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I loved this point because so much was riding on it. Novak had been a little subdued. The crowd were so against him and so for Roger. It was one match where Novak was getting tired of the massively partisan crowd.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B43Eo-6h...eo_watch_again
But then came along a breakpoint. Roger had served so brilliantly but you knew Novak was going to get a chance somewhere...somehow. And it came. The match might have swivelled on its head right but here had Novak grabbed this point and gathered some momentum and motivation from somewhere.
Roger is 6-4 up but 1-2 down with breakpoint against him serving at 30-40. He puts in a good, deep serve but Novak returns it deep down the middle (who many times have we seen him do that before). We are now right in Novak territory here; neutralising the serve and trying to achieve neutral status in the rally. Roger knows the deal and peels away (how many times have we seen that before) to belt a forehand deep to Novak's backhand. The last thing Roger wants is for Novak to gain a foothold in this particular rally. Novak, struggling slightly, nevertheless gets his backhand very deep, and it looks for all the world that this point might now swing in Novak's favour. But Roger decides to risk it. Despite the fact he is backing up behind the baseline when hitting this shot, he unleashes an incredible forehand to catch Novak by surprise and set up an easy put-away. That forehand was incredible in so many ways, but perhaps most incredible is he can still finds ways to take Novak by surprise after playing him nearly 50 times.
Novak capitulated after that. Both to the crowd and Roger. But he might not have done had he won that breakpoint. Fine margins indeed.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B43Eo-6h...eo_watch_again
But then came along a breakpoint. Roger had served so brilliantly but you knew Novak was going to get a chance somewhere...somehow. And it came. The match might have swivelled on its head right but here had Novak grabbed this point and gathered some momentum and motivation from somewhere.
Roger is 6-4 up but 1-2 down with breakpoint against him serving at 30-40. He puts in a good, deep serve but Novak returns it deep down the middle (who many times have we seen him do that before). We are now right in Novak territory here; neutralising the serve and trying to achieve neutral status in the rally. Roger knows the deal and peels away (how many times have we seen that before) to belt a forehand deep to Novak's backhand. The last thing Roger wants is for Novak to gain a foothold in this particular rally. Novak, struggling slightly, nevertheless gets his backhand very deep, and it looks for all the world that this point might now swing in Novak's favour. But Roger decides to risk it. Despite the fact he is backing up behind the baseline when hitting this shot, he unleashes an incredible forehand to catch Novak by surprise and set up an easy put-away. That forehand was incredible in so many ways, but perhaps most incredible is he can still finds ways to take Novak by surprise after playing him nearly 50 times.
Novak capitulated after that. Both to the crowd and Roger. But he might not have done had he won that breakpoint. Fine margins indeed.
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