BILL SIMONS
MELBOURNE—Thanks to Serena, there are no rivalries in women’s tennis. There are many in the men’s game, but none better than Roger Federer vs. Novak Djokovic. Forty-four times they had battled. Each had won 22 times. Simply put, the match-up is sublime. And on this mild Melbourne evening, the Rod Laver Arena crowd tingles in anticipation: Let’s get ready to rumble.
On the north bench, in his Uniqlo blue gear, is the dominant man from Serbia: buzz-cut hair, efficient strokes, in his prime – the ruler. The courtside announcer provides details – 63 titles, 5 Aussie Opens, No. 1 in the world. We get the picture. Tennis knows full well that the man from a distant war-torn land has been tearing up the ATP for some time.
His foe – on the south bench, in green-and-white Nike gear – is the Swiss master, Mr. Federer, the proud, elegant lion. His mane flows. So do his strokes – his game is poetic. He’s beloved. But he is past his prime. The 34-year-old still instills fear. He is No. 3 in the world. But he hasn’t reached the Aussie Open final since 2010, and hasn’t won a Slam in over three years. One writer claims, “He’s as perfect a human being as you get.” But age matters, even for icons.
From the beginning, Djokovic pounces. The man, who has been compared to a leopard, takes advantage of many early Federer errors – an easy backhand into the net, a flying forehand. Federer rarely loses serve. But tonight he serves poorly and falters. Djokovic breaks Federer’s first service game.
Is it an omen?
After Roger drops the first three games, he holds. The pro-Federer crowd (and isn’t the crowd always pro-Federer?) explodes. But it’s Nole who dictates, in long rallies and frenetic scrambles. His sneakers shriek. His game shouts. He pronates like a gymnast and creates angles like a geometry guru. This is almost flawless, imposing tennis.
His serve kisses the lines. His returns are laser-like. He moves with ease, his groundies penetrate deep. He again breaks, and then hits a service winner to grab the first set 6-1 in just 22 minutes – such a shocking dominance. Few make Roger look ordinary. Novak does. For just the second time in 45 matches Roger wins only one game in a set.
“Please, oh, please,” the crowd seems to ask, “don’t let this be a blowout. They are not part of the Fed-Nole script.” But the Serb is relentless. Gone are any memories of his wretched struggle two rounds ago against Frenchman Gilles Simon, when he’d had 100 unforced errors. Now Novak is a different player, a man possessed. He crouches, he widens his eyes, he waits, he stretches, he unleashes. His game has few cracks in it. From defense to offense, patiently hitting rally balls down the middle or a backhand winner on the line. He likes to play with a lead. This is a champion in his prime.
All the while, the great man struggles. Roger is out of sorts. He lacks rhythm and confidence and is less than explosive. “I can’t believe some of the shots Roger’s been playing since he’s 12 are now flying long…It’s an uncharacteristic display,” says Australia Open radio. “He’s been discombobulated. On the other hand, Novak has been playing out of his mind.” In just 55 minutes the Djoker is up 6-1, 6-2. He cannot remember playing two sets so well.
But with Federer, humiliation is not an option. Roger runs in place. He stares at his strings. He seems to ask, “What can I possibly do?” He knows Novak’s stratospheric level must flatten just a bit. In the third set Roger finally gets in a groove. Hope beckons. The Swiss at last flashes his brilliance as he blasts a backhand return down the line that freezes Djokovic, then surprises him with an inspired cross-court forehand dink off a volley.
Novak at last seems vulnerable, and Federer prevails in one of those classic games. On his fourth break point, he pins the Serb and, after an agonizing 1:26, scores his first (and only) break of the match, to go up 4-2. Fans leap in glee. “Rah-ger, Rah-ger,” they chant.
But after Federer collects the third set 6-3, the great match is delayed. Rain is coming, and the Laver roof is closed. For eleven minutes tennis hits the pause button.
Yes, the 34-year-old man may have gotten some rest, and an indoor court, which he likes. But his ascendant momentum vanishes. He and Novak battle evenly deep into the fourth set until, with Novak up 4-3, Roger chases down a lob, survives two overheads, retrieves a volley from the left corner and feathers a backhand down the line. It is the shot of the tournament – the shot of the year. The crowd roars. Afterward, Federer scoffs that the point is just in the “top hundred” of his career. It is certainly a triumphant moment. Yet a moment doesn’t make a match.
These days, Djokovic is one of the toughest mental players around. He knows he can’t be distracted. Tennis is filled with players who’ve won big battles, but ultimately lost the war. John McEnroe won the most famous tie-break in history in 1980, 18-16, over Bjorn Borg, at Wimbledon. But Borg won the match.
Similarly, Novak shrugs off Federer’s fabulous point, refocuses, and hits two spectacular returns to score a break that in a heartbeat propels him – as in last year’s Wimbledon and US Open finals – to another sizzling four-set triumph, 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Now 15,000 tennis lovers – from Rod Laver in the front row to an Aussie baker from Perth in the top tier – know a simple truth. This is Novak Djokovic’s night. This is Novak Djokovic’s tournament to lose. This is Novak Djokovic’s era to dominate. Or, as Brad Gilbert notes, “‘The Big Four’ is now ‘The Big One.'”
