It was too late for Rafael Nadal to play the fearful Terminator of old at Roland Garros. ‘I’ll be back,’ he promised, but the threat contained in those words had been pitifully diluted by what we had witnessed over two hours and 26 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier.
When Nadal returns next year it will not be as the French Open’s favourite son. Affection was transferred yesterday, and the baton passed. This is Novak Djokovic’s territory now.
Maybe all of it will be, soon. He has taken Melbourne, got more than a foothold on London and New York, and Paris appears increasingly at his mercy.
This is regarded as tennis’s golden age, with four of the game’s greatest players battling for supremacy, but that assessment feels increasingly historic.
Djokovic is turning four into one. It is far from unthinkable that he wins a personal Grand Slam this year, having already landed the Australian Open.
Andy Murray is his next opponent here, tomorrow. Murray is in the form of his life on clay, but few believe it will be enough. Nadal in Paris has been a monster yet Djokovic took him apart with power and precision. It was, at times, almost painful to watch.
Nadal had not lost a match here since 2009, but Djokovic made one of the sport’ s finest athletes appear slow, almost heavy, week one fodder — certainly in the final set, which he won 6-1. It was brutal by the end, the match finishing on a double fault.
One of the last shots Nadal played skimmed off the top off his racket and flew high into the sky. He watched it fall, mortified. When he departed, moments later, it was with a self-conscious wave to an arena that once fell at his feet.
As Djokovic was interviewed courtside in triumph — and he was exceedingly gracious about his opponent, almost making it worse — Nadal hurriedly packed away his things, as if hoping to escape unnoticed.
Djokovic had been favoured to win, but not by this margin. A brave rearguard action in the first set aside, the Serb had dominated.
In the second set, Nadal battled to hold serve as Djokovic offered up just seven points from his own, while the third hurtled by, out of Nadal’s control.
‘The first break was very painful for me and after that everything was too quick,’ he admitted. ‘The game can go very quick against Novak.’
Indeed it can. He raced to a 4-0 lead in the first set over 21 minutes with two breaks, as those who had once delighted in Nadal’s dominance watched from between their fingers.
It all seemed to be happening in slow motion, at Nadal’s end, at least. From where Djokovic stands the game must look like a flurry of ferocious passes, hugging the tramlines, sending his opponent on impossible or fruitless acts of retrieval. At other times, the action slows but the thoughts and imagination move ever faster.
Drop shots from nowhere, delicate backhand slices that stop dead or squirt away at devilishly cunning angles. There was a genuine fear that Djokovic would not just effect the end of an era, but a spitefully remorseless humiliation, tainting the memory of what went before.
And then a marvellous thing happened. With two breaks of his own, inside 17 minutes, Nadal rallied to 4-4. There would be a contest after all.
Nadal would put six months of indifferent form behind him to show the fire of a great champion. He lost the set, but only after 67 minutes, and 7-5. The public, and many more at home, settled back for a classic. Sadly, it did not materialise, and a masterclass isn’t quite the same. There was an inevitability about the match after the first hour or so. Nadal battling, Djokovic on the offensive.
The first seven games of the second set went with serve, but Nadal always appeared to be clinging to his, while Djokovic coasted. The eighth game was decisive. Nadal saved a break point then took Djokovic to advantage, but could not make it count. He steered a forehand wide, and the Serb was serving for the set.
He was made to fight, but was always in command, the winning point cut so low to the net that Nadal could not raise the ball from the clay. It trickled forlornly, all energy spent. Much the same could be said of the man who hit it.
The next game showed what Nadal, indeed any opponent of Djokovic’s, is up against. He looked to have the break-saving point won until Djokovic played a forehand of such mastery Nadal could only strike it wide. The denouement was a blur.
‘I lost against the best,’ Nadal admitted. ‘It’s not a big surprise, I didn’t win enough before I came here. I competed, but not enough to beat him. It was really a struggle from the beginning. What I would say is I’m not dead. This is the best moment of his career and I accept this defeat but I’ll work even harder to come back stronger. I’ve been playing a poor game for six months, and really poor for three.’
Without a doubt, injury has affected him. He is far too young to bow out just yet, but change is in the air. While Djokovic remains fit it is hard to imagine Nadal can ever approach this competition with such confidence again.
‘The one thing that is sure is I have nine French Open titles,’ he said, proudly. ‘I don’ t know if I’ll win 10, I don’t like to talk about dynasties. I hope I will be back and, when I come back, I will come back to win.’
He said it as if he meant it, and a fit Nadal will never be less than a legend around these parts. He has lost twice in 70 matches. It is an astonishing record.
‘He’s not playing badly,’ said Murray. ‘He’s just not playing as well as he was.’
Except, against Djokovic, that amounts to pretty much the same thing.
Nadal will be back? Sure, and so will a lot of people. Against a Terminator of an opponent, a man who is increasingly in a field of one, it doesn’t mean they’ll win. – Daily Mail