MALAGA — Only three times before in Novak Djokovic’s career had he earned match point, failed to take it, and gone on to lose.
Most recently it was against Marin Cilic at Queen’s in 2018, when he had won the opening set 7-5 and then forced break point at 4-5 on the Croatian’s serve.
On that occasion, it was only one match point that was saved by a classic Cilic 131mph missile before 65 minutes later, he had totally turned the match on its head and claimed the title.
Of course, on that west London afternoon it was just the title on the line. Here, Jannik Sinner had the pressure of a whole nation praying he could somehow get out of jail.
i breaks down how he managed the great escape against one of the sport’s greatest prison warders.
Djokovic 2-6 6-2 5-4, 0-40 Sinner*
“I knew that it was a really important, obviously important game,” Sinner said afterwards.
“We changed… for new balls [not long before], so I knew if I’m going to serve well that maybe I have some free points.”
Djokovic had been dominating the third set for the first nine games, albeit without taking the lead, winning 18 points in his opponent’s battling service games while Sinner in return had managed just three. So there was an air of inevitability when three Sinner errors handed Djokovic his three match points.
This first opportunity probably represented the most winnable of the match points for Djokovic, having scored a good hit on the second serve and resisted a couple of powerful Sinner backhands, before a defensive slice landed several feet beyond the baseline.
“I was in the rally,” Djokovic said. “I missed, but from middle of the court, sliced long.”
That, Sinner said, gave him a real lift, and hope that he could dig himself out of the hole.
“I had to stay in the present moment,” Sinner added. “It gave me a little bit of confidence and belief.”
Djokovic 2-6 6-2 5-4, 15-40 Sinner*
Sinner’s first serve, perhaps a result of the fatigue from such prolonged pressure, was become increasingly less of a weapon. He had not served an ace since the second game of the set and was not getting free points from his most improved shot in 2023.
But facing a second match point, he hit the sideline with a powerful, well placed strike and no one – not even the greatest returner of all time – could have done much more than put it into the bottom of the net.
“He was serving extremely well,” Djokovic said.
“It was difficult to read his serve, and he was hitting his spots whenever he needed to.”
Djokovic 2-6 6-2 5-4, 30-40 Sinner*
It is worth noting that earlier in the game, Sinner had charged forward and planted a dreadful volley barely halfway up the net, certainly in no danger getting over it. That error had brought up the three match points and left Sinner staring down the barrel of defeat for him and for his country.
That made it all the more surprising that when he was presented with an awkward volley down match point with the ball blasted at his body, he expertly rearranged his limbs to play a forehand volley that Djokovic could not get back.
“Maybe I had a passing shot on 30-40,” said Djokovic, trying to stave off the regret that he had not punched his backhand down the line instead of trying to go through him.
“It was such a tough volley,” said Naomi Cavaday, former British No 3, on commentary.
“It really jammed him up and he didn’t have much space to play the forehand. If you hit it hard at that right shoulder, it’s so difficult, but Sinner was able to shift.”
And then it all unraveled for Djokovic.
“After these kind of games, your energy level and mental level, it’s raising. I think this helped me today,” Sinner said.
It was raised, as he immediately secured the crucial break of serve that would enable him, just a few minutes after being inches from defeat, to claim a famous victory.