By James Beck,
NEW YORK – The last U.S. Open without a complete roof was an overwhelming success. The rain started as soon as the women’s final ended, and then again just before the men’s final was to begin.
No harm done on Sunday evening at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Some fans in one end zone’s upper deck even benefitted from a partial roof while waiting out the two-hour delay before the start of the Roger Federer-Novak Djokovic men’s final.
RAIN DELAY MADE THE FINAL BETTER
The delay just made the main event that much better, as it should have been: the match of the tournament. Yes, Djokovic’s four-set win over Federer was much more thrilling and better played than Flavia Pennetta’s easy victory over old friend Roberta Vinci in the women’s final or Vinci’s upset of Serena Williams.
Federer gave the impression all week that Arthur Ashe Stadium now belonged in his arsenal of weapons as a result of the partial roof that reduced the effects of the wind. The TV commentators, mainly Brad Gilbert and Patrick McEnroe, ate it up. It was perfect for his game, Federer made viewers think.
It was like Djokovic’s game was sour, not suitable for such a perfect Federer condition. When asked a couple of days before the finish what all of the upsets meant, a beaming McEnroe answered something like: “What this means is that Federer’s gonna win another major.”
POOR NOVAK JUST HAD TO TAKE THE FAN ABUSE
No wonder the fans treated Djokovic so rudely Sunday night. If the ESPN gang could be so outrageously supportive of Federer, why not the crowd, too. Poor Novak just had to take all of the abuse from the fans.
Even the court announcer introduced Federer “as arguably the greatest player ever.”
Wow, and here’s little Novak going for his third major of the year, playing in his fourth major final of 2015. He was only going for Grand Slam No. 10.
FEDERER OVERWHELMED IN RECENT YEARS BY COMPETITION
Lost in all of this was the fact that many of Federer’s Grand Slam conquests came in the age of “no real challengers” to his superb talent, the time before Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Andy Murray came into their own.
And for Djokovic, it’s been war after war, fighting off Nadal, Federer and Murray to win his share of Grand Slam titles. All of the competition just made Novak better, while it seemed to overwhelm Federer in recent years.
Federer was back this year in the spotlight in New York as the men’s tour seemed to go flat late in the year, except for Djokovic and Federer. Nadal wasn’t his old tenacious self and Murray looked kind of tired.
FANS TRIED TO CARRY ROGER PAST NOVAK
The fans thought they could carry Federer on their shoulders past a player who is quietly and quickly putting his own stamp on being one of the greatest players ever, maybe right there with Rod Laver and the others.
“Double (fault),” someone would yell as Djokovic started his service motion on a critical point late in the match. The fan outbursts were always timed perfectly for the big moments when Djokovic faced a huge break point or break points, or when it appeared that Novak was just about ready to send Federer to the showers.
Federer had unbridled fan support all night, while Djokovic caught the wrath of the fans. Djokovic would just stand on the service line, look up into the eyes of his real enemy – the fans – and come up with a huge serve or brilliant shot. The bigger the moment, the more determined Djokovic appeared.
MOST MEMORABLE POINT OF MATCH
The most memorable point of the entire match was as Djokovic served with a 3-2, ad-in advantage in the fourth set. This was the killer point that could put Federer away. So, a fan tries to help Federer by yelling “Double” just as Novak went into his service motion. Djokovic stopped, looked up for a second, then responded emphatically with an ace.
That pretty much sealed the deal as Djokovic then broke Federer in the next game for a 5-2 lead. Of course, it wasn’t over as Federer broke right back and then held service before gaining double break point in the 10th game.
The fans went wild, thinking their man was going to even the set, but Djokovic got back to deuce twice before coming up with two strong serves that Federer couldn’t return into play. Roger Federer is a great player who gave a brilliant performance, but at the current time in their careers
Novak Djokovic is the better player.
—————————————-
James Beck is the long-time tennis columnist for the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier newspaper. He can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com
—
http://www.postandcourier.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=search&text=james+beck&facet.filter
=&facet.filter=&sortbydate=1
