by Pete Bodo
Before Novak Djokovic won his second-round match to get alongside Juan Martin del Potro in the French Open men's singles bracket, Delpo said that, in the event that Djokovic made the appointment, they would probably take a picture together and post it on their Twitter feeds before they met in mortal combat on the red clay.
John McEnroe vs. Ivan Lendl this is not.
But the camaraderie shared by the hard-charging Serbian and the soft-spoken giant from Tandil, Argentina, is the least of it when it comes to commonality between these two contenders at Roland Garros. These are the two men who upset the status quo that ruled for a number of years in men's tennis. First, del Potro shocked Roger Federer to win the 2009 U.S. Open; that match can be viewed as the one that marked the end of Federer's period of domination.
Del Potro was unable to back up that win at the majors last year because of a wrist injury that kept him sidelined for nearly 12 months. But by the time the next U.S. Open (2010) rolled around, Delpo's pal Djokovic had found religion. Fittingly, he eliminated Federer in the semifinals of that tournament, and while he lost the final to Rafael Nadal, the tournament was the spark that ignited his present fire. Djokovic has won 39 consecutive matches this year, three shy of the record held by McEnroe.
That del Potro looms as the next stumbling block for the ATP No. 2 may seem unfair and it's certainly ironic, given the volatile combination of their friendship and the fact that each of them is that category of players who can simply blow an opponent—any opponent—off the court. It worked out this way only because No. 25 del Potro is still in his "comeback" phase. Most pundits and his fellow players expect him to bang his way into the Top 10 by the U.S. Open, given his proficiency on hard courts. But remember that Delpo has proven dangerous on every surface but grass; he was in the Roland Garros semi the last time he played the tournament (2009) and he lost to eventual champ, Federer.
Thus, Djokovic fans could be forgiven for taking pause when they absorb the comment Delpo made to the press after he beat Blaz Kavcic yesterday, and contemplated his next foe: "I don't think any player would have liked playing Djokovic so early in the tournament. But as compared to two years ago, I think I'm a better player now. The mistakes I made in 2009 during the fifth set at the crucial moment in the match against Federer are mistakes I'll try and avoid on Friday."
Delpo did not elaborate on what those mistakes were, and at any rate Djokovic is a very different player than Federer. He has a 3-0 lead in matches played against Delpo, but they haven't met since the Rome Masters of 2009, when Djokovic won in straights. Keep in mind that Djokovic is more than a year-and-a-half older (Delpo was just 19 when they met in Rome), which at this point in their careers is a lot. Just listen to how Djokovic explained his recent, spectacular success in a press conference the other day:
"There has been a process of learning for me and getting the experience, necessary experience on the top professional tennis level for last three, four, five years. I have been in situations where I was winning major events, where I was beating the top players, but I wasn't consistent enough. And I knew that I had the quality, I had the abilities. I just need to be patient and wait for the time when everything will get together. This is what happened now.
"So in last couple of months everything got together for me from the mental perspective. You know, in the game, I think I improved maybe by small margins, by small percentage some shots in my game, especially the serve. And from the mental side, obviously confidence that I have winning match after match after match helps me to keep on playing the best tennis. That's about all."
Given Del Potro's recent history (or lack thereof) and the age difference, you have to conclude that the the Argentine has his work cut out; this assignment probably is too much, too soon. But he has one major advantage over the others who would derail Djokovic—his ability to hit right through an opponent, the way he hit through Federer in that 2009 U.S. Open, with powerful, relatively flat groundstrokes aided by his ability to cover the court. I'm not sure that any player of 6'6" or taller has ever covered the court as well as del Potro.
Based on Djokovic's current form, though, blasting through him may not be possible. There's a kind of specific gravity to his game, which is personified by that bludgeon of a backhand that so hurt Nadal in their two most recent meetings. You really get a sense of Djokovic's superiority these days when you compare how Nadal fares against Federer and Djokovic when he implements his basic clay-court game plan, hitting that big lefty forehand to his right-handed opponents' backhands. Nadal routinely breaks down the Federer one-handed backhand. Djokovic, with his penetrating, stinging two-hander, has made Nadal pay, and dearly.
Of course, if Delpo has a really outstanding day and Djokovic is a little sluggish (as he was early in his match with his last opponent, Victor Hanescu), anything might happen. But all other things being equal, it seems that if Delpo is to win, he'll have to prevail in a brutal, ground-shaking, long battle—a battle as much of the will and desire as the mind. Djokovic seems to have relished just that kind of clash in his most recent matches, but it's questionable if Delpo is ready for anything like that. Del Potro strained his hip in Madrid, and says he still feels vestiges of the injury. Also, he's still getting acclimated to the day-in, day-out grind of competitive tennis at the highest level after that long layoff. He's even said that he doesn't really expect to have his game in order until the summer hard-court season, the time when he traditionally excels.
Careful not to put too much pressure on himself, del Potro seems to know when to pick his battles and he understands that sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. He's diligently avoided raising false or premature expectations. That's wise, but it's also likely to have an inhibiting influence on his play. As he said the other day, "I'm still far away from the Top 10 players, basically Nadal, Djokovic, Federer. They are amazing. I'm trying to do my road and to be sure the difference. I don't know what time that can take it."
A player can say that, and then go out and prove himself wrong. But that's unlikely to happen because of way Djokovic and del Potro match up. Should it become a red-dirt war, it's hard to imagine del Potro having the staying power to prevail, especially if the clash goes a long four or even five sets. By his own admission (and history, recent and long-term) Delpo just doesn't seem ready for a test of this magnitude. If he can't win quickly, it's unlikely he can win at all.