Djokovic outlasts Nadal in epic duel
Wins longest final in Grand Slam history
It was the longest, latest, and undoubtedly most physically gruelling Grand Slam final in tennis history.
And when it was over, after five hours and 53 minutes, past 1:30 a.m. early Monday morning, Novak Djokovic was holding the Australian Open championship trophy — the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.
Rafael Nadal was left wondering what more he could possibly do, what reserves he could possibly still have tapped, to beat a man who has now gone from rival to arch-nemesis.
The 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5 victory was the 24-year-old Serb’s seventh consecutive victory over Nadal, and his third straight over him in a Grand Slam final.
“Probably Wimbledon (in 2011) is right up there because the tournament that I always dreamt of winning. But this one, I think, comes out on top because just the fact that we played almost six hours is incredible,” Djokovic said.
The tennis might have been uneven for the first three hours, with errors determining the outcome of points more often than not. But the drama and the physical effort were unparalleled.
“I enjoyed. I suffered during the match, but I enjoyed all the troubles that I had during all the match,” Nadal said. “I tried to be there, to find solutions all the time. I played a lot with my heart. I played a lot with my mind.”
“I think I maybe had a similar feeling in a couple of matches, but nothing like this. You’re in pain, you’re suffering, you’re trying to activate your legs, trying to push yourself another point, just one more game,” he said. “Your toes are bleeding, everything is just outrageous, but you’re still enjoying that pain,” Djokovic said.
As a purely physical battle, a battle of attrition, it set the bar even higher than many of the brilliant matches during the last two weeks including the men’s semifinals — particularly the four-hour, 50-minute marathon Djokovic played against Great Britain’s Andy Murray Friday night.
The defending champion had to turn it around 48 hours later, on a sticky, humid, sultry night with one less day’s rest than his opponent. Somehow, he was able to recover enough.
Djokovic also recovered from a poor start ,perhaps due in part to the need to work out some early stiffness, the remnants of that Murray match.
But after Nadal took the first set, Djokovic looked in control and Nadal looked to be once again scrambling for the solutions to his rival’s game that he’s been seeking for nearly a year now.
Djokovic led 4-3 in the fourth set, and held love-40 on Nadal’s serve. Somehow, Nadal won five straight points to tie it.
Right after that, at exactly the fourhour mark, raindrops began to fall and the retractable roof above Rod Laver Arena had to be closed.
When they began anew, Djokovic was poised to wrap it up in the fourth-set tiebreaker.
Three forehand errors from the Serb erased a 5-3 lead and handed the fourth set to Nadal, who promptly fell to his knees in celebration on the court — not in victory, merely for the opportunity to play the ultimate set.
Given the length of the match, and Djokovic’s shorter rest and tougher path, Nadal appeared to have hung in there just long enough for the match to finally come into his comfort zone — returning, running, chasing down balls, wearing down his opponent and forcing him into making errors.
At 5-5, after the match passed the 5-1/2-hour mark, the two were hitting the ball with as much ferocity as they had the entire night. But Nadal sent a slice into the net and finally, Djokovic served for it.
Nadal had one last chance, at 30-40 and with a second serve. Djokovic saved it, looking to the skies for a little more divine intervention.
He got it, and a final forehand gave him the match, and he fell to the court with a guttural scream.
The final was nearly an hour longer than the previous longest Grand Slam final between Mats Wilander and Ivan Lendl at the 1988 U.S. Open.