Novak Djokovic finally comes out of the Federer-Nadal shadow

Novak Djokovic poses with the winners’ trophy at WImbledon following his victory over Roger Federer

In the lead-up to the final, Roger Federer was playing the best as well as undoubtedly the most beautiful grass-court tennis we have ever seen on the lawns at SW 19. Some even said he was playing like the Federer of 2005-06. In spite of that, however, he lost. A better way to put this would be: Novak Djokovic won.

It is the manner of Djokovic’s win that makes it all the more incredible: he almost out-aced Federer, out-served Federer, out-rallied Federer and most importantly won the battle of the mind, yet again, when it mattered. In between, he also found time to applaud a couple of Federer’s shots played at the most critical of junctures that could have changed the fortunes of the match.

My love for Federer is paralleled by my respect and admiration for Djokovic.

The Serb is one of a kind. Safe in his spot as one of the top four, he has so long, perhaps even till yesterday’s final, lived in the shadow of Federer and Nadal when the debate lumbered around greatness. Not anymore. It is unfair on our part to not shower respect on the man, whose physical skill and elasticity on the tennis court are unbelievably outperformed by his mental skills on the court.

An individual sport like tennis is as much won in the mind as it is through skill and physical strength. And sometimes I see Djokovic as having the skill of Federer and the will of Nadal.

As much as we have been blessed to have witnessed the two Big Dogs, we should also be grateful to have Djokovic take over the mantle with equal poise and grace. Tennis has never had three players playing in the same generation, competing for the mantle of the Greatest of All Time by the time they finish their careers. Such has been Djokovic’s dominance that this year he has completed something that was unthinkable: beating Nadal in Paris and Federer at Wimbledon.

Such is our love for Federer, or for that matter Nadal, that we sometimes forget that Djokovic is also worthy of immense respect. Wrote a leading daily yesterday “So shamelessly partisan were this Centre Court crowd in their Swiss allegiance, turning SW19 into the equivalent of Basel-on-Thames, that they greeted his third Wimbledon title with almost a soft sigh of ambivalence. Not often in this citadel has a champion had to tolerate cheers for his errors, or groans for his winners”.

Novak Djokovic deserves better than this. Tennis is in safe hands, and both Federer and Nadal are aware of this fact. It’s time that the rest of the world becomes aware of that too.