Djokovic breaks Stepanek's resistance

What is it with Czechs playing giants of the game under the Centre
Court roof this week? With the unknown Lukas Rosol’s sensational
Thursday night defeat of Rafael Nadal still raw in the public
consciousness, for a while today the defending champion Novak Djokovic
had cause for concern when the veteran Radek Stepanek unburdened him
of the first set. But Djokovic soon put the world to rights by coming
back to beat the No.28 seed 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in two hours and 49
minutes.

The Centre Court roof has been used many times since it first came
into operation three years ago. But never before had it been closed
for the start of a day’s play at 1pm. There was some debate over the
decision, which was why the players did not walk on the court until
1.12pm. As the clock had reached one, showers from earlier in the day
were giving way to intermittent sunshine, but with further showers
forecast, it was deemed best to close the roof to be sure of no
disruption. Cue nervous laughter all round, what with so many aspects
of this fixture now mirroring the Nadal episode.

Stepanek, a former world No.8 and a quarter-finalist here from 2006,
came into the match as the oldest man left in the draw, at 33 years 7
months. He had only beaten Djokovic once previously in their seven
career meetings, back in 2006. And his day got off to a sticky start
when umpire Mohamed Lahyani required that Stepanek swap the bright red
and blue shoes he wore during the warm-up for a pair in line with the
predominantly white clothing rule.

Facing the man John McEnroe calls “the best returner in the history of
our game”, Stepanek was soon required to fend off break points and his
serve remained under pressure. At 4-4, Djokovic’s great returning gave
him two break points, at 15-40. At that moment, few would have wagered
much on the Czech winning the next eight straight points, but that is
what happened. He clawed back the break points – bringing Djokovic’s
collection of first set opportunities missed to five – and then
inconceivably went on the attack to break the Serb to love. The buzz
around the enclosed stadium was extraordinary. Nadal lost to a Czech
under the Centre Court roof last night...ditto Djokovic today? It
couldn’t happen. Could it?

In short...no. The defending champion was having none of it.
Fairytales and coincidences are for other people, not for a player at
the peak of his powers. At the start of the second he came out
fighting to break Stepanek immediately, and kept up the pressure,
making him fight for every point. The set was not without its problems
for Djokovic, however. At 2-3 he chose not to let an overhead bounce,
and put the resulting smash out for 30-40. He aced that problem away,
but was required to save another break point moments later. That done,
his returning did its work again as he passed Stepanek at the net for
5-2. One game after that he took the set with an ace.

Both knew Stepanek – watched from the players’ box by his wife, the
former world No.7 and two-time Wimbledon quarter-finalist Nicole
Vaidisova – needed to stamp his authority on the third set. Instead
Djokovic broke him twice, and that was plenty. Stepanek had two
chances to break back but both went begging. In the eerie
semi-daylight of the covered court, Djokovic took the set 6-2.
Americans have a phrase for such matches at this stage: “Stick a fork
in it” – meaning, it’s done. In the fourth set Stepanek could not get
on the scoreboard until the fifth game, and even then he needed 13
minutes and 10 deuces to do it. Djokovic took it 6-2, and the match
with it. Afterwards he insisted that he, for one, was never spooked by
the ghost of Nadal’s win last night, also under the roof, also to a
Czech.

“It did not enter my mind,” he smiled. “I was focusing on my opponent.
He is a very tricky player, very talented. He’s been on the Tour for
many years and he’s one of the few players who comes to the net after
every first serve. He can hurt anybody and he played a terrific first
set. Whenever I had a break point, he came up with a big serve and hit
the lines. He was very aggressive. But I played the second, third and
fourth extremely well. Now I will play some golf over the weekend, and
of course practise, ahead of Monday’s match.”