There we were again, millions of tennis and sports fans in front of our TVs watching Novak Djokovic steam roll through a first set against the people’s champion Roger Federer, when the thoughts started creeping in. He’s going to kill him today. Yes, Federer had won in Dubai, and all of their matches over the past two years had been so intense, close, full of suspense, that surely this was going to be the match where Fed just wilted and Djokovic asserted his youth and movement to an easy win.
Djokovic and Federer: Rivalry of the Now
But…this was Federer, the greatest of all time. And this was Djokovic, the possible future greatest of all time, and this was Roger Federer versus Novak Djokovic and they knew that we the television faithful, we the Twitter live tweeters, and we the Indian Wells spectators deserved better. What was a steam roll in the California desert turned into a contentious battle of wills that kept everyone on the edge of their seats.
We had a raucous crowd completely behind Federer; we had an epic mental breakdown complete with three double faults in a set tie break; we had a racquet smashing of epic proportions from Djokovic– camera shots of his shaking hand, followed by cutaways to Mirka and the twins giving high fives and fist pumps. It was everything that both the most avid fans of tennis and just the casual sports fan love about the sport.
After an epic 4th game in the 3rd set, Djokovic found another gear, and Fed’s backhand became more of a liability with many of his shots finding the top of the net, rather than the other side of the court. Djokovic took the third set 6-2, and we tennis fans were left basking in the afterglow of yet another great battle between the two champions.
It would be hard to argue that any rivalry in professional tennis has come close to this one in intensity, frequency, and interest over the past three years. Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray are still trying to find their best after injury and coaching changes without either really being able to consistently challenge the top 2. Sunday marked the 38th meeting between Federer and Djokovic; second all time in the open era behind Djokovic- Nadal with 42 head to head matches. Although, Nadal and Djokovic have had some good matches, those haven’t been lately.
Djokovic has had Rafa’s number over the past two and half seasons, but he has not had Fed’s. Federer leads the series with 20 wins to 18 losses, and up until yesterday had won 3 out of the last 4; his lone loss being the epic Wimbledon final where Djokovic truly threw himself into the conversation of surpassing the likes of Nadal, Federer, and Pete Sampras for greatest of all time. Novak Djokovic is the only player to have beaten Federer at each of the Grand Slams. Guess who is the only player to have managed to beat Djokovic at each of the slams—you’re right if you guessed Roger Federer. There are many other stats one could reference: the only pair in the open era to have played each other five consecutive times at one slam (U.S.Open); no open era pair have played each other more on hardcourts (28 times) are both examples. Even though there is a difference in age that keeps some tennis historians from calling the two true contemporaries, or members of the same generation, they have truly established each other as counterpoints on the ATP Tour.
Beyond the sheer number of times they have played each other, it really is the quality of their matches that has, and is adding, to the fame of their rivalry. Their Indian Wells final was so tense, so drama filled, of such quality on Sunday, that journalists, Twitter, and commentators all seemed to be trying to talk Federer into skipping his family ski trip to play Miami this week. They, like us, are craving one more Fed-Djokovic match on the hard courts before the European clay season takes over.
How can one forget their epic five set Wimbledon final from last July. It could only be described as gut wrenching for Fed fans as they sought to will their beloved champion to one more Wimbledon crown. However, it was also gut-wrenching because the quality of play was so good. Even the staunchest of Fed fans couldn’t say anything bad about Djokovic as he simply played an amazing fifth set, working his backhand in clearly magical ways. And in that Wimbledon final, just as it was this past Sunday, Federer fought back from the brink of a loss. On Sunday, it was a set down, break down. Last July he was down 2 sets to 1 and 2-5, when he found life from the will of the crowd; his serve became a finely tuned knife and he sliced his way to the 4th set.
We are living during a great age of men’s professional tennis. Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray’s careers are overlapping and intertwining to create a historical tapestry of intriguing tennis and results. Their stories and matches weave themselves into various rivalries of different shades and colors depending upon timing, surface, and mood. And just as it seemed that the likes of Cilic, Kei, and Raonic were going to disrupt the “Big 4” and weave their own strands into the story, the “Big 2” have asserted their storied matches into the forefront of the picture, and tennis is the luckier for it.
