MELBOURNE—After three games, it appeared that the quarterfinal between Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer might never end. It took 22 minutes for the two of them to get to 2-1 in the first set. By the first changeover, Djokovic was already sucking wind. In its physicality and the length of its rallies, the match began as if it were a sequel to last year’s U.S. Open final between Djokovic and Ferrer’s countryman, Rafael Nadal. In that match, Djokovic survived, weary and limping, to win going away. He did the same thing tonight, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-1.
Just watching Ferrer is enough to make you tired, never mind playing him. He also has a habit of doing bad things to top seeds' bodies at this tournament, in this round. Last year Rafael Nadal tore a leg muscle in his quarterfinal against Ferrer here and eventually lost to him. This time it was Djokovic who suffered the Ferru treatment. Early in the second set, the Serb lunged hard toward his backhand side and came up holding his hamstring. Djokovic appeared to be hurt, but he kept moving and never called for the trainer.
Credit the world No. 1 for surviving his exhaustion in the first set, and his leg issue in the second. Ferrer, getting balls back with no fuss or frills and running them down as he always does, made it as tough on his opponent as he could. Djokovic served for the first set at 5-4; already he appeared to be weary and hanging on for dear life. At deuce, Ferrer wore him down after a long rally and reached break point. But Djokovic got out of it with a strong backhand and went on to hold for the set with an inside-out forehand winner.
The second set was even more dicey. After Djokovic tweaked his leg, he struggled to hold serve. Once again, though, the elastic man bent but didn’t break. At 2-3, he saved a break point with a tremendous full-stretch forehand dig, and he held serve with a full-stretch forehand crosscourt winner. Two games later, he went down 15-30 on his serve but pulled that one out as well.
After trading poor service games at 5-5 and 6-5, Djokovic and Ferrer entered a tiebreaker. The Serb had the one-set advantage at that stage, yet it felt as if the winner, even if it were Ferrer, would gain a major edge in the match. Djokovic may have been hurting physically and in a funk psychologically, but Ferrer had his own weakness to contend with: tiebreakers. They make him jumpy, and he doesn’t have a get-out-of-jail-free card in his serve, which tends to make life easier in breakers. Ferrer came into the match with a losing career record in them (85-88), while Djokovic entered with one of the best percentages in tennis, at 109-69. This time the stats didn’t lie. After going up 4-2, Ferrer fell apart, losing three of the last four points on a forehand long, a backhand into the net, and another forehand long.
Djokovic was out of jail, and the load on his mind and body were visibly lightened. He cruised in the third set 6-1, as if all of his earlier troubles had vanished. What can we take away from Djokovic’s performance? Despite the straight-sets win, it’s not all positive. He hurt himself, he was worn down early, and he breathed heavily. More troubling, though, was his burdened mental state and slump-shouldered bearing for much of the second set. Djokovic appeared to be a conflicted and unhappy competitor, waiting for the worst to happen.
What’s amazing about him is how he hits his way out of these funks; the more he lets it rip under duress, the more accurate he becomes. Djokovic did it in the final set against Lleyton Hewitt, and he did it in the second set tonight against Ferrer. This makes him vulnerable; his colleagues in the Big 4 should know that Djokovic can be rattled. They should also know that, in a rattled state, he might be more dangerous than ever.
—Steve Tignor
