Among all the things you could say about Novak Djokovic's grueling, 3-hour, 21-minute win over Rafael Nadal in the final of Sunday's Miami Masters event, this is perhaps the most unexpected: On a day when the South Florida heat and humidity were withering, Djokovic went toe-to-toe with a guy who's an absolute beast and accustomed to feasting on players who don't have comparable, bullish stamina, and ended up the last man standing.
Not that it was apparent until the very end. In fact, when Nadal pulled the trigger on a trademark running backhand winner to put Djokovic down, 5-6, 15-30 (and serving) in the third set, you could be forgiven for thinking that Djokovic was finished. Instead, he found a second -- OK, fourth or fifth -- wind and served his way into the tiebreaker. Then he flat-out pulled away from an increasingly discouraged, spent Nadal.
This was unexpected, and it wiped away any doubt that might still have existed about Djokovic's current status as the best player in the world. Djokovic just finished a perfect first segment of 2011 (I like to think of it as the Australian Open/early hard-court quarter of the year), going 24-0. He bagged one Grand Slam and two Masters 1000 titles. Most important, though, he compiled a 5-0 record against his two main rivals -- the men who have dominated tennis since around 2004.
Djokovic was 3-0 against Federer during this run. But his 2-0 record against Nadal is in some ways more impressive. After all, Djokovic's style matches up better against Federer than Nadal. That was obvious at the last major of 2010, where Djokovic beat Federer but couldn't crack the Nadal code. Has he figured out Nadal? That's questionable.
The tour now moves to Nadal's stronghold, red clay. It was on that European clay-court segment that Djokovic faltered last year, while Nadal utterly dominated it. He reminded us of that in his news conference here in Miami Sunday. "Yeah, that's one time in [my] life [I] win every tournament on clay," Nadal said. "Nobody does in the history, only myself, last year. So it's difficult to imagine two years in a row I can repeat that. [But] normally when I play well on clay I have a little bit more advantage, so let's see what's going on in one week in Monte Carlo."
Did I mention that Nadal has never lost at Monte Carlo, winning the past six titles on offer there?
Clay-court tennis requires a different brand of stamina than hard courts. It also requires more patience. On hard courts these days, the best players swing from the heels at the first opportunity and swing even harder if the ball comes back. Somehow, this style really suits Djokovic. Although he developed his game on clay, the modulation, patience and physical stamina it requires don't seem to come as easily to him.
It may be different now on at least one of those fronts. The Novak Djokovic whom we once saw grimacing and gasping for breath or interrupting matches because of the problems he had breathing has morphed into a mentally strong and physically flexible but durable specimen.
Djokovic is on a kind of high that can make a man do things that are thought to be beyond him. As Nadal told us after the match, "Well, he's playing with confidence, that's for sure. He has a perfect performance physically. I think he's healthy. He can run to every ball. Seems like he's less tired than before when he has to run a lot. He can [now] play long points and still run. So he's good. In general, the easiest thing to say is he's very good tennis player."
But as the clay season approaches, keep in mind that old saw: You can run, but you can't hide. Nadal will be waiting.
Not that it was apparent until the very end. In fact, when Nadal pulled the trigger on a trademark running backhand winner to put Djokovic down, 5-6, 15-30 (and serving) in the third set, you could be forgiven for thinking that Djokovic was finished. Instead, he found a second -- OK, fourth or fifth -- wind and served his way into the tiebreaker. Then he flat-out pulled away from an increasingly discouraged, spent Nadal.
This was unexpected, and it wiped away any doubt that might still have existed about Djokovic's current status as the best player in the world. Djokovic just finished a perfect first segment of 2011 (I like to think of it as the Australian Open/early hard-court quarter of the year), going 24-0. He bagged one Grand Slam and two Masters 1000 titles. Most important, though, he compiled a 5-0 record against his two main rivals -- the men who have dominated tennis since around 2004.
Djokovic was 3-0 against Federer during this run. But his 2-0 record against Nadal is in some ways more impressive. After all, Djokovic's style matches up better against Federer than Nadal. That was obvious at the last major of 2010, where Djokovic beat Federer but couldn't crack the Nadal code. Has he figured out Nadal? That's questionable.
The tour now moves to Nadal's stronghold, red clay. It was on that European clay-court segment that Djokovic faltered last year, while Nadal utterly dominated it. He reminded us of that in his news conference here in Miami Sunday. "Yeah, that's one time in [my] life [I] win every tournament on clay," Nadal said. "Nobody does in the history, only myself, last year. So it's difficult to imagine two years in a row I can repeat that. [But] normally when I play well on clay I have a little bit more advantage, so let's see what's going on in one week in Monte Carlo."
Did I mention that Nadal has never lost at Monte Carlo, winning the past six titles on offer there?
Clay-court tennis requires a different brand of stamina than hard courts. It also requires more patience. On hard courts these days, the best players swing from the heels at the first opportunity and swing even harder if the ball comes back. Somehow, this style really suits Djokovic. Although he developed his game on clay, the modulation, patience and physical stamina it requires don't seem to come as easily to him.
It may be different now on at least one of those fronts. The Novak Djokovic whom we once saw grimacing and gasping for breath or interrupting matches because of the problems he had breathing has morphed into a mentally strong and physically flexible but durable specimen.
Djokovic is on a kind of high that can make a man do things that are thought to be beyond him. As Nadal told us after the match, "Well, he's playing with confidence, that's for sure. He has a perfect performance physically. I think he's healthy. He can run to every ball. Seems like he's less tired than before when he has to run a lot. He can [now] play long points and still run. So he's good. In general, the easiest thing to say is he's very good tennis player."
But as the clay season approaches, keep in mind that old saw: You can run, but you can't hide. Nadal will be waiting.
