Every US Open championship run is memorable. After all, the courts of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center are professional tennis’ ultimate proving grounds. To win here, you need the whole package: intelligence, desire, stamina and courage. You need to own every shot in the book, and when that’s not enough, you need to be ready to write a new chapter or two.
But since the dawn of Open tennis in 1968, some of those championship runs have been particularly memorable and especially impressive. Some have been unexpected; some have included particularly large hurdles. Some have taken an extra degree of toughness and a double shot of tenacity.
Throughout the summer, as we make our way toward new memories at the 2021 US Open, tennis historian Steve Flink, himself enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, will be recounting some of the most notable, improbable, and particularly memorable championship runs in US Open history. In this installment, he looks at Novak Djokovic’s breakthrough run to the title in 2011.
In 2011, at the age of 24, Novak Djokovic came to New York to play the US Open for the seventh time. He had not yet succeeded on the premier stage in American tennis, but had advanced to the finals of the Open in both 2007 and 2010, losing in the former contest to Roger Federer; falling in the latter to Rafael Nadal. Djokovic had been an outstanding hard-court player for many years, but had never approached the last Grand Slam tournament of the season fully convinced that he was the man to beat.
But 2011 was different. Very different. Now Djokovic was certain he was ready to come through at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The Serb realized unequivocally that his unassailable record leading up to the US Open made even his most formidable rivals understand that they were confronting an indomitable champion who had at last found the formula to become the game’s central figure. He had turned himself into the prohibitive US Open favorite.
Djokovic was enjoying the fruits of his labors in a manner he had not ever done before. He had opened that 2011 campaign with an unbeaten run from the start of the season all the way up to Roland Garros. He had gone unbeaten until suffering a stinging defeat at the hands of Federer in the penultimate round at the French Open, collecting 41 consecutive match victories to open his scintillating campaign before confronting a majestic Federer in Paris.
Nonetheless, Djokovic soon resumed his winning ways, winning Wimbledon for the first time. He took the Masters 1000 title in Canada and then went to Cincinnati, suffering only his second loss of the season in 59 matches when an injury forced him to retire at a set and 3-0 down against Andy Murray in the final. That hardly dented Djokovic’s confidence, nor did it make Murray or any of the Serb’s chief rivals believe that the world No. 1 was really vulnerable.
Djokovic marched onto the hard courts at the US Open with an aura surrounding him. He had already won nine tournaments over the course of the season, and he was on a mission to take his third major of the year and to garner his first crown at a venue he had come to cherish. As he said before his first round contest, “It’s been the best nine months of my career. I just know what to do now and I have matured as well. It’s all coming together for me.”
Those were the words of a performer who believed he was largely in control of his own destiny. Djokovic transferred belief into action, moving into the semifinals at the cost of only one set in five matches. He then collided with Federer for the fourth year in a row at the US Open. Federer, of course, had prevailed in the first two of those duels, but Djokovic had struck back boldly to upend Federer in the 2010 semifinals. On that occasion, the Serb was serving at 4-5, 15-40 in the fifth set, down double match point against the Swiss Maestro. But he somehow escaped from that dark corner with successive winners, rallying gallantly to win that match.
Now, one year later, these two prodigious players were at it again, vying for a place in the final once more. This time, Federer built a commanding lead, securing the first two sets before Djokovic raised his intensity and lifted his game immeasurably. He swept the third and fourth sets convincingly but then Federer made his move in the fifth.
The five-time US Open champion led 5-3, 40-15 in the fifth set. The match was seemingly on his racquet as he served for the victory. For the second year in a row, Federer was at double match point against a singularly-gifted adversary. He seemed certain to succeed this time, but not even the redoubtable Swiss could prevent lightning from striking twice.
Federer served wide to the Djokovic forehand in the deuce court on the first match point, and the top seed simply went for broke, releasing a blinding forehand crosscourt return winner on the sideline. Then Djokovic fended off an awkward body serve on the second match point and drew an error from Federer. Soon the Serb had broken back, and he had also broken Federer’s spirit. Djokovic captured four games in a row at the end to complete an improbable 6-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 triumph.
Djokovic had played with such supreme mental toughness all year and had at long last moved past both Federer and Nadal to the top of the tennis mountain. The frailty of his psyche that had been so evident for many years was gone. He was now impenetrable.
But there was more work to be done. Nadal had ousted Murray in the other semifinal, and so for the sixth time in 2011 the Spaniard and the Serb clashed in a final. Djokovic had won the previous five deservedly, overcoming his revered rival in four Masters 1000 finals and one Grand Slam title round skirmish contested on three different surfaces.
Learned observers were well aware that during the course of this season Djokovic had confounded Nadal on the court in many ways. Nadal had given one fascinating press conference after another talking about his difficulties solving the riddle of Djokovic. His admiration for his rival’s court craft was unmistakable. Yet Nadal never gave up in meeting that challenge. His mettle and perspicacity were astonishing.
Be that as it may, Djokovic was ready for Nadal on September 12, 2011. He played two immaculate sets before the indefatigable Spaniard battled back valiantly to salvage the third. Djokovic was three times up a service break. He served for the match at 6-5 and was two points away from victory, but Nadal would not surrender. The Spaniard broke back to reach a tiebreak and won it convincingly. But Djokovic pulled away inexorably down the stretch to win 6-2, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1. The US Open crown belonged to this remarkable fellow, and he could not have been a worthier recipient.
Read More: US Open Classics - Djokovic vs. Nadal, 2011 final | Photos
He said after that triumph, “I’m now hitting the shots that maybe I wasn’t hitting the last two or three years. I’m going for it. I am more aggressive, and I just have a different approach to the semis and finals of major events, especially when I’m playing these two great champions—Rafa and Roger. In the last couple of years, that wasn’t the case. I was always kind of trying to wait for their mistakes and not really having the positive attitude I need and believing I can win.”
That self-conviction emerged because Djokovic had reinvented himself all across 2011. He had indeed taken matters into his own hands, seizing the initiative time and again, demonstrating that he was not afraid to lose. At the US Open that memorable year, he scaled the heights at the end to topple both Federer and Nadal with back-to-back signature performances.
But the feeling lingers even a decade later that Novak Djokovic won the 2011 US Open at least to some extent just by showing up, remembering who he was and what he had become, and competing fervently. The hard work he had put in all year and his exemplary record leading up to the Open made even his foremost challengers seriously doubt that they could beat him in New York.
In the end, Djokovic secured his first US Open title through the size of his reputation, the strength of his character and the force of his will.
