Toronto. He won Cincinnati. He was starting to hit well again. And he made the semifinals once again, without having dropped a set.
This is the third time this year that he has had match points and lost. He had match points against Marcos Baghdatis. He had a match point against Tomas Berdych. And now, he had two match points against Novak Djokovic. Federer will, once again, take a big break, and wonder what to do next.
In the meanwhile, Djokovic will try to make good on his talent and be more than a one-Slam wonder, while Nadal will try to add to his considerable legacy. Hopefully, it will be a real fun match.
