Aussie Open 2012, Day 14

MEN'S FINAL


The BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice is one of my favourite ways to spend six straight hours. Sleep after a late night and before an early start is another. Now I've found a third. 


Djokovic's defeat over Nadal in a record breaking (nearly) six hours in the muggy heat of a Melbourne summer evening is something I'll never forget. I wasn't there, of course, I was on my sofa in my pyjamas on a Sunday morning trying to memorise the five main sources of the constitution... But I felt like I was. I could feel that enveloping humidity, I could feel the vibrations as the players smacked the ball back and forth, I could feel thousands of people around me cheering and gasping and screaming and sighing with delight. It is in matches like this that tennis transcends sport and becomes an event, a spectacle, an unforgettable life moment.


Djokovic may have beaten Nadal 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 7-5 to win his third Australian Open and fifth Slam title but there were no losers here today. 


On reflection this was not the best tennis match I've ever seen - the 2007/8 Wimbledon finals between Rafa and Roger are still better - but it was amazingly close. The first set was scrappy and not particularly pretty tennis, the second and third were dominated by an unstoppable Serb, but the fourth and fifth sets took this match from the sublime to the ridiculously sublime with both men playing at the very top of their games. 


Nadal's hold when 3-4 and 0-40 down was something to tell the grandchildren about. Then the rain came and we had the drama of a forced break just when things were getting sticky. Resuming, a cool-headed Djokovic held serve and then an even cooler-headed Nadal did likewise. When Djokovic hit long to go 5-5, Nadal beat his chest as if he'd just won the set. The precision and depth of both players to take this set to a breaker was breath-taking and the fact that Nadal somehow snuck that set and took the match to a decider is unfathomable to me, even after watching the match again. Twice.


The way the Spaniard sank to his knees and roared when he won the fourth is something I've never seen before in tennis. His celebration for winning a set was the same as it is when he wins a match. A big match. If you compare that to when he won his first Wimbledon it could be the same moment. 


I confess, when Djokovic lost the fourth set I feared for him. With Nadal's five-set record and the momentum clearly in his corner I didn't think there was any way the Serb could win it. When Djoko went a break down I was convinced he'd lost. But he broke back. When he collapsed to the floor after losing the first point of the ninth game in 31 gruelling strokes, I knew he would lose. I was wrong. 


I was wrong so many times in the fifth set that I almost couldn't watch it until the end. My stomach was churned up and I felt sick at the thought of Rafa winning and faint at the thought of Novak prevailing. I'm not usually a massive Nadal fan but I couldn't fathom a loser in this magnificent match.


At 5-5 in the fifth with both men practically on their knees I thought the game would never end. Stop now and call it a draw. I couldn't handle it anymore.


Djokovic, with super-human strength, some fantastic serving and almost unbelievable retrieving, broke the Spaniard and then held firm for an incredible victory. He ripped the shirt from his body in celebration and threw the remains to the euphoric crowd. 


When I think back on this final I will remember most the two players waiting to be given their trophies, listening to the speeches, and being almost unable to stand. Nadal used the net as a chair and Djokovic folded his body in half, both trying to alleviate the lactic acid that must have been coursing through their spent bodies. Eventually the ball people grabbed a couple of chairs and the two broken sportsmen, sitting side by side, smiled ruefully at each other.


It wasn't better than those Wimbledon matches only because the quality of tennis was consistently better throughout the whole games in SW19, but it mirrored them in so many ways. 


Djokovic has well and truly established himsef as world number one. He becomes only the fourth man - along with Agassi, Wilander and Federer - to win three successive majors in the Open era. Can he go to the French and complete his Grand Slam?


It now becomes all about match-ups - Djokovic beats Nadal, Nadal out-classes Federer, Federer wins against Djokovic. Andy Murray can play all three but seems to bring out his best against Nadal, although with his semi-final performance here, maybe that will change.


One thing is for sure - Djokovic is the man to beat in tennis and is on top of the world right now.


I'll keep you blogged...