New #1 Novak Djokovic Convincingly Beats Rafael Nadal for Wimbledon Title

I've been thinking about 'this' all day since watching that spectacular 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 victory -- what one word could I possibly use to describe the comprehensive display of tennis that Novak Djokovic displayed during the Wimbledon mens' final today? Comprehensive, brilliant, rock-solid, outstanding. None seem remotely adequate. Perfection would be best, but his third set loss of focus stops us from using that. So I guess I'll settle on "brilliant".

Why brilliant? Many, many reasons. Let me list several!

Any strategy of how Nadal (or any opponent) could beat Novak were tossed on their head with this victory!
I wrote in a preview posting that if Nadal came out with good aggressive shot-making so that he could dictate the points he would be able to prevail. WRONG. That strategy assumes that Rafa's shots, some of the most brutal in the mens' game with respect to their pace and spin, would be enough to win the big points.

That basic assumption had a flaw. It assumed that Rafa could eventually get the ball past the Serb, and Novak would have none of that. Putting on the most stunning display of defense that has ever been witnessed on Centre Court, he was an impenetrable wall for Nadal's shots. He "Nadal-ed" Rafa, running down all shots to all corners side-to-side and back-to-front. The shots would mostly come back as winners. By the second set he was making uncharacteristic errors all over the court in a futile attempt to hit low-percentage winners because of Novak's defense. He started pressing and making errors knowing that he had to go for every shot. It was a complete role reversal from his Friday semi-final against Andy Murray... this time he was on the receiving end.

To say that Novak's defense is outstanding is an understatement. We are used to seeing Rafa scramble on courts to run down every potential winning shot. This scrambling causes opponents to do one of three things: make his opponent hit "one more shot" that usually ends in an error, make his opponents hit one more shot that ends in a weak response (allowing Rafa to strike back with an offensive winner of his own) OR, the scrambling allows Rafa to dig out an improbable winner from the defensive position. Most notably on clay, the surface he seemingly was born to play on.

Novak is now one-upping Rafa with his own ability to do this same thing on all surfaces (clay, grass and hardcourt) with an ease that allows him to stay extraordinarily calm in those moments in order to craft his path back to offense.

And what amazing offense he displayed. The numbers are not overwhelmingly lopsided. In fact his first serve percentage was lower than Rafa's. But his percentage of points won on both first and second serve were better (72/54 compared to 67/44). The two overwhelmingly lopsided numbers were the break points and net points won, however. And these were telling. Rafa won 3-6 break points. Novak won 5 of 6. In matches that rely on mental fortitude as much as they do on actual points, Novak had the edge. Rafa knew that if his serve faltered, he would get broken. This is how the first set played out... Rafa under pressure to stay in the set and getting broken.

The other lopsided stat was net points won. For a classic baseline player, Rafa has learned to come forward and take the net at Wimbledon to give himself more options and become a more complete player. He only came to the net 9 times in the final, winning 6 of those points. Novak came to the net 26 times, winning 19 of those points. He was dictating the terms to Rafa and continually putting him under pressure to come up with brilliant passing shots. More often than not Rafa couldn't produce. When he did, Novak put on an amazing display of volleying that often left Rafa looking frustrated and deflated.

Overall, Rafa had to try and win points over and over again with shots that would be winners against any other player, Federer included. He had to continually protect his serve from getting broken. His lefty spin was effectively neutralized by Novak's two-handed backhand, and he wasn't allowed to dictate play with his inside out forehand until maybe the third set. And always the pressure to defend: his serve, his title, his newly-lost #1 rank, the memory of 4 finals losses to this same opponent, and also his pride.

After awhile the toll on his psyche was evident. As Federer knew at the '08 French his best wasn't going make a dent in Rafa's game, so too did Rafa know in his heart that the Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, and Rome Masters finals were no fluke. He had no weapon that was going to beat Novak. And clearly all of Novak's weapons were hurting him from all over the court.

Whatever weaknesses we thought Novak might still have and whatever strategies we thought might help ANY opponent prevail have now been proven wrong. Outside of his loss to Federer on clay, Novak has displayed the most brilliant and devastating tennis that has been seen in years. There are no weaknesses. None! At this moment he is playing tennis that is ridiculous and scary all at once. Of all the words I could use that keep coming to mind after watching this match, it always comes back to the word "brilliant".

This should be an interesting summer on the ATP tour!