Bounce, bounce, bounce and more bounce — 21 of them before Novak Djokovic stamped an emotional end to this unforgettable U.S. Open semifinal this afternoon, though it really didn’t matter if he had prepped his final serve with one bounce or 100.
He was in full flower and Roger Federer was in full choke mode. It was 40-15 at 6-5 in the fifth set, Federer having failed to convert two match points 20 minutes earlier and having gagged away a service break with a double fault. All that was left for Nole, really, was to just put the ball into play. No bounce needed.
Which he did, and Federer, who lost 17 of the last 21 points of this epic, slapped a routine backhand return over the baseline and it was done.
That sent The Djokovic Show into the second act with both hands waving to the crowd. Then, victory-sign fingers raised to the sky. A couple of heart thumps. Finally, he jumped into a split-step, as if he was about to parry away one more volley, and gave a couple of fist pumps.
Hey! Dis is Noo Yawk. Da fans love brash, da fans love in your face.
Noles’ first act had unfolded, incredibly, when he was down double match point in the ninth game of the final set, and we’ll get to that very quickly. The final act comes Monday, in the U.S. Open final.
Federer disconsolate? That can’t begin to describe his utter disappointment, and there may be some residual friction between these two players, which won’t be a first time.
Federer likes his tennis poker-faced while Djokovic has learned the fine art of turning on the crowds, instead of turning them off with his petulance, and there he was in that turning-point ninth game, walking to the back curtain with his arms up to get the Arthur Ashe Stadium audience involved and, almost surrealistically, smiling at Federer as he set himself to receive the second of Fed’s wasted match points.
Yes, smiling, on what could have been his exit line from the U.S. Open! It was close to bizarre. No, wait. It WAS bizarre. This was Jimmy Connors stuff.
There was no overt protest from Federer, but, privately, he can’t have been too happy with Djokovic’s behavior — perhaps more unhappy than he was when he once had to turn to the Djoker’s player’s box a few years ago and tell them to “shut up.”
And so Federer’s no-title streak goes on. Sixteen isn’t a bad number of Slam trophies to be stuck at, but it increasingly appears that there won’t be any more. He was once a great front-runner, but no more. Whatever it takes to put your foot down on a wavering opponent, he didn’t have it. This is the second year in a row at the Open that he’s had match points against Djokovic.
How did it all go so wrong in this 6-7 (9), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 loss?
Federer seemed in complete charge when he broke Djokovic at love to go up 5-3 in the final set. The audience rose, whistled, rained cheers down on the former No. 1, and when Federer went up 40-15 with double match point, people were on their feet.
Roger’s first serve was a curler into the deuce court, but Djokovic had decided to push all his chips into the pot. If he got a forehand, he was going to blast. Hang the risk. You’re No. 1. You go for it. He took one step to his right and, using the angle Federer had given him, crashed back a cross-court that was unplayable.
He then walked to the back of his court, pulling the crowd into the match while Federer cooled his heels waiting to serve the second match point. Finally, without any time warning from the chair umpire, Djokovic crouched just behind the baseline, that annoying grin/smirk on his face.
Federer had a very makeable inside-out forehand to put the match away, but his shot slapped the net and caromed wide. It was deuce.
Federer then fought off one break point with a 125 mph ace down the middle, but Djokovic picked up a second break point when Fed’s running forehand was intercepted by the net.
The five-time Open champion looked shaken. Maybe he was thinking back to his blown match points of last year. Maybe he was thinking of all the tight losses he had suffered in Slams the last two years. He stepped to the line and his first serve was low into the net. His second, meant to be a safe delivery down the middle of the ad box, was an inch, maybe two inches long, and Djokovic was back in the match.
The crowd now was sensing Federer’s shattered nerve. Nole held at 40-15 and, with Federer serving at 5-5 and 15-40, Djokovic maneuvered Roger into a backhand-to-backhand cross-court rally. Djokovic pounded six straight deep backhands at Federer until he got the short ball he wanted. He then stepped in and delivered the inside-out forehand winner to go up 6-5.
The final game went quickly. Federer didn’t hit one quality shot in the last five points.
Djokovic started 15-love when Federer’s backhand return down the line was wide — Roger trying desperately to coax Nole into hitting to his forehand side. It was 15-all when Djokovic missed an easy short ball into the net.
But he then went up 30-15 when Federer flat-footed a 90 mph backhand return into the net — a shot that looked more like a wave at the ball instead of a stroke. Djokovic forced an error for 40-15 and then finished it.
The word “choke” is vastly overused in sport, and certainly in tennis. But this was a choke, plain and simple, and in his most candid moments Roger will acknowledge that. At the same time, do not under-value the effort by Djokovic to come from two sets down and play steely tennis down the stretch.
He didn’t win this by urging the crowd to push him to the finish line. He won it because he’s young enough but now experienced enough to stay the course where Federer is 30 and having obvious difficulty maintaining a high physical standard through six or seven Grand Slam matches.
And now, after this disaster, one begins to wonder if he’s able to maintain even a high mental level.