Expanding of the Guard

Is it just a little embarrassing that an American sports fan could have spent a good four hours Sunday watching something called the U.S. Open Series, only to find out how good Serbia is at tennis? Well, yes, but only an extreme U.S. chauvinist couldn’t have appreciated the achievements of Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic, both of whom continued their breakthrough 2007 seasons by taking one more impressive—and entertaining—step forward.

Novak Djokovic d. Roger Federer 7-6 (2), 2-6, 7-6 (2)

It’s a measure of how well Djokovic was playing last week that I was not in the least surprised by this result. As the match began, I found myself thinking he might even be the slight favorite. This may have been as much a result of Djokovic’s unshakeable confidence in his abilities as anything else. I knew he would believe in himself, and that’s the half the battle in a Masters final against Federer.

But there were more tangible reasons to think Djoko had a good shot, one of them being that in the two rounds before the final he was playing the best, most elevated, tennis I’d seen from him since Miami in March. In his quarterfinal against Roddick, the Serb sprayed his forehand at the start, but once that settled down it was clear he was a level above the former world No. 1. Compared to Roddick, Djoko flowed around the court and tracked down hard-hit balls effortlessly. Is it possible to improve your anticipation and court sense over the course of a couple months? Probably not—more likely Djokovic is just very comfortable with his footwork on hard courts and can explode off of them more easily than he can on clay or grass. Whatever the reason, by the end of the day Saturday he had made both Roddick and Rafael Nadal look incomplete by comparison. (Nadal had a solid week and improved on his result from last year, but again his backhand was exposed as vulnerable on hard courts, particularly by Djokovic, who took advantage of Rafa’s floating mid-court slices. That’s a shot the Serb, with his smooth and consistent two-hander, rarely has to resort to.)

Federer felt the pressure from the first point. You could see he thought this was going to be a serious challenge; the upstart he had dismissed so easily in the past was ready this time. Federer came out pressing on his forehand and sent a bunch of them long to go down 3-0. He was missing it to the point where Djokovic started to go right for it. That’s not really a viable tactic against Federer, though, and he put an end to it with Djokovic serving at 3-1, 15-0. The Serb approached to the forehand side and Federer let loose with an angry and accurate (Fed’s one of those rare guys whose accuracy improves with the anger he puts into a shot) crosscourt pass that changed the momentum completely. A couple minutes later it was 3-3; we were going to see just how ready Djokovic was.

The dynamic of the match was set after that: Djokovic was the more solid, steady, invulnerable player; Federer was more explosive and erratic. It’s been mentioned in the past, by me and Juan José at Bodo’s Tennis World, that Djokovic has a knack for finding ways to win; he doesn’t just own one style. Against Nadal, he looked to move to the center of the court and take advantage of his opponent’s short slice. Against Federer, he went in a different direction. Recognizing that Federer could take control of a point with one forehand, Djokovic matched him by going for borke more often on his own forehand than he normally does. With Federer serving for the first set at 6-5, Djokovic let loose with one of those forehands at break point, sent it past Federer, and sent the set to a tiebreaker. Then up 4-1 in the breaker, he did the same on the other side of the court, sprinting to his right to drill a spectacular forehand from outside the alley to effectively wrap up the set.

More remarkable than the strategic change was the fact that Djokovic had the versatility to pull it off without getting out of his game. Still, he is human, and he began to overhit midway through the second set, drilling one into the net to get broken and go down 2-4, and then going for too much again when he was up a break at 4-3 in the third. But like Nadal, the essential safety and margin of Djokovic’s game helps him in the clutch. He can always roll either of his ground strokes well within the lines without losing control of a point; plus, throughout the Montreal event, I felt like he was more consistent—with both his serve and his strokes—than he generally has been in the past. Very few cheap errors came off his racquet, and that remained true even down the stretch as he was trying to beat the world No. 1 for the first time. Djokovic also showed off an improvisational skill within points that kept Federer guessing. When Fed tried his trusty short slice backhand crosscourt, Djokovic got there easily and had the presence of mind to chip it up the line, surprising Federer into an ugly volley miss.

In the end, it was Federer who blinked. After Djokovic hit an ace to make it 1-1 in the third-set tiebreaker, Federer hit three straight forehands long and a backhand wide to go down 1-6. Djokovic ended it with flair, putting Federer on a string with an elegant drop-lob combination to complete the biggest win of his career.

This loss may be more meaningful to Federer than any he has suffered to Nadal (other than the French Open matches, of course) because Djokovic is a threat to him on his turf, hard courts, and he’s only getting better for the foreseeable future. Besides his obvious abilities, one thing I think helped Djokovic in this match was his long-time insistence that he’s going to be No. 1 some day. The kid has gotten under Federer’s skin in the past, and I doubt it was simply because he used to take dubious injury timeouts. His pronouncements about his future status had to be a bit of an insult to Federer, who rightly sees himself as the only guy who can make any claims about being No. 1 in the near future. I think this made Federer press, uncharacteristically, at the both the beginning and the end of the final on Sunday. Of course, Djokovic had to be good enough to back up all those pronouncements. Now we know he is.

Has the men’s game just seen a changing of the guard? We won’t know that until the end of the U.S. Open. But it’s no longer a two-man tour. Let's call it an expanding of the guard

Ana Ivanovic d. Nadia Petrova 7-5, 6-4

We suspected Djokovic had the confidence; his win Sunday just confirmed those suspicions. I don’t think anyone was quite sure about his fellow Serb Ana Ivanovic’s toughness when a big match is on the line, especially after her meltdown in the French Open final. All of which makes Ivanovic’s win Sunday in L.A. nearly as impressive as Djokovic’s in Montreal. While she didn’t beat the No. 1 player in the world, the way she stepped forward at the end of the final three sets she played—one in her semi against Jelena Jankovic and two in the final against Petrova—was something we hadn’t seen from her before.

In all three sets, Ivanovic grabbed the biggest points by the throat with her serve-forehand combination. It was very simple, very effective tennis: Strong serve into a corner, one step into the court, and then a series of forehands until one of them went for a winner. In the past Ivanovic has had trouble with the low midcourt forehand—she often hammered the ball into the middle of the net. Not so this weekend; she got there in time to put a little extra topspin on the ball and position herself for the next ball (which she usually hit for a winner). Ivanovic, always a big hitter, seemed to be thinking tactically out there as well. After blowing a set point at 6-5, she kept hitting to the corners until she got another one. This time she pushed Petrova back with a looping backhand, then knocked off an inside-out forehand to the open court.

A set later, serving for the match at 5-4, Ivanovic was even better. She started with a wide serve and a forehand winner into the open court for 15-0; hit a service winner for 30-0; a forehand winner for 40-0; and an ace to end it. That’s big tennis, and notable progress. It makes Ivanovic an outside threat at the Open this year, something I wouldn’t have said at the start of the week.

Is it just a little embarrassing that an American sports fan could have spent a good four hours Sunday watching something called the U.S. Open Series, only to find out how good Serbia is at tennis? Well, yes, but only an extreme U.S. chauvinist couldn’t have appreciated the achievements of Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic, both of whom continued their breakthrough 2007 seasons by taking one more impressive—and entertaining—step forward.

Novak Djokovic d. Roger Federer 7-6 (2), 2-6, 7-6 (2)

It’s a measure of how well Djokovic was playing last week that I was not in the least surprised by this result. As the match began, I found myself thinking he might even be the slight favorite. This may have been as much a result of Djokovic’s unshakeable confidence in his abilities as anything else. I knew he would believe in himself, and that’s the half the battle in a Masters final against Federer.

But there were more tangible reasons to think Djoko had a good shot, one of them being that in the two rounds before the final he was playing the best, most elevated, tennis I’d seen from him since Miami in March. In his quarterfinal against Roddick, the Serb sprayed his forehand at the start, but once that settled down it was clear he was a level above the former world No. 1. Compared to Roddick, Djoko flowed around the court and tracked down hard-hit balls effortlessly. Is it possible to improve your anticipation and court sense over the course of a couple months? Probably not—more likely Djokovic is just very comfortable with his footwork on hard courts and can explode off of them more easily than he can on clay or grass. Whatever the reason, by the end of the day Saturday he had made both Roddick and Rafael Nadal look incomplete by comparison. (Nadal had a solid week and improved on his result from last year, but again his backhand was exposed as vulnerable on hard courts, particularly by Djokovic, who took advantage of Rafa’s floating mid-court slices. That’s a shot the Serb, with his smooth and consistent two-hander, rarely has to resort to.)

Federer felt the pressure from the first point. You could see he thought this was going to be a serious challenge; the upstart he had dismissed so easily in the past was ready this time. Federer came out pressing on his forehand and sent a bunch of them long to go down 3-0. He was missing it to the point where Djokovic started to go right for it. That’s not really a viable tactic against Federer, though, and he put an end to it with Djokovic serving at 3-1, 15-0. The Serb approached to the forehand side and Federer let loose with an angry and accurate (Fed’s one of those rare guys whose accuracy improves with the anger he puts into a shot) crosscourt pass that changed the momentum completely. A couple minutes later it was 3-3; we were going to see just how ready Djokovic was.

The dynamic of the match was set after that: Djokovic was the more solid, steady, invulnerable player; Federer was more explosive and erratic. It’s been mentioned in the past, by me and Juan José at Bodo’s Tennis World, that Djokovic has a knack for finding ways to win; he doesn’t just own one style. Against Nadal, he looked to move to the center of the court and take advantage of his opponent’s short slice. Against Federer, he went in a different direction. Recognizing that Federer could take control of a point with one forehand, Djokovic matched him by going for borke more often on his own forehand than he normally does. With Federer serving for the first set at 6-5, Djokovic let loose with one of those forehands at break point, sent it past Federer, and sent the set to a tiebreaker. Then up 4-1 in the breaker, he did the same on the other side of the court, sprinting to his right to drill a spectacular forehand from outside the alley to effectively wrap up the set.

More remarkable than the strategic change was the fact that Djokovic had the versatility to pull it off without getting out of his game. Still, he is human, and he began to overhit midway through the second set, drilling one into the net to get broken and go down 2-4, and then going for too much again when he was up a break at 4-3 in the third. But like Nadal, the essential safety and margin of Djokovic’s game helps him in the clutch. He can always roll either of his ground strokes well within the lines without losing control of a point; plus, throughout the Montreal event, I felt like he was more consistent—with both his serve and his strokes—than he generally has been in the past. Very few cheap errors came off his racquet, and that remained true even down the stretch as he was trying to beat the world No. 1 for the first time. Djokovic also showed off an improvisational skill within points that kept Federer guessing. When Fed tried his trusty short slice backhand crosscourt, Djokovic got there easily and had the presence of mind to chip it up the line, surprising Federer into an ugly volley miss.

In the end, it was Federer who blinked. After Djokovic hit an ace to make it 1-1 in the third-set tiebreaker, Federer hit three straight forehands long and a backhand wide to go down 1-6. Djokovic ended it with flair, putting Federer on a string with an elegant drop-lob combination to complete the biggest win of his career.

This loss may be more meaningful to Federer than any he has suffered to Nadal (other than the French Open matches, of course) because Djokovic is a threat to him on his turf, hard courts, and he’s only getting better for the foreseeable future. Besides his obvious abilities, one thing I think helped Djokovic in this match was his long-time insistence that he’s going to be No. 1 some day. The kid has gotten under Federer’s skin in the past, and I doubt it was simply because he used to take dubious injury timeouts. His pronouncements about his future status had to be a bit of an insult to Federer, who rightly sees himself as the only guy who can make any claims about being No. 1 in the near future. I think this made Federer press, uncharacteristically, at the both the beginning and the end of the final on Sunday. Of course, Djokovic had to be good enough to back up all those pronouncements. Now we know he is.

Has the men’s game just seen a changing of the guard? We won’t know that until the end of the U.S. Open. But it’s no longer a two-man tour. Let's call it an expanding of the guard

Ana Ivanovic d. Nadia Petrova 7-5, 6-4

We suspected Djokovic had the confidence; his win Sunday just confirmed those suspicions. I don’t think anyone was quite sure about his fellow Serb Ana Ivanovic’s toughness when a big match is on the line, especially after her meltdown in the French Open final. All of which makes Ivanovic’s win Sunday in L.A. nearly as impressive as Djokovic’s in Montreal. While she didn’t beat the No. 1 player in the world, the way she stepped forward at the end of the final three sets she played—one in her semi against Jelena Jankovic and two in the final against Petrova—was something we hadn’t seen from her before.

In all three sets, Ivanovic grabbed the biggest points by the throat with her serve-forehand combination. It was very simple, very effective tennis: Strong serve into a corner, one step into the court, and then a series of forehands until one of them went for a winner. In the past Ivanovic has had trouble with the low midcourt forehand—she often hammered the ball into the middle of the net. Not so this weekend; she got there in time to put a little extra topspin on the ball and position herself for the next ball (which she usually hit for a winner). Ivanovic, always a big hitter, seemed to be thinking tactically out there as well. After blowing a set point at 6-5, she kept hitting to the corners until she got another one. This time she pushed Petrova back with a looping backhand, then knocked off an inside-out forehand to the open court.

A set later, serving for the match at 5-4, Ivanovic was even better. She started with a wide serve and a forehand winner into the open court for 15-0; hit a service winner for 30-0; a forehand winner for 40-0; and an ace to end it. That’s big tennis, and notable progress. It makes Ivanovic an outside threat at the Open this year, something I wouldn’t have said at the start of the week.