Many a tennis connoisseur have picked the 2008 Wimbledon final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer – a classic almost central to their famous rivalry – as the greatest men’s Grand Slam match of all time.
What if something had to top that? Enter Novak Djokovic, the man of immaculate returns of serve, having reserves that one thought wasn’t humanly possible, and importantly, the destructor of the duopoly at the top of men’s tennis pile.
In 2011, the Serb truly came into his own, and only a Federer masterclass at the French Open stopped him from becoming the first man in the Open era to win all the slams in the same year.
Mind you, Djokovic had entered the Australian Open final after downing Andy Murray in another energy-sapping encounter that lasted nearly five hours.
Nadal wasted no time getting off the blocks and edged out a bruising first set, winning 7-5. Before this contest, the Spanish ace had a 133-1 record of being on the winning side following a successful first set.
Even physically, the Serb seemed slightly underwhelming and there were early concerns over his knees and right shoulder. The match could have gone two ways from here: Nadal steamrolling his opponent, beating the life of out him – a scenario that has played out one too many times before over the last 15 years.
The second, Djokovic shaking off his rustiness and hitting his way through and closing down points. Leyton Heywitt, David Ferrer, and in the semis, Murray, suffered from this during the tournament. But past records were inconsequential here; Djokovic found a way to bite back, a quality that Nadal was renowned for at the time.
It was Djokovic’s agility and fitness that came to the fore in the second set, blazed to a 4-1 lead, and subsequently won the set. It was the same story in the third set too. Nadal was pushed deep on service and his nemesis was comfortably getting the better of him during open-play rallies. Djokovic now was up two sets to one.
Nadal, the crowd favourite, gave the partisan Melbourne fans a masterclass in the fourth set. Djokovic’s fibers were pushed to the limit as the King of Clay saved three break points and found the deep corners of the Rod Laver Arena with needle-like precision through exquisite ground strokes.
The tie-break was a spectacle in itself. The great Rod Laver and everyone in the crowd stood up and applauded a breathtaking 32-shot rally, which ended with Djokovic hitting long and collapsing on the floor with sheer disbelief.
But Djokovic breathed life into the game, yet again. Nerveless under pressure, it was as though he was destined to lift the trophy. By no means was the champion’s game flawless (he had hit 17 unforced errors in the first hour alone).
Djokovic saved a break point and dispatched a return from Nadal with aplomb following a solid serve to bring an an end to a match that was for the ages. It was almost the next day morning but nobody complained.
There were murmurs of the finalists not being the best of friends but both players were gracious with their praises. They were on their knees and breathing heavily. Understandably so, after pushing each other as if their lives depended on this contest.
“His [Djokovic] return probably is one of the best in history,” said Nadal, an opinion that is widely shared by observers of the game. “We took the last drop of energy that we had from our bodies, we made history tonight and unfortunately there couldn’t be two winners,” said Djokovic at the presentation ceremony.
Former greats including Pete Sampras, Boris Becker and Andre Agassi hailed this classic as the greatest men’s Grand Slam match of all time. Very few could argue with them.