“Reprise,” say the French umpires at the end of every changeover. On Friday Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic gave us a thrilling reprise of their most famous match - the six-hour Australian Open final of 2011.
There were two critical differences, however. For one thing, it was only the semi-final of this year’s Roland Garros - even though one suspects it will prove to have decided the ultimate winner.
For another, the result fell the other way. Where Djokovic ruled the blue planet of Melbourne, Nadal drew an extra cubit of inspiration from the red clay of Court Philippe Chatrier - a stadium where he has only ever lost once. He finished the stronger, closing the match out by a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7, 9-7 scoreline. Nadal will meet David Ferrer in the finals on Sunday.
“I learnt during all my career to enjoy suffering, and these kind of matches are very special,” said Nadal, whose opponent in tomorrow’s final will be fellow Spaniard David Ferrer. “I really enjoy suffering, because what’s harder is when I am in Majorca last year and I had to watch these kind of matches on the TV.”
Nadal’s fractious knees remain an issue. Yet somehow he has maintained an almost superhuman level of fitness, even though he can only train for about an hour a day. That stamina was decisive here.
From first point to last Nadal kept scuttling across the baseline and unleashing his ferocious, turbocharged forehand for a series of crunching winners. Djokovic found it harder to maintain a steady pressure, and virtually handed over an unopposed third set when his body suffered a dramatic power failure.
In contests between the “big four” men, such donations are usually decisive in the end. Yes, Djokovic came back, creating fuel out of his own desperation. He edged the fourth set on a tiebreak and managed to go a break up at the start of the decider.
But when you allow easy points and games to flow away from you, even if it is for only half an hour or so, you might as well be charging your opponent’s batteries. Andy Murray learnt a similar lesson in Australia last year when he lost a 6-1 set to Djokovic and was always scrabbling for purchase thereafter.
We expect so much from these contests between the big four, and they keep matching or even exceeding expectations. Friday’s encounter was full of surprise twists and dramatic moments - including the point deep in the fifth set when Djokovic rushed forward so eagerly to finish off a short ball that he ended up caught in the net.
Despite Djokovic’s best innocent face, umpire Pascal Maria ruled that he had touched the net before the rally ended, and credited the point to Nadal. “Who knows which direction the match would have gone if I won that point,” Djokovic said afterwards, wearing a stunned expression.