Nole Knows

The crowd was behind him like never before, in a match for the title he had to have. This was a tournament that would shadow him for the rest of his career, until he won it.

And he was in a great position to finally do so. It was a competitive match, but one in which there was no doubt who the superior player was. Then came the moment before the moment. A push from his opponent, who could do no wrong with nothing to lose, and pressure on him, with everything to lose.

Andy Murray understood what Novak Djokovic was going through on Sunday at Roland Garros, because he once was the superior player in this scenario. And Djokovic could understand why Murray, flagging after a strong opening set, was relishing the role of spoiler. They’d done this dance with history before, after all:

Three years ago, it was Murray who served for the title which meant the most—Wimbledon. The British hope had a curse to end and doubters to silence, and when he got to 40-0, the golden chalice seemed all but in his grasp.

“All the way until 5-2 in the fourth [set] was great tennis,” Djokovic said about today’s French Open final, which he controlled from the second set on.

At Wimbledon, Murray lost three consecutive points to descend to deuce, then faced three nerve-wracking break points.

At Roland Garros, Djokovic—serving brilliantly for the better part of two hours—dropped that 5-2 service game, then was helpless as Murray held, applying further pressure. The smile he couldn’t keep down before serving at 5-2 had vanished.

“I won the first three points, and it was the hardest game ever,” Murray said three years ago.

“I got a little bit too loose, I must say,” the Serb admitted today. “I was so close that I was feeling it.”

Djokovic knew was he was feeling, and knew what his opponent was feeling. And he knew that, somehow, he had to give the crowd—the best he ever played in front of, he later said—what they wanted, and win the title that mattered most to him.

Djokovic reached double championship point. He lost them both.

“When I went from 40-15 to deuce, I was like, ‘OK, I really gotta do it,’” Djokovic said at Roland Garros.

“I think just how the last game went,” Murray said at Wimbledon, “my head was just kind of everywhere.”

On that day, Murray held off Djokovic. On this day, Djokovic held off Murray. The scores didn’t show it—6-4, 7-5, 6-4 then; 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 now—but they were two of the hardest victories of each man’s career.

Their moments had arrived.