Party Crashers

Andy Murray hasn’t had it easy against Novak Djokovic recently. Before Sunday, the last time the Scot beat the Serb, in the 2013 Wimbledon final, he had to survive what may have been the most hair-raising, heart-stopping final game in tennis history. And in the two years since that match on Centre Court, Murray hadn't survived anything at all against his childhood foe. During that time, Djokovic had turned their formerly competitive rivalry into an entirely lopsided affair, beating Murray eight straight times and knocking him out of three Grand Slams. This season, by clipping Murray in the Australian Open and Miami finals, and the French Open and Indian Wells semifinals, Djokovic has single-handedly brought an edge of frustration—and at times uncontrollable rage—to what otherwise should be a deeply satisfying season for Murray. Of Murray’s eight losses this year, half of them have come at Djokovic’s hands.

The frustration finally ended on Sunday in Montreal, when Murray beat Djokovic, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, for his third Rogers Cup title. It was one of the best and most entertaining editions of a matchup that has produced few full-fledged classics. But to the surprise of no one, Djokovic didn’t make it easy. Those three sets took exactly three hours, and included a Murray service game that lasted 18 minutes and 26 points. Despite its straightforward-sounding scores, this long and winding match featured extended rallies, spectacular winners and mystifying mistakes, and dozens of potential turning points. And while the end wasn’t quite as harrowing for Murray as it was that day at Wimbledon, he was still forced to save seven break points in his final three service games.

“I fought well and hung on today,” a weary Murray said afterward. “It was tough. This time, both of us were dictating the points. I tried to play aggressive today.”

Murray came out firing early and often, and took the rallies straight to Djokovic in a way that he seldom has in the past. This wasn’t the careful, match-managing Murray we saw at Wimbledon last month; this was Murray the risk-taker. He finished with more aces, more winners, and more errors than Djokovic, and generated 19 break points to his opponent's 14. Murray’s crosscourt backhand, which found the corner from start to finish, was the crucial stroke of the afternoon. Djokovic likes to talk about his own down-the-line backhand as his secret weapon, the shot that allows him to open rallies up. In Montreal, Murray’s crosscourt version served the same purpose. It threw a new wrinkle into their well-worn baseline dynamic.

Murray’s more assertive approach allowed him to pass three tests that he might normally have failed against Djokovic. Instead of falling into the usual traps that Djokovic sets for him, this time he found a way to hit his way through each of them.

(1) Murray went up 4-1 in the first set and had two break points for 5-1. After failing to convert either of them, he was broken in the next game, and was soon serving at 4-4, down break point, on the verge of losing a set that had looked sure to be his. Another day, another lost opportunity against Djokovic, right? Instead, Murray hit the back edge of the service line with what Brad Gilbert described as a “proper second serve”—in contrast to Murray’s normal, barely adequate one—and ended the point with a ringing forehand winner. He held and broke Djokovic for the set.

(2) After losing the second set, Murray served to begin the third. He double-faulted on the first point, and at 30-30 watched as Djokovic tracked down a drop shot and lofted a perfectly stunning touch lob over his head for a winner. As Murray tried and failed to chase it down, he ran screaming in the direction of his coach, Jonas Bjorkman. Now it was break point, and another final-set beatdown, like the ones that Djokovic had given him in Melbourne, Miami, and Paris, loomed on the horizon. Instead, Murray came up with three straight service winners, and three straight “Come on!”s, to hold. Good play translated into positive body language, which translated into more good play—a rare virtuous cycle for Murray against Djokovic.

(3) In a repeat of Wimbledon 2013, Djokovic forced Murray to win this title the hard way, by saving three championship points on his own serve at 2-5, and earning two break points on Murray’s serve at 5-3. At 15-30 in that game, Djokovic came up with a brilliantly measured defensive lob; when Murray’s next forehand sailed 10 feet long, it looked another Djokovic comeback was on (he had already saved two match points in beating Ernests Gulbis earlier in the week). Instead of caving to the world No. 1 one more time, though, Murray served his way out of trouble again, and outlasted Djokovic on his fifth championship point.

Afterward, Murray dedicated the win to his coach, Amelie Mauresmo, who gave birth to a boy on Sunday. Whether it was Mauresmo, Bjorkman, or Murray himself who decided to throw his usual caution to the wind on this day, the plan worked, and for the first time in two years he’ll have a template for beating Djokovic should they meet again at the US Open. Murray is now 53-8 on the season, and he has titles on clay, grass, and hard courts. Most important, the nemesis has been conquered, at least for today. That should take a little of the sting out of Murray's ever-more-satisfying season.

If the Murray-Djokovic final in Montreal had implications for the short term, the final in Toronto between Belinda Bencic and Simona Halep might have been a sneak peek at Grand Slam finals to come. The 18-year-old Swiss beat the 23-year-old Romanian 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 3-0 (ret.), in two and a half hours, and while it ended in an unfortunate anti-climax, this match was also filled with its share of U-turns, plot twists, and dramatic outbursts. There wasn’t much to separate the two players, each of whom seemed to be trying to ward off total exhaustion after a long week of tough matches. Halep, who had her left leg taped at the end of the first set, ran out of gas first.

That makes Bencic, despite the best efforts of Murray and Nick Kyrgios in Montreal, the story of the week in tennis. She beat six Grand Slam finalists—Eugenie Bouchard, Caroline Wozniacki, Sabine Lisicki, Ana Ivanovic, Serena Williams, and Halep—to win the title. Four of those victories, all over more experienced opponents, came in three sets. And while my eyes may have been deceiving me, it appeared that Bencic was a significantly better, more mature, more confident, and more well-rounded player on Sunday than she had been the previous Monday.

Down 1-4 in the first-set tiebreaker in the final, it was Bencic, rather than the No. 3 player in the world, who played with tactical self-assurance. Most impressive of all, she suffered no letdown, nor indulged any well-earned sense of contentment, after beating Serena; she fought even more tenaciously to finish the job against Halep. Bencic's string of stunning wins in Canada called to mind one by a young player named Novak Djokovic in 2007 in Montreal. (See my posts from earlier in the week on Bencic here and here.)

While Halep couldn’t will herself across the finish line, she saved what may have been the grittiest effort of a very gritty week for last. Down a set and 5-3, having received a visit from the trainer to tape her leg and the doctor to check her blood pressure, doubled over after some points and fighting hard not to lose her lunch after others, Halep somehow managed to rally to win the set. At times, it looked as if she wasn’t sure whether she really wanted to hit a winning shot or not; from the middle of the second set on, it seemed to be a foregone conclusion that she would have to retire. Still, with her four, often-grueling wins over Jelena Jankovic, Angelique Kerber, Agnieszka Radwanska, and Sara Errani, Halep re-established herself as an elite player this week after two disappointing Grand Slam results. (See my post on Halep from earlier in the week here.)

It’s anyone’s guess which of these two talented young women will find more success in the future. While Bencic can be hot-headed, the one advantage she has over Halep is that she doesn’t let a burst of anger turn into a prolonged bout of negativity. The fatalistic Romanian, despite her willful week of tennis, still gets too down, too quickly, and for too long.

Bencic, meanwhile, is the definition of a much-needed fresh face for women’s tennis, and proof that guileless youth still has a place in the game. After beating Serena, she talked about the cupcake she got to eat as a reward. During the trophy ceremony, she looked stunned when she was told about the US Open Series bonus she might receive. When she found out she would be ranked No. 12 on Monday, she exclaimed, "Wow!" After the final was over, Bencic declared the stadium in Toronto her new favorite, and said, as she accepted her winner’s trophy, “I don’t think I’m so good at speeches yet!”

The “yet” is key: She knows this won’t be the last one she gives.