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by Steve Flink
This was decidedly more than just another extraordinary tennis match, more than we could ever have envisioned, more than the two supreme gladiators themselves could have bargained for. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal gave us a stirring, spectacular and gripping heavyweight championship fight contested on a tennis court. They pierced each other with every punch in their arsenals, knocked each other down to the canvas time and again, somehow kept getting back up, and came at each other with unbridled fury until both competitors found themselves often on the edge of utter exhaustion. They withstood pain mortal men could and would not have found tolerable. For five hours and fifty three minutes, across five pendulum swinging sets, through an impossibly long evening and on into the next morning, Djokovic and Nadal were nothing short of heroic in their full-blooded pursuit of the Australian Open crown.
In the end, Djokovic prevailed in this riveting skirmish, coming through gallantly to oust Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 in the longest Grand Slam final ever played. Djokovic achieved an astounding seventh consecutive head-to-head triumph over his revered rival. It was the first time in the Open Era—which commenced in 1968—that two men had clashed in three consecutive Grand Slam tournament finals, and a noble Nadal became the first man in the modern era to fall in three major finals in a row. Djokovic joined some elite company by capturing his third major in a row. In the Open Era, only Rod Laver—who won his second Grand Slam in 1969 and was present to witness the Serbian record this landmark victory in Melbourne—Pete Sampras (1993-94), Roger Federer (twice in the 2005-2007 span), and Nadal (2010) had realized that considerable feat.
Only once in 134 previous career contests at the majors had Nadal been beaten after winning the opening set. That was in 2007 at the U.S. Open, when Nadal bowed out against David Ferrer at the U.S. Open. The Spaniard knew he had to find a way to win the first set of his duel with Djokovic in Melbourne. After suffering six losses in a row to his primary rival and going two sets down in the last two major finals before losing in four sets, Nadal could not afford to fall behind against such a formidable front runner. He had to stake his claim early, let his presence be known, create doubt in the mind of his adversary. Moreover, Djokovic had been pushed to the absolute hilt by Andy Murray in a debilitating five set semifinal.
Nadal’s inside-out forehand was magnificent in the early stages. He went after that shot uncompromisingly, stepping around his backhand whenever possible, driving the forehand without any hint of trepidation. This was crucial. Nadal can’t rely any longer on his trademark crosscourt forehand against Djokovic because the Serbian’s two-handed backhand is simply too good. He has virtually taken that shot away from the Spaniard. Meanwhile, Nadal also went after his backhand, flattening it out frequently, drilling it with a lot of pace both crosscourt and down the line. Even so, Djokovic’s crosscourt forehand—hit with aggressive topspin, curling away from Nadal’s backhand near the sideline—is a burdensome problem for the world No. 2.
Be that as it may, Nadal mixed up his serve adroitly, and his first serve down the T in the deuce court was particularly sharp. He kept it much closer to the center service line than usual. Nadal also went for some effective body serves. And yet, Djokovic returns better than anyone in tennis, and he still came up with some sparkling returns despite some ragged play during the rallies.
Nadal went ahead 4-2, dropped the next three games, but recouped to collect three games in a row to garner the crucial opening set. And yet, despite his disillusionment with losing that set, Djokovic made Nadal work exceedingly hard to close it out. Nadal had a 40-15 lead at 6-5 but Djokovic stung him twice with an inside-in backhand return winner off a second serve, followed by a penetrating two-hander crosscourt that was too much for the Spaniard to handle. Nadal sealed the set on his third set point but it took him 80 punishing minutes to realize that goal.
In 25 of the previous 29 previous showdowns between these two great players, the winner of the first set had gone on to victory. But Djokovic has made a habit of breaking down barriers against his old rival over the last year. He had never defeated Nadal in a final prior to 2011, but did it six times in 2011, winning four of those encounters at Masters 1000 level events, prevailing in the finals of Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. He had never beaten Nadal on clay before ousting the left-hander twice on the dirt last year. And before the start of 2011, Djokovic had never come from a set down to defeat Nadal. But twice in 2011, he turned the tables on Nadal after dropping the first set, at Indian Wells and Miami.
After displaying some frustration during the first set in Melbourne, Djokovic slowly and surely found his range in the second and left his anxiety behind him. He charged to a 5-2 second set lead. Nadal was down set point on his serve in the eighth game but he got something extra on his forehand, made a delayed move into the net, and coaxed an error from the Serbian off his backhand. Nadal held on. When Djokovic served for the second set, the Serbian advanced to 40-15, double set point. Nadal retaliated forcefully once more, stepping up the pace of his crosscourt forehand to force an error from Djokovic, then releasing an outright winner off the forehand. Djokovic lost that game with a double fault, and Nadal found himself with a chance to bring the set back to 5-5.
The Spaniard moved to 40-30 in the critical tenth game of that second set, but Djokovic was uninhibited, sending an inside-out forehand to Nadal’s forehand that was too good. At deuce, Djokovic’s return landed short, sitting up for Nadal to devour. But the Spaniard unwisely elected to go crosscourt instead of inside-out. Djokovic anticipated beautifully, driving a backhand pass up the line for a winner. At break point down, Nadal recognized that Djokovic was looking to step in and unleash another scorching return. The Spaniard went for too much, double faulting long. It was one set all, and a revitalized Djokovic was back in a positive frame of mind.
Djokovic pounded Nadal into submission across the third set, breaking for 3-1 by gaining the upper hand in a 21 stroke baseline exchange. He held at love for 4-1. Nadal managed to hold in the following game, but Djokovic captured eight points in a row to take the set commandingly, 6-2. At 4-2, 40-0, Djokovic drove a clean winner down the line off the backhand. With Nadal serving at triple set point down in the following game, Djokovic blasted a devastatingly potent and brilliant forehand winner down the line, as if to underline his supremacy. He took 16 of 18 service points in that set, and thoroughly outclassed Nadal with his play. This was Djokovic essentially at his zenith.
Nadal was down two sets to one, and Djokovic was going strong. A comeback from the Spaniard did not seem likely. But Nadal is ever indefatigable, and he was not going to surrender. And yet, Nadal served at 3-4, 0-40 in the fourth set, down triple break point, in danger of losing the match in very short order. Here he revealed his forthrightness and total integrity as a competitor. An inside-out forehand winner took Nadal back to 15-40, and a service winner wide to the forehand made it 30-40. Then Nadal produced a gutsy backhand up the line behind Djokovic. That shot landed safely in the corner for a winner. It was deuce. Nadal then aced Djokovic down the T in the deuce court, and followed with an unstoppable first serve. That remarkably assertive five point sequence lifted a surging Nadal back to 5-5.
But rain halted play after three hours and 59 absorbing minutes. The roof was closed over Rod Laver Arena, but a ten minute delay ensued. The set went to a tie-break, and Djokovic moved ahead 5-3, two points away from a four set triumph. He went for a forehand winner down the line, but just missed it wide. Serving at 4-5, Nadal was forced to defend off his backhand, but cleverly went with a short slice down the line. Djokovic stepped around but missed an inside-out forehand. It was 5-5. Nadal surprised Djokovic with a first serve out wide to the forehand in the deuce court, and provoked an errant return wide. It was set point for the Spaniard, with Djokovic serving. A buoyant Spaniard had been reignited, and Djokovic realized he had woken a sleeping giant of a competitor. Djokovic missed a forehand inside-in and just like that it was two sets all. Nadal had collected four crucial points in a row to dramatically reverse the outcome of the tie-break.
An exhilarated Nadal was sprawled out on the court, on his back, delirious about giving himself another chance to win. He was gaining the upper hand in the rallies, hitting the ball harder, getting on top in many of the rallies. Meanwhile, Djokovic’s legs were turning to jelly and weakening significantly. On his way to 3-2 in the fifth set, Nadal conceded only two points in three service games. In the sixth game, Nadal stood at break point. He took his forehand forcefully up the line and Djokovic did not have any spring in his step, missing the difficult running forehand. The Spaniard was up 4-2.
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