Moment 9: With one forehand, Djokovic ends Roger and Rafa's Indian Summer

Honoring Legends: A Roger & Serena Special

Is the Big 3’s Grand Slam title race finally over? It appears so. Now that we (probably) know the winner, we’re looking back at the times when this two-decade marathon might have gone a different way.

For more on GOAT Race, a 10-part series leading up to Wimbledon, read...

• Moment 1: 2007 Wimbledon final: Nadal “seizes up” with break points in the fifth
• Moment 2: 2008 Wimbledon final: Federer’s four-hour comeback comes up one break point short
• Moment 3: 2010 US Open semifinal: Djokovic “closes his eyes” and hits two huge, match-saving forehands against Federer
• Moment 4: 2011 Roland Garros semifinal: Federer stops a 41-match win streak, and wags a finger
• Moment 5: 2011 US Open semifinal: Djokovic's all-or-nothing forehand return heard 'round the world
• Moment 6: 2012 Australian Open final: t 1:37 a.m., Djokovic topples Nadal in grandiose, grunt-filled Aussie Open epic
• Moment 7: 2013 Roland Garros semifinal: Djokovic stumbles into net, opening door for Nadal to seize Roland Garros classic
• Moment 8: 2017 Australian Open final: Roger Federer frees his backhand Down Under—and starts a renaissance at 35

2018 Wimbledon semifinal: With one forehand, Djokovic ends Roger and Rafa's Indian Summer

With their 2017 Australian Open final, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal ushered in a dual late-career renaissance. From the start of that year to the middle of the next, the two 30-somethings won six straight majors and swapped the No. 1 ranking back and forth six times. When they entered Wimbledon as the Top 2 seeds in 2018, many dreamed of seeing a reprise of their classic title match from 10 years earlier.

The tournament would indeed produce a classic match, and it would determine the champion. But it wasn’t a final, and it didn’t involve Federer. Instead, it was an epic two-day semifinal between Nadal and Djokovic. In terms of quality, suspense, stakes, shot-making and emotion, it ranks with the best of all-time.

The only thing that marred it were the circumstances. The two players waited six hours for the first semifinal, between John Isner and Kevin Anderson, to finish. Because of that delay, they had to be halted after three sets because of a local curfew. The next day, they had to finish under a roof despite dry conditions outside.

But those unsettled conditions only made the level of play more impressive. The approaching curfew on day one sharpened the focus of both players, and inspired them to compete with heightened urgency and aggression—between them, they came to net 94 times (50 for Nadal, 44 for Djokovic). Over five sets and five hours, little separated them, either. They each finished with 73 winners and 42 errors, and each broke serve four times. As Nadal said later, with Anderson waiting in the final, both men knew that the winner would be Wimbledon champion.

In the match’s two deciding moments, the third-set tiebreaker and the overtime fifth set, it looked like Nadal would be that person. He was playing the flashier, riskier, better tennis. He hit drop-shot winners, short-hop ground stroke winners, and powerful smash winners. He saved a match point with a drop shot that landed on the sideline. He had three set points in the third set, and five break points in the fifth set.

Yet Djokovic still won. He won the simple way, by hitting service winners at crucial moments. But he also won the spectacular way, on the biggest point of the match. At 7-7 in the fifth set, Nadal reached break point on Djokovic’s serve. One more and he would serve for the match. Nadal had the edge in the rally, he followed an approach to net, and he forced Djokovic to hit a pass on the run.

Which Djokovic did. More than that, he responded with the shot the year, a hooking crosscourt forehand that changed not just this match, but the rest of the decade in men’s tennis. With the momentum turned 180 degrees in his favor, Djokovic held, and then broke for the match. He went on to win Wimbledon and the US Open, and finish the year No. 1. With one swing, he brought the Indian Summer of Roger and Rafa to a close.

“Very few things separated us,” a dazed Djokovic said as he walked off court. “Not till the last shot did I know I was going to win.”