Two weeks ago, I wanted to post an article titled “Why Djokovic will win Wimbledon?”
It was going to be a small joke. At the time, Djokovic had lost in the semis. Federer had pushed Nadal to four sets. Despite an amazing season leading to the French, folks were ready to dismiss Djokovic. They felt Federer would win Wimbledon. He had solved the Djokovic riddle.
And if Federer didn’t win, then Rafa would defend his title.
But examine history. When McEnroe lost to Lendl in the finals of the 1984 French Open, what happened afterwards? Did he collapse? No, he continued to win with only 2 more losses the rest of the year. And what happened when Vilas retired against Ilie Nastase with his spaghetti racquet after his 42nd win? He kept on winning.
These were the reasons I thought Djokovic might win Wimbledon. Players that go on such a streak don’t suddenly forget how to win.
Things didn’t look great for Djokovic in two matches. Against Baghdatis, Djokovic found a guy who was getting every ball back. Djokovic had to dig deep and find a way to win. Against Tomic, he looked shaky, unable to solve the weird play of the young, tall Australian.
But against the hard hitting Tsonga, Djokovic found his movement again. Despite being on the losing end of a 5-2 head-to-head, he got returns back, he made Tsonga move, and once Tsonga had to chase down shots, he looked more human, not the machine that gave Roger Federer one break point in a five set match.
One.
As everyone thought the dominant Nadal, winner of two Wimbledons and defending champ would take it to Djokovic, I kept thinking, four wins in a row gives you confidence that nothing else well. Doesn’t matter that they weren’t Slams. They were four consecutive Masters 1000 finals. The biggest tournaments after the Slams and year-end championships.
Djokovic showed why he puts more pressure on Nadal than Murray. Murray has to play a style that he doesn’t normally play. Murray doesn’t want to beat a player by pummeling them. He hits flatter than Djokovic, so like Cilic and Berdych, his game is susceptible to errors. Murray isn’t even the pure power hitter than Soderling is. So, if you see Murray hitting hard shots and making winners, you just wait until his game falters, when those big shots he’s not used to hitting regularly start to miss and no one makes you miss more than Rafa Nadal.
When Djokovic started the match, you just felt, on his own game, he was hitting well within his game. The players that do best against Nadal play their normal games: Federer, Djokovic, del Potro.
Djokovic and Nadal kept close for the first set, but at 5-4 up, Djokovic played a great return game and took the first set.
The start of the second set was a little rough. Djokovic was down 0-30 in his opening serve, but managed to eke out that game with some solid play. Djokovic then poured on the amazing and was able stand toe-to-toe with Nadal, and rush to a 6-1 set. At that point, Djokovic looked like he would cruised to a straight set match.
However, Djokovic’s game fell off as he missed shots he had been making, and Nadal’s game picked up some. Nadal went up a break, and then secured a second break. But it seemed like, much like his matcha against Tsonga, Djokovic would focus and play well again.
The two players kept very even in the fourth set. Djokovic had an early break, but Nadal broke back. The two kept even until 4-3. Nadal found himself down 0-40. If he was to win Wimbledon, which seemed very far away, he had to win 3 straight points. He saved a break point, but couldn’t hold off Djokovic.
Djokovic was then at 30-all, and it seemed Nadal might be able to break back. Djokovic took an old tried-and-true strategy. He served and volleyed. Hitting a good crosscourt volley, he was at match point. He was aggressive on the next point, and with it, he won the 125th Wimbledon champion, and gave himself a strong bid to finish the year as world number 1.
Congrats to Novak Djokovic, 2011 Wimbledon champ.
