Novak Djokovic is officially awesome again. So clinical and complete was his mastery of Rafael Nadal here on Saturday that his loss to Roger Federer earlier in the week seems in retrospect to have done no more than ignite the strange, irresistible power that resides deep in his Serbian soul.
We will have a truer indication of the difference between them the next time they meet (their head-to-head stands at 22-21 for the Swiss), but surrendering his winning streak at 23 in that round-robin match clearly did not devastate the world No 1, who enters every match now, whatever the surface, as a nailed-on favourite.
In the first semi-final of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Saturday, Djokovic was supreme in every phase of the game in beating Nadal, long-ago the world’s best, 6-3, 6-3.
His serving was sublime: 90% at first attempt. He had more penetration on his second serve, 60%, 11 from 18, than Nadal did on his first, 54%, 20 from 37. He served one double fault and did not face a break point. He made 24 winners and hit 21 unforced errors – and won 58 points overall to Nadal’s 41.
Those are not statistics, they are the tale of a rout. Their 46th contest drew him level with the Spaniard but he has been advancing him inexorably in blocks of two major assaults for four years. There was the 6-0 head-to-head devastation of 2011 (followed by that epic Australian Open final in January 2012) then the steady attritional dismantling of the rivalry since Beijing two years ago, during which time Djokovic has won seven of their eight matches, including the final of this tournament in 2013.
Who threatens Djokovic? Not Andy Murray, whose only win over him in 11 matches arrived in Montreal this year, a week before he lost to Federer in Cincinnati – and went on to win his third slam of the year, at Flushing Meadows. And, on this evidence, certainly not Nadal.
Djokovic got the only break of the first set, in the second game, but the pressure of his serve was the key, as he took 20 of 23 points on first attempt. This was a minor version of their Roland Garros quarter-final, when the Spaniard at full bore was just about hanging on in the early exchanges but could not compete at the same level once Djokovic started to grind him down with the sheer force of his hitting.
He broke again in the fifth game of the second at the end of a long rally, Nadal’s final drop shot spinning wide. He needed to find something more than mere resistance to make it a contest but attacking the net – which proved the difference in his wins over Murray and David Ferrer – did not apparently appeal to him as an option.
Rather, he could not find many moments to even thinking about going forward. As slow as this court was – as friendly a non-clay surface as he could ask for – the pace of the shot-making continually left Nadal powerless to launch an effective counterattack.
The serve that had pinned Nadal so completely in the first set was now grooved to a high point of potency and after six games, Djokovic had won eight from eight, usually without a lot coming back. The rallies were dwindling in time and competitiveness. The crowd had that eerie semi-silence about it, as if we had intruded on a private argument, or a training session, perhaps.
Operating from well behind the baseline now, just to keep the ball in play, Nadal was helpless. He could only wait for Djokovic to implode; but those days are few and far between, a forlorn hope among rivals trailing so far behind him they are almost playing a different game. After less than an hour-and-a-quarter, Nadal, winner of 14 slam titles but never properly in the hunt for this one, was serving to stay in the match.
A lob in reply to a decent undercut backhand into the ad corner at 30-15 left Nadal swishing helplessly. It was an image that lingered – as did the acutely angled backhand that brought up match point. The winner, also from that side but to the other corner, was similarly commanding.
Djokovic, metronomically efficient in his strategy and machine-like in the execution of his shots, might not be the most aesthetically pleasing player to watch, but his brilliance transcends beauty. He has been some player for a long time. And, frighteningly, he is getting better.
