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Novak Djokovic beats Roger Federer and 23,000 of his ardent fans to win his 10th Grand Slam title at the US Open
NEW YORK – Roger Federer’s balletic feet had been light as air for six matches and 18 sets. Until he met Novak Djokovic in the US Open final and a couple of hours of hard yards deadened his stride – just enough.
Federer’s novel charge-and-chip play had befuddled and bemused his opponents for six matches and 18 sets. Until he met Djokovic, highly unamused, who had some novel notions about how to counter it.
The Swiss superstar won the crowd in a walk, as he nearly always does. But Arthur Ashe Stadium was as loud as it’s been in recent memory in support of him, and perhaps ruder to his opponent than it’s been in a long time.
In the end, Djokovic had the last laugh. The 28-year-old from Serbia defeated Federer, his feet, his new signature move and 23,000 screaming Fed Fans in a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory that earned him the men’s singles title.
If the fans could extract any satisfaction from it, they at least sobered a triumphant moment. Djokovic could sense that a Novakian display of major emotion wasn’t going to play well. He looked relieved, determined, almost grim-faced. Only when he was helped into the box where his family, coaching team and supporters were sitting did he let it all go.
“They were unbelievable tonight. Were they better than ever? Possibly. Was it louder than ever? Maybe. It was unreal,” said a disappointed Federer, who felt he had his chances.
It was supposed to be a history-making weekend with Serena Williams completing the calendar Grand Slam and a resurgent Federer winning one more major title, his first in three years and always, it’s feared, his last.
It didn’t play out that way but the villain Roberta Vinci, who ended Williams’ hopes, was treated far better than the villain Djokovic, who broke the hearts of Federer fans by simply being too good.
“If we had this conversation maybe five years ago, you know, situation would be probably different. Because as I said, I'm a more experienced player and I have been in these situations before,” Djokovic said of the lack of support. “I have played Roger over 40 times, and a lot of times in final stages of Grand Slams. I know how that feels, you know, regarding the crowd and support and everything.”
Of all the ways Djokovic has come into his own, as a husband, father, tennis player, humanitarian, an ongoing challenge has been the way the man who wants so desperately for the crowd to embrace him handles it when they are clearly not on his side.
Remember the young Djokovic of 2008 who, facing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Australian Open final before a Rod Laver Arena crowd that clearly was with the Frenchman, he told them afterwards that he even though they wanted his opponent to win, they were not to worry; he "still loved them".
That kid has grown up. And while that need to be loved remains unfulfilled, and the emotional kid inside must wonder why on it’s taking so long, the experienced competitor in him treated it as just another match issue he needed to manage along with Federer’s serve, aggressive tactics and competitive fire.
“I accept the fact. You know, everybody has a choice to support a player that they want to support, and he absolutely deserves to have the support he does because of all the years and success that he had and the way he carries himself on and off the court. No question about it,” Djokovic said. “Me, I'm there to earn the support, and hopefully in the future I can be in that position.”
Sunday night, after a three-hour delay to the start of the match that undoubtedly had the 23,000-plus knee-deep at the legal beverage outlets around the grounds, the disparity in the crowd love for two players who both will surely rank among the best ever was jarring.
They didn’t just love Federer. For those three hours, they really disliked Djokovic, applauding his missed first serve and unforced errors and yelling out when he threw up his service toss. It was rude but, most of all, it was probably disheartening.
Why do the crowds embrace Federer so thoroughly everywhere he does – just about everywhere on the planet with the possible exception of Belgrade? That’s a fairly easy question to answer.
Why do they refuse, in large measure to embrace Djokovic, give him the love that the world No. 1, the best player on the planet for several years now, would seem to have earned by now?
That’s a tougher one.
The New York crowd probably hasn’t forgotten 2008, when he dissed home-country favourite Andy Roddick on court in response to Roddick’s comments after losing to him in the previous round, which questioned Djokovic’s stated physical issues. Hostile crowds have long memories.
But it’s deeper than that.
Fan love is by its very definition unrequited. Federer acts as though he loves it, but doesn’t need it, which in part makes the fans want to try even harder to show it. Djokovic acts as though he’s desperate for it, which seems to have the opposite effect.
But in the end, as much as the crowd helped Federer stay in it, his inability to capitalize on his opportunities (he was 4-for-23 on break-point chances) did him in.
“Just execution sometimes was missing in some crucial moments. But other than that, I think I played a good match,” he said. “Maybe I haven't played this offensive for a very long time, and that's maybe the reasons, as well, why maybe I was slightly shaky when it came to the crunch on the break points. Who knows?”
Federer’s break-point conversion rate is dodgy at the best of times but against Djokovic, he doesn’t usually get this many.
Djokovic was so solid. He got his first serve in most of the time, and almost willed himself not to miss.
Once the Serb had put away the third set and began running away with the fourth, only a last stand by Federer extended it. But Djokovic got it right the second time he served for the match.
All in all, it played out somewhat the way their Wimbledon final two months ago played out. Federer threw everything at his opponent, Djokovic withstood it all.
“He's just really consistent. Seems like there are not many guys that can hang with him, don't have the tools or dare to go forward, or they aren't daring to serve and volley against him because he's so good on the return. Which he is,” Federer said. “He's perfected his game on the hard courts, no doubt about it. … To say the least, it's very impressive. He's having an unbelievable career. You know, I think everybody knows that he knows that, as well. Tonight is another example of that.”
On another note, Eva Asderaki-Moore, the first female umpire to officiate a US Open men’s final, absolutely seized the opportunity with both hands and ran with it.
She probably had the best match of anyone on the court, taming the shrew of a crowd when needed and being pretty much dead on any time she overruled.
