By Bill Simons
Each spring, time and imagination combine with a unique precision.
There is no run-up to a Slam like the eight-week French Open preseason. And this year has been like no other.
After all, we do like to see the mighty twitch, and the king of clay, Rafa Nadal, has been twisting like never before. Injured for much of 2014, he failed to impose his game during the spring clay court season that he had dominated for nearly a decade. As his ranking fell, the debate raged. What would the nine-time French Open champ be seeded, and who he would have to face early at Roland Garros?
Soon it was clear. Relegated to be the sixth seed, the Spaniard would probably have to face the No. 1 player in the world, Novak Djokovic, in the quarterfinals.
Let the hype begin.
Never had a tournament been quite so anticipated. Never had there been such focus on a single non-final match. Yes, some recalled when Roger Taylor played Bjorn Borg at Wimbledon in 1976, or when a grieving Pete Sampras began to weep when facing Jim Courier in the 1995 Aussie Open quarters. But this was different.
After all, Djokovic was on a searing tear. Since becoming a Dad in October, he had won every big event he’d entered: the ATP Championships, the Aussie Open, Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Rome.
Whew!
Calm and confident, he was at the peak of his powers. Once mocked for being a wimp, he was now the fittest star in the game. Fittingly, he was on a 26-match winning streak, and hadn’t lost a Paris set going into the quarters.
But no bull, Rafa is Rafa. The whispers were loud. The most telling truism in tennis was simple: The hardest thing to do in the game is beat Nadal in a best-of-five-set match on Roland Garros’s huge Court Central.
The Spaniard had an astonishing 93-1 record in five-set matches on clay. He hadn’t lost in five years at the French Open. Rafa loyalists clung bravely to the idea that their man would again step up and prevail on his favorite court.
But Novak had other ideas. Just prior to her death, his childhood coach Jelena Gencic told him to win the French Open. Djokovic carried his clay court tennis shoes wherever he went. True, in past Paris matches he had suffered inexplicable errors against Nadal, touching the net on a critical break point and twice gifting double faults on match points. Bad memories do linger. But now the gluten-free advocate hoped to be far more error-free.
Amidst all the pre-match chatter and inflated expectations, broadcaster Chris Bowers shared the obvious: “This match can only be worse than we expect.” And as if on cue, Djokovic came out on fire to prove Bowers’ point. Winning the first game at love, he ran like a deer. His drop shots deceived like a thief. He turned defense to offense like a wizard, and he hit his spots on serve like an unflinching dart master.
All the while, Rafa flinched. Where was his snarl, his Nadalian swagger? Too often his fabled forehand found the net, not the corners. The man whose brand is to pin his foes was now being pinned. He seemed as blue as his all-aqua outfit.
Broken twice on serve, Rafa was soon down 0-4. Analysts began to comb the records. There’s no way he could ever have been bageled in Paris.
But then, just as the always judgmental French crowd began to mumble, Rafa began to rumble. At last, he started to extend the chess-like rallies and began to impose the most feared stroke on clay—his forehand. His backhands went deep, he showed ample patience and little panic, and he finally prevailed on break points. As Rafa twice broke back to even an amazing set at 4-4, the once-so-loose Djokovic grasped at his head, and many pondered the enormity of the moment.
“We have a piece of sporting theater,” noted Radio Roland Garros. “There will be a massive premium for whoever wins the first set.” Surely, Djokovic knew, just as savvy sports fans do, that it’s one thing to come back from a deficit and quite another thing to capture the lead. So Novak battled to right the ship. As he easily held his serve to go up 5-4, he gained a measure of confidence. Suddenly, Rafa again was the one playing tight. His backhands fell short. His overheads seemed shaky, and he worked hard not to shake his head in frustration as he was warned for a time violation. All the while, Novak scrambled with a fierce frenzy.
But there is good reason Nadal has won 14 Slams. He bravely fought off five set points, until Djokovic flashed some inspired corner-to-corner coverage and unleashed a laser forehand to capture about as good a set as you will see for a great while. Still, one thought, on this big occasion, surely Rafa could mount a big comeback. The dirt-meister had never before lost the first two sets of a best-of-five match on clay.
But today the Serb served up history. Hitting behind Rafa, he gave him little chance to come from behind, as Nadal’s season of discontent marched on. No, Rafa didn’t come out with his shorts on backwards, and he didn’t voice over-the-top complaints about time delay rules. Still, after the first set, he offered only modest resistance. He struggled mightily on his first serve. His usually punishing down-the-line forehand was oddly errant, and his defense brought to mind sinking, most unkind feelings about the Spanish Armada.
Yes, at times Djokovic was nervous. It took him four set points to close out the second set, 6-3. But as he’s done recently against Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori, he pulled away at the end. Like an on-court version of Muhammad Ali, he had his foe on the ropes. Often in great position, his anticipation keen, Novak used slice-and-dice angles, and broke Nadal’s serve seven times en route to a clinical, most anticlimactic 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 win.
The proud Spaniard came into Roland Garros hoping for double digits—his tenth French Open—but leaves town knowing he’ll soon be saddled with a most un-Rafa-like ranking, No. 10 or 11.
Pundits wondered whether Djokovic would blast his way past Murray (who he’s owned recently) in the semis and go on to claim his first French Open, a career Grand Slam, and maybe even a calendar Grand Slam. The man is good.
Others pondered whether the king of clay could possibly reclaim his crown. Before the French Open, Patrick McEnroe had raised a mighty red flag. “Paris is a real crossroads tournament for Nadal,” contended the analyst. “I don’t see him sticking around if he drops out of the top 10. If he loses relatively early … it would be a huge psychological blow. Just the way he plays, there’s so much effort expended. He doesn’t have the same ease of striking the ball as Djokovic and Federer.
“I hope it doesn’t happen. But it could be a very quick fall. Obviously his heart and commitment will be there. If his body and mind start to break down, then that would be his downfall. If reality sets in in a way that he doesn’t think he can do it anymore, he could be done pretty quickly.”
But wait, the sky may not yet be falling. After his loss, Rafa said, “There is only one sure thing, I want to work even harder than before to come back stronger … I lost in ’09 and it’s not the end. I lost in ’15 and it’s not the end. I hope to be back here next year.”
All the while, don’t doubt for a moment that Nadal remains highly ranked in the hearts of millions. On the tenth anniversary of his beating Federer in the semis of his first French Open, giddy kids chased about Roland Garros yelling happy birthday to one of the most beloved figures this sport has ever known.
