The heavens looked favorably upon the center court at Roland Garros, bathing Court Philippe Chatrier in glorious sunshine. The crowd cheered boisterously as both men entered the arena. The sweet smell of revenge swirled about the sun-drenched surface of the court, flitting about in the breeze. And the way the stands were bloated with fans, you'd think this were a final.
That's because the stakes couldn't be higher: Djokovic could complete his Career Grand Slam with the French Open title, with the added perk of dethroning Nadal from yet another sovereignty. Rafa, on the other hand, could become the first man in the Open Era to win the same tournament eight times and begin to screech to a halt the slippery slope on which his 20-15 head-to-head against Djokovic is sliding. Two particularly admirable aspirations, unlikely to be matched or even approached, but only one man could walk away with his dreams still alive.
Service holds were fulfilled at the start of the first set, as expected, and with a plethora of unforgettable points strewn in between. Par exemple, in the sixth game, Nadal opened his service game with one jammer of a serve that caused the stunned Djokovic to play a short return. Rafa then lasered a forehand way into the far corner but was a step behind Novak's unintended drop-shot return. Making up for his bad timing with lightning speed, Nadal would scoop the ball back behind the fast-approaching Djokovic, forcing him to play a lob that landed just wide of the service line.
And then King Cobra Nadal landed a deadly strike: he broke Nole's serve in the seventh game, then followed that up with a love hold to take a 5-3 lead. In just over 50 minutes, Rafa had the first set in the bag, 6-4.
Things seemed routine again in the second set until the fifth game when, serving at 2-all, 30-40 down, Djokovic would, for lack of a better way to end the rally, hiccup a drop-shot sufficiently low to foil any other opponent's plans to win the point. But this is Rafael "Quick Feet" Nadal we're talking about. Of course, he got there with time to spare and caressed a backhand pass down the line while Djokovic looked on helplessly from the center service line. 3-2 Nadal.
Now, as most players on tour know, even worse than being outplayed by Djokovic is thinking you're about to grab an easy one from under him when he comes out of nowhere and almost magically throws you into the hole you just tried to push him into. Rafael Nadal knows this feeling all too well. In a manner that can only be attributed to the world #1, Novak Djokovic made a hard-earned comeback, putting himself in a good position at 4-3, with one break opportunity against the Spaniard. And the result of practically painting the lines with uncanny angles, as well as exploiting Rafa's not-so-effective backhand slice, was a 5-3 lead for the Serb.
'Goodness, they're hitting the ball hard' is what one would have thought a few minutes later during game 9. And an outstanding backhand skidding off the loose dirt would prove too good for Rafa as he relinquished the second set to an energized Djoko. Second set: 6-3 Djokovic.
The loss of the second set seemed to have reignited the flame of controlled aggression within Nadal, for he wasted little time in jumping to a 5-1 lead in the third. And then, more drama would ensue..... Two points away from clinching the third set, Rafa played a captivating game of offensive defense with Novak: the Serbian carved out a decent drop-shot and covered the closer half of the court in rightful anticipation of Nadal's down-the-line pass attempt. But Rafa easily chased down the lob that followed and, to the utter surprise of the crowd, Djokovic netted the smash from less than two meters behind the net. He would win only one more point before thrashing a forehand long. Third set: 6-1 Nadal.
In the fourth set, the only thing as spectacular to watch as Djokovic's delicate drop-shots were Nadal's impossible retrieving skills. Hence, the two stayed deadlocked for ten consecutive games, until the Spaniard shook himself loose and a fraction ahead with a break for 6-5.
Then there was precious little time for onlookers to register that Nadal was serving for the match, so rapidly did Djokovic seize control of the game and force a tiebreaker upon the proceedings at Roland Garros.
Rolling with the momentum, Nole would tug at the tense strings possibly stiffening Nadal at the time. In a flash, the top seed had grabbed the fourth set 7-6 (7-3) and forced a deciding fifth, much to the delight of the French crowd.
The moment of guts, nuts and powerful shots lay right before both men as they entered the final set. Nadal was broken right off the bat, seeming to stumble now that the clock registered more than three grueling hours since the match had commenced.
No amount of scrambling from Rafa would cause Djokovic to surrender this vital lead; even two scorching backhands in the fifth game couldn't erase the break difference that kept Novak a hair's breadth nearer to victory than Nadal.
But we all sensed that something else, something humongous was on the horizon, and we were right. Nole was maintaining the strangle-hold at 4-3 and deuce when he lost balance on a net smash approach and almost fell forward over the net. Chair umpire Pascal Maria felt the only logical thing to do was to penalize Djokovic for winning the point! Advantage Nadal thus. And 6-6 soon after for the final tiebreak showdown.
Still employing the drop-shot effectively, Novak had only to keep holding serve to prevent an unfortunate exit. Nadal, sent running away from the net with yet another lob, delighted fans with a "tweener" that rose high enough for Djokovic to sack the smash. Again.
At 8-7, 40-0, the door that Nadal had been banging on all match at last began to creak as he crouched to receive Djokovic's must-win serve. And when Novak the Great pushed a forehand a mere three feet past the baseline, that door swung open most emphatically. Four hours and thirty seven minutes after the first ball bounced on Court Philippe Chatrier that afternoon, Rafael Nadal and his team were jumping for joy at his (semi)final win over the formidable Djokovic.
Far from being over, Rafa Nadal faces yet another formidable opponent in fellow Spaniard David Ferrer. Convinced Sunday's final will be a blowout? Might I remind you that Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was flying sky-high after eliminating Roger Federer in straight sets but couldn't find the will or the way to oust Ferrer. There's no telling what the Spaniard can achieve now, driven and focused as he is at the moment. He is going for his very first Grand Slam title and at age 31, this may be his last chance.
All we are hoping for is another blockbuster of a match, with emotions running high, momentum swinging back and forth, umpire decisions on which to speculate, and dazzling points that seem humanly impossible to execute. One way or another, we will have a Spanish King. Yes, Nadal has already proven his point; let's see if he can make it official.
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