Sunday 29 January 2012

Lucky Djokovic beats Nadal

Djokovic takes his fifth grand slam title and the first of the year with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5 victory over Nadal.

The first set was close and neither player was at their best but Nadal broke at 5-5 to take the set. In the next 2 sets Djokovic stepped his game up and dominated many rallies and took advantage of some slow Nadal serves.

The fourth set was very close. Neck and neck until Djokovic gets 3 break points at 4-3 up and the match looks over but Nadal fights hard and uses his serve well to take the next 5 points and level the set. Then after over 4 hours of play there is a 10 minute rain delay, right as Nadal is starting to play at his best and Djokovic seems to start becoming slightly tired, he is given a rest. They came back on court and both held their next 2 games, taking the fourth set into a tie breaker. Nadal first took the mini-break and went 3-1 up but then Djokovic fought back to 5-3, then Nadal took the next 4 points in style to take the set and take us into a decider. At this point Djokovic is extremely tired and Nadal is starting to get momentum.

 Djokovic now introduces us to his drama queen abilities on court and makes it look like he is close to collapsing as we reach 2-2 and delays as long as possible between points. He does eventually collapse and his dramatic abilities gets him a long break and a lot of support from the crowd, who think he is out of energy and is only fighting on determination. Then comes the crucial Nadal break and he is 4-2 up, looking like he can't lose. Djokovic now suddenly switches from looking like he is about to die to running down around the court on unreachable drop shots and not making it there. Nadal goes 40-15 up but a lucky challenge going his way and a devastatingly unlucky shot by Nadal that clicks the net and goes out allows Djokovic an opportunity and he moves on for a break back and takes it, then holds to reach 4-4. Now Nadal saves a break point to hold and Djokovic holds serve and it is 5-5. By now Djokovic is starting to become actually tired but so is Nadal. Now Djokovic breaks on Nadal's service game and moves on to serve for the match. He goes 30-0 up but Nadal fights back up to 30-30 and then wins another point to get a break point. Here he is again agonisingly unlucky and his shot hits the net cord and goes out, giving Djokovic deuce. Now Djokovic wins a long point when Nadal slices a back hand that clicks the top of the net cord but doesn't go over and finally Djokovic takes the match with a great first serve down the line, which Nadal only just reaches and finishes it with a forehand.

Was Djokovic very lucky? You decide. But one thing is for sure this shows that Nadal can beat Djokovic with many Djokovic shots just catching the tip of the line and many Nadal shots just failing to clip the line. Also I believe with the confidence from this match Nadal can go on to win Roland Garos.