Die by the roof, live by the roof. In his semifinal against Roger Federer at Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic was outclassed by the game’s best indoor player. He struggled with his footing, his return, and his attitude. Today against Andy Roddick, the roof was back, but it was a very different Djokovic underneath it. Everything he had done poorly against Federer he executed meticulously in a just-as-easy-as-it-sounds 6-2, 6-1 second-round win.
Djokovic has rarely served better; he connected for 14 aces in just eight service games. From the first game on, he mixed his deliveries well, using the kick on the ad side as a first serve to open up the court, and forcing Roddick to use his weaker chip return even on second balls. From the ground, Djokovic was as sure-footed and nimble today as he had been sluggish and uncertain at Wimbledon; there were few, if any, skids, slides, or tumbles, which is a rarity for him on a slippery surface. And his return was, as usual, the game-changer. Serving at 2-3, 30-30, Roddick hit a solid wide serve into the deuce court, only to see Djokovic anticipate it and drill it back deep and down the middle to force an error. At break point, Roddick belted a huge first serve into the wide corner, but Djokovic was there to stab back a lob that landed on the baseline. After some more good defense from Novak in that point, Roddick, made to play too close to the lines, pulled a forehand wide and was broken. He would win just one more game.
Djokovic finished with a crystalline 34 winners against six errors, while limiting Roddick to just seven winners. He beat him with drop and lobs, big ground strokes and bigger returns, and he even seemed to toy with Roddick once he built a second set lead, drop-shotting him whenever he could and winging his way to the net behind casually hit approach shots. Up 4-1 in the second, Djokovic reprised his famous go-for-broke crosscourt return winner from his U.S. Open semi against Federer last year, and on the next point put a backhand return smack on the baseline, where chalk flew. All Roddick could do was watch it slide past him. The veteran American has had a good run this summer, but he was overmatched from the start today. His opponent was even better in the one department that Roddick likely expected to win, the serve. He finished with just five aces to Djokovic’s 14, and was broken four times.
What was supposed to have been a stern test for Djokovic ended up being a stroll. Now he has the luxury of having completed his second round while his potential opponents in the third, Lleyton Hewitt and Marin Cilic, continue to deal with the ever-changing weather outside. Die by the roof, live by the roof.