The last stand from Novak Djokovic

More than anything else, the victory over Nadal was much needed. During a point in time in 2011, the year when Djokovic put together that remarkable run, he beat Nadal in six straight finals they played, and made it seven in a row a few months later when he beat him at the Australian Open final in ’12. After a while Nadal had lost confidence that he could beat the ‘Djoker’.

A similar predicament hung over Djokovic’s shoulders going into the final last Sunday. Had he lost, it would have been a fourth successive loss to the Spaniard.

Djokovic all year was also the hunted. The pressure on him increased with every passing tournament that Nadal won. He would have expected to be hunted, but not so much in the relentless and merciless manner that Nadal did. He saw his adversary bettering his best at almost every single tournament.

In Beijing though, Djokovic looked comfortable all week. And with the pressure of the ranking off (Nadal had ensured he would be number 1 by reaching the final), his body and mind sort of freed up to play a very high level of tennis in the final.

He also served a reminder to Nadal that though he may have been overtaken in the rankings, he was going to be right there challenging for that top spot again.

“I’ll be back” said Novak Djokovic

The victory was especially important as Djokovic was riding an 18-match win streak at the event and was a three-time defending champion. Had he allowed Nadal to burst that elusive bubble, it would surely have allowed more demons to creep into him.

The win did little to reverse the inevitable change that was to happen in the rankings, but it reminded Nadal of why exactly Djokovic is his most dangerous opponent. The importance of the win can be gauged from Djokovic’s comments after the match.

“I needed this win today … It’s very important mentally and emotionally.” said Djokovic.

The win will help ease some of the pain from all the losses that he suffered to Nadal during the year. While not taking away even an iota of how well Nadal has played, Djokovic deep down would regret some of the lost opportunities that he failed to take.

The win against Nadal is a refresher, like pressing the F5 button on your keyboard. The win will serve as a much-needed boost to his confidence and help restore his own faith in himself. It also stems the rot in terms of successive losses to the Spaniard and in a rivalry that has eclipsed the all-time record for matches played, every win or loss is important.

The roles have now been reversed. Djokovic has gone from being the hunted to the hunter again. And this new role may just motivate him a bit more than his earlier job description did. History will show that Djokovic has always come back strong when he has had a point to prove.

The last stand by Djokovic may have passed off as an insignificant moment to many, but it was the moment that the ‘Djoker’ said to ‘Rafa’ that this ain’t the ending of the story, but merely the beginning of another chapter in this glorious rivalry.

To echo a line made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator “I’ll be back”!