This time last year, Rafael Nadal headed to Paris from Rome with a bewildered and somewhat hurt expression on his face. For the second straight week, he had been outplayed on red clay by Novak Djokovic.
The beatings Nadal had taken in the finals of the ATP Masters Series events at Indian Wells and Miami earlier in the year had not pleased him, but he could live with those. They had been on hard courts, the Serb’s favorite surface. But clay? Rafa was supposed to be the King of Clay, but he had been beaten at his own game by a relentless retriever who had become a more potent attacking force who was piling victory upon victory. Djokovic was becoming unstoppable.
Now, 12 months later, the situation is very different. By this stage last year, Djokovic was unbeaten and already had seven titles under his belt. Nadal had two.
So far in 2012, Nadal has won three titles in eight tournaments, Djokovic only two in seven. From Djokovic’s point of view, there was nothing much to worry about as he prepared to play his hometown tournament at the Monte Carlo Country Club. He had defended his Australian Open crown, outlasting Nadal in a pulsating, 5-hour, 53-minute final, and if losing to John Isner in a semifinal at Indian Wells had been a shock, Djokovic recovered quickly and beat Andy Murray in the final at Miami.
But then his grandfather died. Djokovic heard the news during practice on the Thursday of Monte Carlo and left the court in tears. He had lost his greatest supporter and his soul mate. After agonizing with his family, Djokovic decided to play on and miss the funeral in Belgrade. He won his semifinal, but neither his heart nor his mind were in the right place when he met Nadal in the final and he lost in straight sets.
There could have been no clearer indication of how unsettled Djokovic has been by his grandfather’s death then when he pulled out of the ATP event in Belgrade that his family runs (although they are now in the process of selling it).
Meanwhile, Nadal won Barcelona, and then came Madrid and the distraction of the blue clay. The preparation of the under soil had much more to do with the increased slipperiness of the surface than the color. But, no matter, it got inside the heads of both the world’s top players and they both lost to lesser versions of themselves — Nadal to Fernando Verdasco and Djokovic to Janko Tipsarevic.
Roger Federer, meanwhile, glided about with his customary grace and won the title, beating Tomas Berdych in the final and displacing Nadal as the World No 2.
So there were some unanswered questions by the time Nadal and Djokovic faced each other again — their 32nd meeting all told — in the final at the Foro Italico. Both had appeared to be in ferociously good form in the early rounds and by the semis, Nadal won, as he always does, against the worthy World No. 5, David Ferrer, and Djokovic looked particularly sharp while defeating Federer.
In the final, Djokovic started better, but at 5-4, 30-all on Nadal’s serve, Djokovic hit was should have been a forehand winner but, instead, was called out. The umpire correctly overruled, but the point had to be replayed. Djokovic hit long and lost it. So a shot that should have taken him to set point had disappeared.
Strangely, this seemed to unnerve the tenacious Serb. He lost the set, hit a couple of terrible smashes, missed on his backhand more than we have seen him do in more than a year and eventually lost 7-5, 6-3.
It was a performance that, by the end, did not look at all worthy of the world’s best player. Was something wrong? Had Djokovic not fully recovered from the loss of his grandfather?
He was sanguine enough afterward, admitting to the media he had not played his best but adding, “I will need to make a few adjustments before Paris, but I’ll be in top form.”
It is, of course, a huge tournament for the 25-year-old. Should Djokovic win, he would join the exclusive club of players who have won all four Grand Slams. And he would actually hold all four of them at one time — not quite what is known as the Grand Slam because December 31 intervenes. But if he were to conquer Roland Garros, it would be no time to nitpick. Considering how many truly great players such as John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Peter Sampras never achieved it, winning all four would elevate Djokovic to a new plateau — one shared, amazingly, by his two main rivals, Nadal and Federer.
Having three players of one generation on that pedestal only highlights the current quality of the men’s game. And, leaving Federer out of the equation, the rivalry developing between Nadal and Djokovic is assuming historic proportions.
The fact that Nadal has now reclaimed the No. 2 spot from Federer ensures Djokovic and Nadal cannot meet before the final. And what an occasion that would be. But there is much work to be done before then. Depending on how the draw works out, Djokovic will either be faced with the prospect of meeting Murray in the semifinal or Federer — the man who broke the Serb’s incredible winning streak there last year. Against either man, Djokovic will need to maintain focus and not allow the kind of errors we saw in Rome.
As for Nadal, he apparently is feeling better than he has since 2010. Unlike Monte Carlo, the victory over Novak in Rome was legitimate confirmation of his return to dominance on clay.
Reflecting on the problems Djokovic piled on him last year when he beat the Spaniard in seven consecutive finals, Nadal said, “You just have to accept the losses and stay competitive. You don’t need to find great things but small things that make a difference. And when you are losing finals like I did last year, you just need to keep control of your emotions.”
Rafa struggled with that 12 months ago. But the smile is back, and anyone wanting to unseat the champion at Roland Garros is going to have to play an incredible game of tennis.
Djokovic can do it. But will he? Now, I am not so sure.
