The 53rd career meeting between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, world number 1 and 2 respectively, took place in the final at the Australian Open. The Serb dominated the 17 time major champion 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 to hoist the trophy for an unprecedented seventh occasion and bank his 15th major title.
Djokovic continued to display the form that garnered him the last 2 majors, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, beginning the match with a love hold. Quickly, the world number one had double break point when Nadal buried a backhand crosscourt into the net. The Spaniard had not yielded a break since the opening round. With Nadal flubbing an easy forehand, Djokovic secured the game. He bolstered the break by capturing his 8th consecutive service point for 3-0. After saving break point, Nadal finally posted a game on the board. Still, Djokovic kept on rolling extending his lead to 5-2 after his fourth hold at love. The Serb surrendered only 1 point as he shut out the opening set 6-3.
Few competitors have succeeded in frustrating Nadal or making him look ordinary, especially in a final at a major. That’s exactly what Djokovic accomplished up to this point. After Nadal pocketed a tough first game to start the second set, Djokovic breezed through to square the proceedings at 1 all. With another arduous game, Nadal had his first lead for 2-1. However, the satisfaction was short lived as Djokovic cruised again on his serve to level the score at 2-2. The next few minutes pressed into mistakes after mistakes, Nadal stared at double break point as he hit his racket in disgust. As the Spaniard’s lob landed long, Djokovic converted the break for 3-2. Nadal’s best chance came the following game at 15-30 and deuce. But, the Serb pushed harder on the accelerator to eventually consolidate for 4-2. With a forehand up the line winner, soon, Djokovic was in position to nab a double break lead. He did so when Nadal dumped another forehand stroke into the net. The Serb finished the second set by winning four successive games.
Up to this juncture, Nadal had yet to manufacture a break point. His forecourt game which had worked beautifully this fortnight had deserted him, his first serve offered no solace. As Djokovic blanketed the baseline, Nadal was literally being pushed out of the stadium with each stroke. The Spaniard needed to rethink his tactics, minimize his errors and have his rival’s level of play dip. In the third game, misfiring on a forehand down the line, Nadal gave Djokovic double break point. With the Spaniard unable to handle a forehand volley, the Serb grabbed the break for 2-1. There had never been a straight sets victory in all of their previous 7 major finals. Winning 86% of his first serves, 89% of his second, with 28 winners and 4 unforced errors up to now, Djokovic was looking to make this one the first. Subsequent to his counterpart consolidating for 3-1, Nadal quickly held to keep the deficit at one game. In the sixth game, at last, Nadal had his maiden break point of the contest when Djokovic netted a makeable forehand. Anew, Nadal’s backhand failed to clear his side of the net, the score was at deuce. Djokovic simply would not be denied. With a couple of winners, the Serb was at 4-2. Down 3-4, Nadal again pushed his opponent to deuce, but to no avail. With a let court volley winner, Djokovic marched on for 5-3. Then, after 2 hours and 4 minutes, a forehand up the line winner gave the Serb double championship point. Djokovic cashed in on his second opportunity, when Nadal’s backhand went long.
The 2009 victor had these words for his rival “many congratulations to Novak and his team. It was an amazing level of tennis tonight and during both weeks, well done.” Still for Nadal, all is not lost “even though tonight was not my best day…It’s been a very important 2 weeks for me. I have been going through tough moments during the last year. . . since the U.S. Open I was not able to play a professional match until the first round of the Australian Open. For me so important to be where I am today coming back from injury. [This] is going to be good energy, good inspiration for myself, for what’s coming. I’m going to keep fighting hard, keep working hard to be a better player. . . Sometimes, this tournament has been hard for me, in terms of injury and opponents like tonight [laughing]. But I’m going to keep practicing, putting all the things that I have to comeback and give myself better chances in the future.”
Never one to forget the spectators, the Spaniard recognized them by saying “all the people, all the fans have been fantastic. The connection with all of you is difficult to describe. When I am not playing what I miss the most is the support and the love of all of you, many thanks”.
For Nadal, it’s always about perspective “I know tennis is not forever. We are not 20 anymore. My only goal is to keep going and fight for the thing that makes [me] wake up every morning. I want to do it as long as I can. You appreciate your rivals because you share a lot of important moments in your lives”.
Collecting his seventh Norman Brooks Challenge Cup, Djokovic complemented Nadal “on a great couple of weeks. . . You were unfortunate throughout your career to go through some injuries. You are showing me, other colleagues and many young tennis players throughout the world what is the definition of the fighting spirit and resilience, thank you for that”.
Djokovic went on to say “I had surgery exactly twelve months [ago]. To be standing now in front of you today, managing to win, this title, 3 out of 4 slams, this is truly amazing. I am speechless.” Moreover, he cited “I would like to thank my team. [Tennis] is an individual sport, but you guys are always behind me, tolerating me on my bad days. You are putting together a great successful formula that is working really well. Marian [Vajda], thank you for coming back to my team. . . [to my wife and kids], trophies are even more special when I have someone so dear, so special to me in my life to share it with. They are the dearest thing next to my parents and two brothers. I want to thank them for unconditional support. Through all these years, they’ve sacrificed a lot of their time and energy for me to live my dream, I always try to remind myself and not take that for granted”.
For Djokovic, in addition to the physical, it also seemed a matter of motivation, the last couple of years. But, he certainly found it again “the very essence of why I play the sport, love and passion for the game. I had to dig deep. That kind of pure emotion got me going. Nadal historically throughout my life and career has been the greatest rival that I’ve played against. Those kind of encounters have made me the player I am today without a doubt. These are the kind of matches you live for, the finals of slams against the greatest rival, what else can you ask for”, indeed. If Djokovic maintains the kind of focus he’s demonstrated since June of 2018, he will be impossible to halt. Consequently, 2019 may be the year which marks finally a true grand slam, Djokovic holding all 4 majors in the same calendar year.
