The game starts with the serve, literally, figuratively, and every which way. From the structure of the rallies to the confidence of the person hitting the serve, it all flows from there. “Flow,” however, was not a word that used to come to mind when you thought of Novak Djokovic’s serve; at this time last year he was, as many people have pointed out, hitting it overhand like a cricket bowler. You wouldn't know it today. Asked about his serving performance in the Dubai final on Saturday, Djokovic needed just two words to sum it up: “It’s incredible.” He kept talking about how hard he’s been working on it, how much it has improved, how important it is, but he didn’t really need to elaborate.
Djokovic missed just three first serves in the first set, and in the second he used it to get him out of jail a few times. More than the stats, though, what’s incredible to me is how much better—smoother, with all parts finally integrated—his serve looks. Against Roger Federer, Djokovic’s game really did flow from it. Serving or returning, he tilted the rallies the way he wanted them, toward Federer’s backhand side. More important, every one of his shots had more pace and energy than it had just a day before. The night-time atmosphere, the opponent, the fact that it was a final all came together to produce a different Djokovic from the one we had seen in Dubai up until then. In Melbourne, Djokovic said that the glow of the Davis Cup hadn’t worn off; in Dubai, it was the glow of his long-delayed return to the major-title winner’s circle that hadn’t worn off. Suddenly, he has that champion’s aura, and champion’s ability to rise to the occasion.
I thought I had seen the best of Djokovic in his last three matches at the Australian, but he was even better in the first set against Federer in Dubai. It began with his serve and return—he was reading Federer’s deliveries exceptionally well. But his core confidence soon flooded every part of his game. He hit passing shots on the run and dictated with his inside-in forehand. At the height of his confidence, Djokovic pulled Federer out wide with a forehand, and on his next shot cut an even sharper forehand angle that Federer had no chance of tracking down. It was the kind of flashy, elegant, excessive shot that we associate with Federer at his best. There was something Federer-esque about the way Djokovic reached “full flight” once he had established a lead late in the first set.
What about Federer himself? I thought a backhand that he missed very early in the match was telling. He was down break point at 1-1, but had moved Djokovic off the ad court with his serve. Federer got a good look at a mid-court backhand, and the down the line was wide open. It appeared that he was going to go that way, but changed his mind to go back crosscourt. The result was a terrible shank, the first of many on the evening.
There was an indecisiveness to his whole performance. Federer seemed caught between his new tactics, where he takes every opportunity to attack, and his old tactics of slice, variety, and patience that he has often used against Djokovic in the past. On the one hand, he tried to belt forehands and take over points; on the other, he was content to simply slice Djokovic’s second serve back in the court. He had opportunities to run around it in the ad court and go after a forehand—a signature tactic of the Annacone era thus far—but he didn’t take them.
Credit that, again, to the New Djokovic. Slice, variety, patience: They aren’t working against him these days. Nothing is. Everything about his game, from his serve to his mental approach, is in the ascent; he played this match as if he expected to win, which has often not been the case against Federer in the past. Now that he seems to have cleared away a few mental demons, we’ll see how high Djokovic's version of “full flight” takes him. Whatever happens, it’s great to see this most natural and mobile and athletic of players flowing around the court the way he should.
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