French Open Men’s Final

This match went as predicted in this blog, with Djokovic winning in 4: 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.  In the first set Djokovic came out a bit flat or nervous, and Murray came out the way he played in the Italian Open final.  Murray was driving his forehand with conviction and covering the court like a blanket.  In the beginning of the second set, though, Murray started waiting for Novak to miss rather trying to force him to miss.  A few straightforward rallies were all that Djokovic needed to get his rhythm and his feet moving.  After that, Novak played pretty much unbeatable tennis. 

The crowd was clearly behind Djokovic – so much so that on a couple of occasions they deliberately tried to disrupt Andy’s play.  It’s really disappointed to see that sort of thing.  Fortunately that behavior did not really influence the outcome.

Djokovic added a couple of new wrinkles to his game in this tournament.  In the earlier rounds he began hitting a cross-court backhand drop shot, while beforehand almost all of this drop shots were backhands hit from his backhand corner down the line toward the right hander’s forehand.  In the final Djokovic added another shot, the forehand cross-court drop shot.  Never before had I seen either of these cross-court droppers.  Whether these shots will make Djokovic even more effective than he already is remains to be seen.

Can Djokovic win the calendar slam?  He has the first two majors in his pocket, Federer is injured and getting older every day, and Nadal is injured.  The Olympics may affect how players deal with the schedule, but all things considered, Djokovic has a real chance.  It will be interesting to watch.