The perfect tennis player? No chinks in Djokovic's game

There is a certain ritual… call it a habit that is followed by all coach-player teams before a big match.

They sit down and talk about a game-plan – a way to beat the opponent. The planning may be by way of video or by virtue of having played the opponent many times before. And as usual, it focuses on the weaknesses of the opponent – in the semi-final for example, Andy Murray focussed on Roger Federer’s backhand… shot after shot was directed towards the one weakness in the Swiss master’s armoury. And it worked.

With Nadal, it was always attack the serve. Then the left-hander improved his serve. Then the focus was on his backhand. Nadal improved that as well, to counter Djokovic. Then it simply became keep the ball away from the top-spin inducing forehand, Nadal simply can’t hurt you as much with the backhand. That remains a valid plan.

But when Ivan Lendl and Murray sat down to plan for Novak Djokovic ahead of the Australian Open final – they must’ve drawn a blank. There are simply no cracks in his game; his serve is solid, he can hit winners off his forehand and backhand, his court coverage is the best in the game, he can volley, mentally he is strong and his fitness has taken tennis to another level. Planning for Djokovic is difficult, because you are looking for a weakness that simply isn’t there – but it wasn’t always this way.

However, for much of the first and second set, it looked like the Djokovic of old has returned. Murray’s defence from the baseline was fantastic – everything the Serb threw at him was coming right back and it frustrated the world number 1, it made him angry and it seemed like the frail temperament was returning to its old habits.

He was complaining about his shoes, he was throwing up his hands helplessly after making unforced errors (he had 25 of them in the first set) and staring at his corner asking for support. Indeed, it looked like Murray not Djokovic had had two full days of rest ahead of the final. Murray made no unforced errors in the first set tie-break while Djokovic seemed to be faltering badly.

Then, just as suddenly, the 25-year-old Serb, who has been playing Murray since he was 11, regained his composure.

Through 2011 and 2012 – talk centred on his gluten-free diet and how it had allowed him to harness the true potential of his body. But just fitness alone isn’t going to make you world number 1. It requires a dedication of a different kind and the results started showing in the second set.

An article on ESPN , reveals some of his secrets: “His food is gluten-free. His drinks are a combination of half a dozen vitamins and minerals. His sleep sometimes comes in a hyperbaric chamber. His reading material is about body awareness and mindfulness. His stress is tested using a biofeedback device. His water is lukewarm during matches because cold fluid idles too long in the stomach. His free time is, in fact, “recovery time,” arranged by a professional scheduler. His celebratory beer in the locker room after winning a tournament is just that – a single beer, a reward meant to entice performance.”

And we haven’t even got into his game. Djokovic didn’t just get fit, he got smart. He started reading a book called ‘The Four Agreements’ by Don Miguel Ruiz and adopted it as his personal code so to say. It basically preaches four things – Be impeccable with your word, don’t take anything personally, don’t make assumptions and last but not the least, always do your best.

In the second set, Djokovic stopped going for the lines, he started playing percentage tennis – which in his book, isn’t just putting the ball in the opponent’s court, he still hits shots with a lot of top spin, he still scrambles for every ball, he still pushes the limits… only the limits are a little lower than usual. It was still a battle of attrition – there was points where Murray and Djokovic were running as much as 76 meters; there were lung-busting 36-shot rallies – but it was Djokovic just trying to outlast Murray; not trying to out-hit him.

The Djokovic-Stanisla Wawrinka battle in the quarters was a five-hour marathon that should have drained even the Serb. But instead, he came out and blasted out a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 win in just 89 minutes. Against Murray – after 89 minutes, they were still in the early part of the second set. Djokovic was angry and but he wasn’t breaking a sweat – literally.

Then he took things up a notch – clinching the second set tie-break easily. From that point on Murray, troubled by a blister on his foot, didn’t have a chance.

A match between Nadal and Federer was a battle of wills, Djokovic versus Nadal was like a chess game, Djokovic versus Federer is often about precision but Djokovic versus Murray is a battle between two of the fittest players on the planet and in that sense, there’s just one winner: Djokovic.