Souped-up Nadal faces ultimate test in confident Djokovic
The Spaniard will relish the chance to avenge his agonising defeat in 2012 final, writes Simon Briggs
In his last interview, the late, great sportswriter Hugh McIlvanney counselled against overestimating the quality of modern sport. As he put it: “Forgetting what happened in the past, imagining everything occurring now to be the best, is just a failure of intelligence.”
McIlvanney was right, as usual. There is probably too much hyperbole in these pages. Yet today’s Australian Open final is the exception that proves the rule: an unimprovable clash between Rafael Nadal, the pit bull leftie, and Novak Djokovic, the nerveless bomb-disposal expert.
Rivalries do not get any bigger, better or sharper than their 53 meetings on the tour.
Admittedly, there are no guarantees that the match – which is due to start soon after 8.30am GMT – will deliver another epic. But we have reason to feel excited, after both men delivered their best at the semi-final stage.
Nadal’s majestic display on Thursday ended what broadcaster Mary Carillo has described as the “bohemian rhapsody”: Stefanos Tsitsipas’s first deep run at a major.
By allowing the young Greek hero only six games, Nadal not only minimised his energy expenditure, but sent a message to Djokovic: watch out, or you will be next.
Unfortunately for Nadal, Djokovic saw him and raised him, dropping only four games in his own semi-final against Lucas Pouille 24 hours later.
“I was out there on the side of the court and you cannot get a ball past him,” said Mats Wilander, the Eurosport commentator. “He said it himself: that’s the best match he’s ever played on the Rod Laver Arena.”
Can these two behemoths really be playing better than ever before, even as they approach their mid-30s? The point is arguable. What we can say is that the rivalry continues to evolve.
Only one of them is using the same style of tennis as he was in the 2012 final here – their lone previous meeting at the Australian Open – when Djokovic needed 5hr 53min to complete his hold-the-sleep victory.
The latest revolution originated from Nadal’s side – as one might expect from a man who had won only three of their past 15 meetings. Deliberately or not, Nadal has emulated Roger Federer’s 2017 reinvention by arriving here with a souped-up game style. He resembles a vintage sports car installed with an electric engine.
Nadal has yet to reveal his inspiration for this gear change, but one suspects he was taking notes during Federer’s vibrant run to the title in Melbourne that year.
Edged out in another magnificent final, Nadal had a first-hand view of Federer’s new thirst to climb the court and hammer his backhand.
That tactical switch helped Federer to reverse the momentum of his own long-running deficit against Nadal, reeling off four unanswered victories over the Spaniard that season.
In the “Big Three’s” ongoing game of rock-paper-scissors, you can see why Nadal – who often struggles to pin down the elusive Djokovic – might say, “I fancy some of that”.
Like Federer in 2017, Nadal’s reinvention started with a long lay-off the previous year. Working with his new guru Carlos Moya, he tweaked his service action.
Nadal’s average speed on second serve this year has been 11mph faster than it was at the 2012 event. On his trademark slider, out wide to the right-hander’s backhand, he has been almost twice as accurate. Then he follows up, 83 per cent of the time, with a forehand.
The result has been apocalyptic for his opponents – an average rally length of 3.7 shots. By comparison, Federer’s 2017 figure stood at four.
It is quite the rebirth. Nadal was hardly considered a contender here, after a sequence of injuries had meant he had to withdraw from 17 of his previous 18 hard-court events. So his new intensity has shocked everyone, not least his opponents.
“I knew if he got hold of a forehand, it was going to be barbecued chicken,” quipped Frances Tiafoe. “I’m just trying to think how Federer beat him so [often],” chimed Tsitsipas.
This is the first time Nadal has reached the Australian Open final without dropping a set. The combined length of his matches – 12hr 10min – would be more typical of one of his French Open runs. He has never looked better on a hard surface.
Does that make him the favourite? Against anyone else, for sure. Yet Djokovic subverts the rules. He is a giant tennis bean bag, absorbing everything you throw at him without losing his shape. When Tennis Australia’s gang of boffins – the Game Insight Group – came to compare the 2019 Djokovic with the 2012 version, they found that he was essentially doing the same things he has always done: squeezing, pressuring, defying.
Perhaps the volleys are a little stronger, after the spell in the middle of this decade when Boris Becker pushed him forward to the net. Essentially, though, he relies on purer mechanics from the back of the court than anybody else. Technique, willpower, speed and elasticity: there is no weakness to get stuck into.
To return to the ever-insightful Wilander, he was reluctant to call the outcome. “I’ve gone to finals with Rafa and Novak knowing who was going to win,” said the three-time Australian Open champion.
“When Rafa was dominating there was no chance for Novak physically. And when Novak was dominating, tactically and technically there was no chance for Rafa.
“But we haven’t seen this match before, maybe ever,” Wilander added.
“Rafa is playing way more aggressively and Novak is playing as well as he ever has. I think it’s going to come down to who dares to risk it more on the bigger points.”
It is almost unfair that we continue to expect great theatre from these men. Tennis’s biggest stars have spoilt us for years, and yet they continue to evolve, to make every face-off subtly different from the last.
Respect is due to the greats of history. But in this most traditional of pursuits, a sport that has used the same rules and format for more than a hundred years, we should appreciate the giants of the game while we can. In tennis, these are the best of times.