Ana Ivanovic, Novak Djokovic’s childhood friend, sat nervously in the Friend’s Box watching her fellow Serbian trying to close out the legendary Roger Federer in the semifinals of the Australian Open.
Djokovic had controlled most of the match with relentless, vicious groundstroking, but Federer had come back from two sets down before and after the Swiss broke back to 4-4 in the third set, he was in with a chance.
Opportunity thoroughly denied. Djokovic easily broke back in the next game by pushing the Swiss all over the court and then coolly served out the 7-6 (3), 7-5, 6-4 three-hour victory.
For the second straight Grand Slam, the strong- legged Serbian had knocked the 16-time Grand Slam champion out of a major. It may not be a changing of the guard yet, but without a doubt, the 23-year-old Djokovic is a much better all-around player even than he was back in 2008 when he bested Federer in the semis and Jo Tsonga in the final and won his sole Grand Slam title at the Aussie Open.
Former No. 1 Ivanovic could see that.
"Novak was so composed and so in control,” she said. “It as was the best I've seen him play. His groundstrokes were great and he served so impressive and he fought. I was nervous for him at the end but then everything was perfect."
In retrospect, seminal victories such as those always appear to be ideal, even if the process of getting there is extraordinarily difficult. Djokovic came into the match with a 6-13 record against Federer, having beaten him at two Slams, but having lost to him at four others. Moreover, after he fought off two match points against him in a delicious five-setter to reach the 2010 U.S. Open final (where he fell to Nadal), Federer had beaten him three consecutive times in the fall and seemed to have to regained the formula that would bring him to victory again.
Under his new coach, Paul Annacone, Federer had begun to take the ball more on the rise on his backhand side which had covered up his weaker wing, become more aggressive in his return games and taken more charge of the net.
But against Djokovic, all those elements disappeared as the Serbian remarkably out-hit him off the Swiss’s stronger forehand side (how often has that happened?), owned him off the backhand side (it seemed like Federer framed 15 one-handers) served bigger and more consistently in the clutch, and largely moved better.
“If Federer can’t win more free points off serve, or first strike off the return, Djokovic is winning too high of a disproportionate amount of neutral points in rally,” said Tennis Channel analyst Justin Gimelstob. “It’s taking Federer more quality shots to finish points . . . because Djokovic is defending so well and hurting him from positions that most guys can’t."
That Federer was able to keep the match that close was somewhat miraculous, because he didn’t seem have to be a winning formula on the slow hardcourt
He lost the first-set tiebreaker when Djokovic ripped three winners and he committed two unforced errors. He rallied in the second set to go ahead 5-2 and then lost five straight games as Djokovic easily handled his serve and consistently blew holes in the corners while the Swiss fiddled around with drop shots.
“Every time I had slight opportunity, either I didn't play my best and he played his best,” Federer said. “It was a tough night from this standpoint."
Djokovic got off the mark quickly in the third set, then had his brief hiccup to get broken back to 4-4. Federer’s refusal to change tactics and try to charge the net haunted him. But as Gimelstob said, there was no way that he was going to concede that his previous winning formula against Djokovic had expired until the last ball was tossed.
“You know why Federer stopped serve-and-volleying in the first place (earlier in his career) is because he didn’t want guys to beat him with just one stroke. He has so much confidence that if the points play out to his pattern there’s an inevitability – because he’s won 16 Slams – that the odds will turn in his favor. It's tough to process that until the result is over and then you can say I should have done something different.”
Davis Cup hero Djokovic was extremely heartened by the victory, saying it was one of the best performances of his life. For only the second time in the last 21 Grand Slams, neither Federer nor Rafa Nadal will be in a final. Perhaps the sport needs a breather.
“All the credit to Federer and Nadal, what they have done in last five, six years,” said Djokovic, who will face either Andy Murray or David Ferrer in Sunday's final.
“They've been very dominant and just a great example of champions. It was really hard to challenge them, especially in the big events where they play their best. Now these things are changing a little bit, so from that perspective it's good for the sport.”
Federer's loss left him without one of the four majors for the first time since 2003 when he won his first Wimbledon. He’s 29 now but his standout fall where he scored wins over Djokovic, Nadal and Murray shows he’s still has a lot left in the tank. But it’s pretty clear now that his dominant period is over and it’s going to harder and harder for him to win majors. He’s not going anywhere, but neither is the likes of Djokovic.
“I had a great season last year, and I think I'll have another one this year,” he said.
