With Win, Djokovic Sets Sights on Paris

The search for the most physically punishing, dramatic, tense and mentally exhausting athletic competition on Earth is over. Tennis has won—in a rout. The only question now is this: What can it possibly do for an encore?

Associated Press

Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates after defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain after a nearly six-hour men's final. The only Grand Slam now tournament he has yet to win is the French Open.

In a final that left a world-wide audience looking on in disbelief, Novak Djokovic outlasted Rafael Nadal for the Australian Open title in a record five hours and 53 minutes, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5.

It was the second straight Australia Open title for Djokovic and his third straight victory at a Grand Slam tournament. He remains No. 1 in the world and the master of Nadal: Djokovic has won their last seven matches, all in finals.

Djokovic now has five Grand Slam titles in his career, well behind Roger Federer's 16 and Nadal's 10, but he's gaining ground with no sign of slowing down.

"We made history tonight," Djokovic said during the trophy ceremony.

When he hit his last winner at 1:37 a.m. Monday morning in Melbourne, Djokovic dropped to his back. Moments later he ripped open his shirt, screamed and pumped his fists.

But the trophy presentation showed the true condition of these men after the adrenaline had faded: They could no longer stand up and had to be given chairs. Before the seats arrived, Nadal leaned on the net while Djokovic stretched and seemed on the verge of collapse.

The record books will note this match as the longest Grand Slam final, almost an hour longer than it took Mats Wilander to beat Ivan Lendl at the 1988 U.S. Open (four hours and 54 minutes).

But the real history was in the shots, in the passion and in the indefatigable limbs of these two players. Several times, they both looked spent.

And then they came back to life, swinging furiously, running recklessly and sliding until their ankles seemed about ready to crack in two. At 4-4 in the fifth set, Djokovic fell on his back and was breathing heavily after Nadal won a 31-shot rally.

After five hours and 24 minutes of tennis, he had just sprinted and stopped and sprinted for more than 300 feet, according to an ESPN graphic—all to lose a point. He still had about 30 minutes left to play.

Getty Images

Novak Djokovic celebrated the hard-fought match by ripping off his shirt.

"You're going through so much suffering your toes are bleeding," Djokovic said. "Everything is just outrageous."

Even more outrageous: In the semifinals, Djokovic needed five sets and nearly five hours to defeat Andy Murray. That was Friday evening.

On Sunday evening, Nadal won the first set after a shaky start from Djokovic.

But Djokovic quickly found the combination that works so well for him against Nadal. He hit forehands and backhands from inside the baseline, and used the unique arms that seem to stretch 10 feet when he's on the run. And he pounded away at Nadal's serve, winning 55% of points against second serves.

"I never played against a player who's able to return like this," Nadal said. "Almost every time."

The match soon had a familiar look, and so did Nadal: glum and resigned to another defeat against the man who had beaten him in last year's Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals.

And then came the crucial moment, when Nadal served at 0-40 when trailing 4-3 in the fourth set. One more point and Djokovic could serve for the match. That one point never arrived as Nadal played his most brilliant tennis of the evening: forehand winner, service winner, backhand winner, ace and a strong serve to finish off the game.

What next? Why it began to pour, of course. Ten minutes later the roof over Rod Laver Arena was closed and the struggle was on. Djokovic came within two points of winning the match in the fourth-set tiebreaker before Nadal sent the match to a fifth set.

Nadal used to be the best defender in tennis. He's now second to Djokovic.

Nadal used to have the most endurance. Now, Djokovic does. And Nadal used to be the greatest—by a mile—at wriggling out of impossible situations, at saving crucial break points and hitting passing shots from awkward positions on the court, especially when a match was on the line.

Djokovic is now king in this regard, too. Down 4-2 in the fifth set, he did what he does better than anyone: escape.

When Nadal earned a break point in the final game of the match, Djokovic hit a forceful forehand for deuce, made the sign of the cross and then finished off the match two points later.

One might think that Nadal, who became the first man in the Open era, which began in 1968, to lose three consecutive Grand Slam finals, would be shattered after such a loss. Yet he sounded remarkably upbeat after finally pushing Djokovic to the edge of defeat (they had never played a five-set match before).

"Important thing for me, during all 2011 I didn't play much like this. I'm happy I am in the real right way," he said. "I suffered during the match, but I enjoyed all the troubles that I had."

And what now for Djokovic, the man who has improbably raised the bar in tennis just a few years after Federer won a record 16 major titles and Nadal showed that he could consistently beat the once invincible Federer? Why the French Open, of course, the only Grand Slam tournament Djokovic has yet to win.

"I have never been in finals there, and I have a feeling that I'm ready this year to achieve that," he said.

If both Nadal and Djokovic are ready when that June day arrives, then maybe there is yet somewhere better for tennis to go. At the very least, officials at Roland Garros should consider starting the match in the early morning—or install lights.

Novak Djokovic, Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Nadal, Associated PressNovak Djokovic, Grand Slam tournament, Roger Federer

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