In four hours, 10 minutes of glorious hitting, Djokovic won , , , , standing firm as Nadal threw everything at him, the two men sharing breath-taking rallies of 20 and 30 shots, leaving the crowd — and journalists like me — who were packed into Arthur Ashe, gasping in awe. It was one of those matches that almost makes you laugh, some of the shot-making almost beyond comprehension, especially when you factor in the pressure of the occasion.
Nadal, who had beaten Djokovic in the final, thanks in part to an amped up serve that hit mph on the radar, began well and broke serve on his way to a lead. But it was a false dawn. Every time he thought he had Djokovic in a vulnerable position, the Serb would stretch his limbs to previously-thought impossible positions and fashion something spectacular, just as he had done in the semi-finals when he saved two match points to beat Roger Federer, for the second year in a row.
The level of tennis Djokovic and Nadal combined to produce in the US Open final — the highest quality match of the decade, IMO — was utterly absurd. The end of the 3rd set legit felt like the 12th round of a boxing bout. Djokovic won six straight games to take the first set. But Nadal, wounded, immediately broke again to lead in the second. After an epic third game, Djokovic broke back and led , only for Nadal to break back again for , before Djokovic surged ahead again to double his lead.
His back to the wall, Nadal launched an all-out assault. It looked in vain as Djokovic broke to lead and then, after being pegged back, broke again to lead and serve for the match. By this point, the crowd were going crazy, perhaps unable to believe the standard of tennis being played out in front of them. The roars were even bigger when Nadal broke back, and then snatched the tiebreak.
They wanted more. Djokovic looked shot, his back requiring treatment. But the Djokovic of was very different to the one of previous years. For me, this is very hard to understand. How can you play a shot like that on match point? Maybe he's been doing it for 20 years, so for him it was very normal. You've got to ask him. Djokovic was in a more relaxed mood. He added: "If you're playing somebody like Roger, you have to take your chances when they're presented. I don't want to say I've been in control of the fifth set, because that's not true.
But this is what happens at this stage of a tournament when two top players meet. Just a couple of points decide the winner. I was very close to being on my way back home. He was serving, up. I got a little bit of energy from the crowd, and I fought back. I needed to stay positive, and I definitely didn't want the French Open to happen again [when Federer beat him in the semi-finals, his first loss of the year]. They were an incredible last two games.
As for Federer, who has not added to his 16 Grand Slams in the 18 months since the Australian Open, he still believes. I was never up a break in the third, fourth, or fifth at Wimbledon, which today I was. I was one serve away, really.
I get over these losses quickly.
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