Wimbledon 2014: Novak Djokovic breaks a myth, and breaks a million fans' hearts in the process

Novak Djokovic kisses his treasured possession – the 2014 Wimbledon trophy

For years now, we’ve been fed the pompously romantic idea that when Roger Federer plays at or near his best, he is untouchable. His struggles in recent years have been put down to advancing age, and his frequent losses to his chief rivals have been attributed to reduced foot speed and slowed reactions. He’s never played his best tennis in the past two years, so how could he have won anything of note?

Oh, how we’ve been misled.

On Sunday, Novak Djokovic showed that in today’s day and age, a Roger Federer playing at his best is NOT untouchable. The Serb has taken his base level of play to such a strong height that he can now overcome a full-flight Federer, on the Swiss’ favourite surface (which incidentally is his own worst surface), and in an arena filled with scores of people almost willing the 17-time Slam champion to the finish line. Here’s the kicker though: Djokovic can do all of that, without ever coming close to his best tennis.

You can put that down to the evolution of the game. The athleticism and shot-making in modern tennis have been taken to such high levels by the golden generation of the sport that the best simply isn’t good enough any more. A blistering serve isn’t big enough, a rocket forehand approach shot isn’t quick enough, and a deft touch volley sure as hell isn’t smart enough.

Federer found out all of that, and more, in his admirable but ultimately futile attempt to win something back for the older generation. Sure, he may not have been at his absolute, dazzling peak in the final against Djokovic, but he was pretty darned good. The Swiss registered a first serve percentage of close to 70%, belted 29 aces, struck 75 winners and made a relatively low 29 errors. Those are numbers that should get you a win, even if you’re not named Roger Federer and you don’t possess his exquisite ball-striking ability that simply cannot be depicted by any statistic.

But against a man often called “Mr. Fantastic” for his borderline superhuman flexibility, a certified champion desperately trying to fight off the disappointment of a string of recent Slam final losses, a warrior on the brink of regaining the World No. 1 ranking, Federer’s good play simply wasn’t good enough.

It’s hard to do full justice to the brilliance of Djokovic’s counterattacking tennis with words, mainly because it didn’t look too spectacular at any point in the match. If anything, for the most part, the Serb seemed to be fighting a losing battle, not just against Federer’s fluid shot-making, but also against his own inner demons. And we can’t even say he’s perfected the art of coasting through the unimportant points and playing the big points well, because we know that he failed to do exactly that in his previous three Major final appearances.

‘Mr. Fantastic’ Novak Djokovic at full stretch to retrieve one of Federer’s razor-sharp volleys

It was the physicality of Djokovic’s tennis that proved to be the difference-maker. Even when he dropped a ball short in a rally, he was quick enough to retrieve the next ball from the corner and direct it to a neutral spot again, thus re-starting the point. Even when he missed a makeable return here and there, he was sharp enough to take full toll on the next second serve that came his way. And late in the third set, even when he was struggling to buy a first serve, he was solid enough with his groundstrokes to maintain the ascendancy in the rally off the second serve.

That second serve deserves special mention here. Djokovic put in a relatively modest 62% of first serves in, and won a lower proportion of those points than Federer (73% to Federer’s 77%). But the Serb won an astounding 65% of the points off his second serve, which he mostly aimed for the lines, and he made just three double faults all match. It came down, again, to Djokovic’s basic strength off the ground; no matter how well the Swiss timed his returns, the Serb was always in position to hit the follow-up shot with interest. Federer hardly ever got a chance to impose himself in the rallies during Djokovic’s service games and that, in the end, proved crucial.

The Serb never looked like a physically intimidating obstacle though. Instead, he looked cranky, ill-tempered and frustrated for vast stretches of the match. And while he refused to let those negatives slip into his game for a good part of four sets, he let his guard down in one crucial stretch – the seemingly decisive series of five games that he lost after going 5-2 up in the fourth set.

As everyone expected before the start of the match, the mental side of the game came to play a big part in the proceedings. But as no one expected, Federer came up trumps in that short period that could be defined as a pure battle of wills.

Djokovic came apart at the worst possible moment, double faulting and shanking his trusty backhand to get broken three times in four games. Meanwhile, Federer kept his head above water, taking full advantage of the Serb’s lapses, and suddenly we were into a fifth set that really shouldn’t have been.

It was only around that time that I first started feeling we were in the midst of something incredible. Djokovic’s meltdown and Federer’s gutsy last stand had succeeded, finally, in turning the match into the much-anticipated epic that everyone had been hoping for.

The quality of the match went through the roof in the fifth set, the way it usually happens in Federer-Djokovic matches (think back to the 2010 and 2011 US Open semifinals). Federer was doing what he does best – striking winners at will – and Djokovic was doing what he does best – defending till his breath gave away. A couple of times it seemed that Djokovic might actually stop breathing; fatigue was clearly a big issue for him, and the medical timeout he took at 2-1 only confirmed what everyone else could already see: that he was nowhere close to being in shape for an overdrawn fifth set.

But perhaps the most staggering aspect of the match was that Djokovic didn’t let any of that deter him. He continued scrambling all over the grass in pursuit of Federer’s bullets. He even slipped a few times, but that has become customary for him by now. His passing shots seemed to get better and more lethal as the match progressed.

Put simply, Djokovic refused to stop running and refused to be broken, and ultimately, there was nothing that Federer could do in the face of that solid wall of power-packed mortar.

Two points in the fifth set perfectly encapsulate the effect of Djokovic’s insane retrieval skills on the result of the match. Break point down at 3-3, Djokovic directed an inside-out forehand to Federer’s backhand, which the Swiss seemed perfectly capable of slicing back into play. But Federer, perhaps in a bid to keep Djokovic from getting an easy look on the next shot, tried to cut it too fine and ended up sinking the ball into the net.

The second definitive moment came with Djokovic serving at 4-4, 15-15. Federer had just staved off three break points in the previous game, which seemed to arm him with a renewed vigour to take control of the match, as such death-defying acts tend to do. The Swiss hit a neat volley off a slice approach, and Djokovic desperately threw up a lob which looked to be in Federer’s strike zone. But the 7-time Wimbledon winner went for too much on the smash, and ended up netting it. The chance of 15-30 became 30-15, and Djokovic lost just two points in the match after that.

Both these points ended in Federer errors, which is probably why they won’t be remembered in the pages of history. But in the context of the match, and the effect that Djokovic’s scrambling had on Federer’s offensive forays, they were probably more important than all the other points of the afternoon put together.

Roger Federer, all grace and poise even in defeat

The contest ended up having a huge mental side to it, and Federer did a remarkable job of fighting all the way through. When you save a match point with an ace and come back from 2-5 down in the fourth to take the match into a fifth set, you know you’ve not let yourself down in the mental department. This time, however, it was the physical side of the match that did Federer in. Djokovic was the superior player for most of the match, and when push came to shove, Federer simply didn’t have the power or the ball-striking consistency to get past the Serb.

That said, it’s not all doom and gloom for the Swiss. The work he has put in over the last one year is certainly showing its effects; the bigger racquet, a fully healthy body and Stefan Edberg’s coaching have put him right back where he belongs – among the elite of men’s tennis, amidst rivals that are many years his junior. And God knows he would have been inundated with a titanic wave of congratulatory wishes from millions of people all over the world had he won the match. Heck, he probably got more congratulatory messages than Djokovic even after he lost. So it’s not a bad time to be Roger Federer, and his last Slam hurrah might still come to pass, sending his millions of fans into raptures once again.

But the defining memory of the fortnight came on the other side of the net. As Djokovic fell to the court and tasted the grass, the world knew that he had slain more than one demon on the day. It was considered impossible to defeat the King of Grass in a Wimbledon final (well, impossible for anyone not named Rafael Nadal), and Djokovic came into the final having lost five of his previous six Major finals. Combine those factors with Djokovic’s health struggles and the form that the two players carried into the contest, and a result in Federer’s favour seemed like a foregone conclusion. But Djokovic, of course, had other ideas.

6th July 2014 may well be remembered years into the future as the day that Novak Djokovic rediscovered the art of winning Slam finals, the day he regained the ability to steal matches without playing his best tennis. More importantly, however, it will be remembered as the day that Djokovic finally put to rest the myth that a full-flight Roger Federer is unbeatable.

A full-flight Federer is not unbeatable. But can you imagine what a full-flight Novak Djokovic might look like, and what it would take to defeat such a beast?