The streak continues.
In perhaps the best match of the clay court season, and certainly the biggest challenge to his season-long win streak, Novak Djokovic survived a spirited battle from Andy Murray, 6-1 3-6 7-6(2), for his 36th consecutive victory and a berth in the finals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
The No. 2 ranked Serb was able to distance himself in the third set tiebreaker after three hours on court. The match was a high-quality affair, exemplified perfectly by the penultimate point. A dropshot and lob combination, both played to perfection by the Djokovic, finally brought him to the cusp of victory. In order to reach the tiebreaker, Djokovic had to fend off a determined Murray, who raised the level of his game after an uneven first set. The Scot served for the match at 5-4 in the deciding set, but was unable to put an end to Dokovic or his streak.
Djokovic ran away with the first set, moving the Scot around the court as if he had him on a string. The Serb opened that match with an ace and took a 2-0 lead after capitalizing on his third break point opportunity in Murray’s first service game. Murray fought back and recaptured the break in the very next game, a marathon that lasted almost 15 minutes and featured five deuces.
But that would be the last whimper out of Murray in the first set; Djokovic relentlessly pushed him deeper and deeper behind the baseline, forcing Murray to play defense on almost every point. The deeper Murray got, the more effective the drop shot became, and Djokovic played several to perfection throughout the opening set en route to the easy 6-1 score.
Armed with a much improved serve, the Scot completely reversed his fortunes in the second set. Murray, who did not win a single point on his second serve in the first set, won 70% of those points in the middle stanza. Murray played much more offensively for a majority of the second set, seeking to end the points quicker, and was finally able to break through against the Serb’s serve in the seventh game.
Few roller coasters could match the up and down nature of the deciding set. Djokovic took the first advantage by breaking Murray in the fourth game, but the lead was short-lived. In the following game, trailing 1-3, Murray hit spectacular down-the-line winners off sub-par Djokovic second serves on back-to-back points to draw the set back on serve.
Halfway through the deciding set, the Serb had yet to commit an unforced error, but four successive errors plagued Djokovic at 3-3 in what could have been the most unremarkable game he’d served all year. It was the first of three consecutive breaks of serve and gave Murray the chance to serve for the match.
But it was not to be on this night. Murray, battling not only nerves but the mental demons of all the near misses in big matches throughout his career, could not put the match away. He saved two break points, but could not save the third. His second double fault of the game brought Djokovic back from the brink of defeat. On they would play at the Foro Italico, into the final tiebreaker, much to the delight of a packed Campo Centrale.
The question remains to be seen if Djokovic will have enough energy left in the tank to keep his streak intact against the best player in the world, Rafael Nadal, in tomorrow afternoon’s final. It will be the fourth Masters 1000 final between the world’s two top-ranked players this year, and Djokovic is looking for his seventh title of 2011.
Djokovic snapped a personal three match losing streak to Murray by beating him in the Australian Open final earlier this year to win the first title of his amazing 2011 season. Today was only the second time the two had met on clay--the Serb easily won the last encounter in 2008 in Monte Carlo.
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