The fortnight has come and gone, and what better way to end than with the top two ranked players in the world (1a & 1b) playing for the most prestigious tennis title in the sport. This was one of the most highly anticipated finals since Federer/Nadal back in 2008. Much of the conversation revolved around the rankings. By making the final, Nole insured that come Monday when new rankings were released, he would be the new number one player. Many wondered if Djokovic could truly be considered the best player in world if he was beaten by Nadal in the Wimbledon final. Today, Nole put an end to those questions by beating Rafa in four sets 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 to win in his first ever Wimbledon final. In doing so, Nole broke the twenty match winning streak that Rafa had on the grounds of the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, and his record for the year improves to 48-1. This marks the first time since 2003 that someone other than Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal won the title.
The match started off as a slug fest, with Nole serving, and quickly getting in a 15-30 hole. It looked as if Nadal was going to put the hammer down right away, but Nole tightened up his game, hit an ace for 30 all, then pulled out the game. Things stayed tight until Rafa was serving at 4-5. He got up 30 love in the game, then Nole comes up with some hot shots to take the game and the set 6-4.
The second was rather odd, Rafa looked like a man defeated, and Nole ran away with the set in 33 minutes, winning 6-1. Then the third set was a reversal of the second, with Rafa taking it 6-1 in thirty minutes. For some watching it seemed as if the gravity of the moment had hit the Djoker, and his wheels were going to fall off.
The fourth started with Nole serving, and what a tough service game it was, but he was able to hold. He breaks Nadal in his first service game, but is immediately broken back. Then the level for both guys goes back up, until serving at 3-4, Rafa throws in a double fault and a rash of unforced errors and is broken at 15-40. Serving for the match, Djokovic got down 0-15, but quickly regrouped and and was able to serve out the match, only needing one championship point to get it done. Novak said later after the match "This is what I'm born for.
Novak was able to neutralize the Nadal cross court forehand with his backhand. With most players, including Federer, the Nadal forehand was/is a lethal weapon. Longer rallies beat Rafa down, this is normally the opposite with most players, players not named Novak Djokovic. Nole won this championship with a combination of tactics, one of them being his net play. He came to net 26 times and won 19 of those net points. He won 72% of his first serves and 54% of his second - compare that to Rafa's 67% and 44% respectively - this was another aspect that helped him win. Along with break point conversions, each guy had six chances to break. Nole broke the Nadal serve five times, whereas Nadal was only able to break three - twice in the third set, and once in the fourth. The biggest factor was mentally. Rafa went into the final with the knowledge that Djokovic had beaten him in the last four finals they had played in 2011. This weighed on Nadal - what other reason would so many of his shots, especially forehands, went wide or into the net.
Djokovic is now under Nadal's skin. Djokovic's performance this year against Nadal has shades of the Nadal/Federer rivalry. In the beginning The Federer dominated Nadal on all surfaces except the clay, then a determined Nadal fine tuned his game and was able to crack the Federer code. No one is ready yet to totally discount Roger Federer, but his dominance began when Rafa was much younger, and with Roger turning 30 later next month, his best tennis is well behind him. Rafa began beating Federer regularly, eventually taking over the number one position. The same has happened with Djokovic, but this time with Nadal is now in Roger's shoes. With Nadal and Djokovic, this rivalry proves to be one that will last, at least as long as Nadal's body holds up. Click here for link to Djokovic's post match interview, and here for Nadal's.
We tennis fans are witnesses to the Golden Age of tennis, and with the new crop of hard hitting, aggressive, attacking players, things will only get better!
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