2011: Djokovic hits return heard ‘round the world to beat Federer

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When are you lucky, and when are you just too good? The 2011 U.S. Open semifinal between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer set off a debate on the subject that would rage for months—if it ever ended.

A disconsolate Djokovic was down double match point at 3-5 in the fifth set and seemingly on his way out of the tournament when Federer tried to send a first serve wide to his forehand side. It wasn’t as wide as he wanted, and Djokovic, channeling all of his frustration into a knockout swing, made him pay. The Serb pounced on a forehand and gave it a ride crosscourt. It was an all-or-nothing shot and Djokovic, not for the first time in this situation, came back with it all. Stunned, Federer dropped the next four games and the match.

Afterward, Djokovic admitted that he had been fortunate to come away with a win that day, but, “If you’re playing somebody like Roger, you have to take your chances when they’re presented...This is what happens at this stage of a tournament when two top players meet. Just a couple of points decide the winner.”

His opponent had a slightly different take on the subject.

“I didn’t hit the best serve,” an agitated and emotional Federer said a few minutes after the match. “But it’s just the way he returns that. It’s just not a guy who believes much anymore in winning. Then to lose against someone like that, it’s very disappointing, because you feel like he was mentally out of it already. Just gets the lucky shot at the end, and off you go.”

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At that point, Federer could have been forgiven for being tired of seeing Djokovic send him, and the rest of the tour, off a loser. The previous year, Djokovic had saved match points against Federer on the same court, in the same round, in another fifth set, by going for broke. And he had been even better in 2011. The Shot, lucky or not, was an exclamation point on the Serb’s great season, which was also one of the greatest of the Open era. He won three of the four majors, five of eight Masters events, finished 67-4, and, most famously, began the year with a record 43 straight wins. Up to that point, the 24-year-old Djokovic had spent his career laboring brilliantly in the shadows of Federer and Rafael Nadal. At the Open that year, he followed up his semifinal win over Roger with a final-round win over Rafa. Since then, Djokovic has had the upper hand against both men, and he has put his name alongside theirs in the Golden Age pantheon.

In a sense, The Shot showed us what makes Djokovic so good. As Federer said, when most players try a low-percentage bomb like that, their chances of success are slim. And Djokovic, who had missed a similar return at set point earlier in the same match, admitted that it was a risk for him, too. But while it doesn’t take a great player to go for a shot like that, it takes someone special to pull it off as often as he does, on the biggest stages.

Luck or skill, plan or pique, the ball went in and the Serb went on to win the U.S. Open. Another year, it might have gone another way, but this was 2011, and this was Novak Djokovic.