Novak Djokovic had every reason to check out mentally before this tournament started. He had every reason to suffer a letdown. How much more heartbreak can one tennis player overcome?
The French Open has been Djokovic’s waterloo since he rose to the top of the game. First it was the 2011 semifinal against Federer, when the Swiss veteran reminded the world that winning 40 straight matches didn’t make Djokovic unbeatable. The next three years, it was Nadal standing in his way in a final or semifinal. Close as Djokovic could make it, he just couldn’t beat the Mallorcan at Roland Garros. Then, just under a month ago, he finally broke the hold Nadal had over him in Paris. But when he reached the final, Stan Wawrinka stood in his way.
Four times, now, Djokovic has entered Paris with the chance to complete his career Grand Slam. Four times, now, he has been denied.
Four times, now, Djokovic has responded to that heartbreak like the true champion he has. His worst result at Wimbledon in these last four years? A semifinal appearance in 2012 (where he lost to Federer). In 2013 he lost the historic final to Andy Murray, but last year he responded to his Roland Garros loss with his second Wimbledon title.
Every year, though, it has to get harder. That missing Coupe des Mousquetaires on the mantle has to be more glaring each passing season. Every French Open, Djokovic becomes more invested in finally winning it. Which means that every year it doesn’t, the mental pressure has to become even greater. And yet Djokovic’s results at Wimbledon, which follows so quickly after the French heartbreak, keep getting better every year.
Last year, Djokovic met a not quite in perfect form Roger Federer in the final and the pair produced an epic match, even if it wasn’t the highest-quality of their meetings. Federer’s game wasn’t quite at the level he needed to win the tournament, though by no means was either player poor (they did reach the final, after all).
This year, though, Federer came into the final absolutely on fire. This fortnight, Federer dominated the field. Heading into the final, Federer’s serve was broken just once in the entire tournament. He delivered a tournament-long masterclass serving performance. His baseline and return games were very good, but serving may very well be the best we’ve seen from Federer in his entire career. His first-serve percentage stayed ridiculously high all tournament and his first serve was untouchable. Not even Andy Murray, one of the best returners in the game, could make inroads on the Federer serve in their semifinal match. That’s how you contend to win a Slam at the age of 33.
So when Federer went up a break early in the first set, logic dictated that the set would be his. The tone was certainly set early, one which Federer would hope to maintain. Djokovic had other ideas, though. He did the impossible and broke back. After saving two set points while serving down 5-6, Djokovic ran away with the first set in a tiebreak. A new tone was set. Djokovic’s message to Federer was clear: Whatever you can throw at me, I’ll come back at you stronger.
In a sense, this is the Novak Djokovic we have now. For as dominant as he has seemed over the past five years, some stats at the end of the day just don’t bear that out. Before this Wimbledon, he was just 8-8 in Grand Slam finals. Since his absolutely dominant 2011, Djokovic has reached an incredible 10 Grand Slam finals in just 16 tournaments. Unfortunately for him, he has won just four of them. From 2012 until now, Djokovic has a losing record in Grand Slam finals.
It’s not fair to criticize much, though. Getting to a final is a huge achievement by itself. It’s not like Djokovic is cracking under pressure. It’s not like he isn’t playing well when push comes to shove. It’s just that things haven’t worked out in Grand Slam finals. Whether it’s meeting an inspired Andy Murray at the US Open and Wimbledon, or taking on Rafael Nadal on the Paris clay, or even getting beat by Stan Wawrinka playing the match of his life a month ago, Djokovic has just run into opponents that he couldn’t beat in Grand Slam finals.
But these losses are not a knock on Djokovic’s greatness. They are a testament to it.
Djokovic’s career can be defined by a lot of things. We can talk about growing up in a war-torn country. We can talk about taking gluten out of his diet. We can talk about how things are different now that he’s a father and has a family.
Most of all, though, if we concentrate on just the tennis, we have to talk about Djokovic’s ability to overcome anything and everything thrown his way. He responded to his tough 2010 US Open final loss by winning just about everything in sight for the next year. He responded to his 2012 US Open final loss by beating Murray in the Australian Open final the next year. And now, two years in a row, he has responded to devastating French Open final losses by winning the title on the hallowed grass of SW19.
They say athletes have to have short memories to be successful. They have to be able to forget about things that happened in the past and bring their absolute best no matter what. Djokovic does better than that, though. The past drives him. When he is really faced with adversity, he doesn’t tone things down and regroup. He uses the occasion to unleash what is necessary. In a way, his iconic return winner while facing match point at the 2011 US Open is emblematic of his entire career. When he is almost beaten, when he is at a point where everyone thinks the pressure is just too much to bear, is when Djokovic is able to show his true brilliance.
So is it any surprise that when Djokovic lost the second set after squandering seven set points, he responded by breaking Federer early in the third set. Then, after a potentially mentally-straining rain delay, Djokovic had to come out and hold onto his break lead, which he responded to beautifully as well, holding three times with relative ease to take the set. So when he finally broke to take the fourth set and the match, no one was surprised. Djokovic had already shown us what he was going to do.
This title, perhaps more than any other in his career so far, will stand as a testament to Djokovic’s resilience and ability to overcome anything. How fitting is it, then, that this also another significant milestone in Djokovic’s career? Not only is it his 200th match win at a Slam, but he has finally equalized his career head-to-head against Federer. Federer, who dominated Djokovic early in his career, has the best record against him of anyone on tour since 2011. It’s taken almost five years, but Djokovic has now evened their career matchup at 20 wins apiece.
It is a far less significant milestone than his 9th career Slam title, which puts him alone at #8 on the all-time Slam win list. But it exemplifies Djokovic’s ability to, eventually, overcome everything that the tennis world throws his way.
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