Novak Djokovic has one of the steadiest pairs of hands when he is blasting those sharp groundstrokes of his down the line, leaving opponents stranded and stretching their racquet into thin air with the ball already long gone.
On Sunday, though, those same hands were shaking violently as the Serbian tried to take a sip from a bottle during a changeover.
Moments earlier, the world No 1 and defending champion was within two points of wrapping up his fourth Indian Wells title, serving at 5-4 in the tie-break after winning the first set 6-3.
But then he double-faulted twice in a row to end up losing the tie-break.
"It was exactly what you saw," Djokovic said later as he talked about that moment. "It happens sometimes. The body has reactions and movements that you're not in control of. It was a tough tie-breaker for me. It was frustrating and I just went through emotions." There were plenty of other emotions that Djokovic experienced on Sunday in a repeat of last month's Dubai final against Roger Federer, not just nerves.
There was a show of anger as well when he broke a racquet in a fit of rage. But in the end, the Serb felt sweet bliss and, of course, relief as he beat the Swiss 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 for his 21st Masters crown, becoming only the 12th man in the Open era to reach 50 career titles.
“We are all humans,” Djokovic said as he explained the nerves and the double faults. “We all fall under pressure sometimes. It’s completely normal. With this kind of intensity and competitive spirit that is out there, it happens that you fail sometimes.”
Sometimes? The proper word should be rarely, as Andy Murray pointed out.
“He’s extremely consistent,” the Scot said after being brushed aside by Djokovic in the semi-finals, his sixth consecutive loss to the world No 1. “He very rarely plays poor matches. I mean, one or two a year.”
And that is not an exaggeration. Djokovic has pulled away from his peers in recent times.
There is no Big Four anymore. There is Djokovic at the top, followed by the rest of what used to be the Big Four club, and then the others.
You only have to look at the rankings to realise that – Djokovic (13,205) has a 4,000-point lead over Federer, and No 3 Rafael Nadal is 3,395 points behind the Swiss.
The matter becomes even clearer if you look at the results of the Big Four at the major events since the start of 2011, a period during which they have won 15 of the 17 grand slam tournaments and 34 of the 37 Masters events.
Djokovic has won seven grand slam titles during this period and finished runner-up in five; at the Masters, he has made 20 finals and won 16, and he is unbeaten in his last nine finals.
During the same period, Nadal has been his closest rival with five majors and four runner-up finishes. The Spaniard has reached 16 Masters finals, winning nine.
Federer has won six of his 11 Masters finals and has reached only three grand slam finals, winning Wimbledon in 2012. Murray has six grand slam final appearances, winning two, and a 3-2 win-loss record in Masters finals.
Those numbers clearly suggest Djokovic is at the peak of his powers, and the Serb intends “to use every part of this fact to stay where I am and to fight for as many major titles as possible. I know that my career, as any other career, cannot go forever”.
Of course, nothing lasts forever, but the way Djokovic has progressed over the years, he is assured of a place in the list of greats in the men’s game whenever in the future he decides to hang up his racquet.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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