Novak Djokovic had to overcome history, his foe and even his own body.
But overcome is what he does best.
And after he did — taking his record-tying 24th career Grand Slam title, and place atop the pinnacle of the sport — then came the tears. And the hugs.
Tennis’ grand old man proved he’s still more grand than old. Djokovic’s 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 U.S. Open finals victory over Daniil Medvedev tied him with Margaret Court for the most career major championships.
And when Medvedev’s final return fell into the net, Djokovic fell to his knees in a fetal position, overcome with emotion.
First came relief.
Then came joy, as he went courtside to hug his daughter, Tara.
Finally he burst into tears, crossed himself and waded into the stands to hug his wife, Jelena, and son, Stefan, actor Matthew McConaughey, whoever he could find.
“Relief mostly … I was so relieved when I saw his forehand in the net,” said Djokovic, 36, the oldest man to win the title in Flushing Meadows in the Open era. “The next thing I wanted is to hug my daughter, because she was there sitting in the front row. I didn’t know that she was going to be seated there.
“When I got to the court, I saw her. She was facing me when I was sitting on the bench, and she smiled at me. Every single time I needed that innocent child energy, I got it from her. When I was going through the very stressful moments, particularly in the second set when I needed a little bit of a push, of strength, just lightness I guess, she gave me a smile, a fist pump.”
Two years ago he’d let the pressure of chasing history get to him, getting worn down in straight sets by the same Russian foe.
“I really did my best in the last 48 hours not to allow the importance of the moment and what’s on the line get to my head,” Djokovic said. “Two years ago that’s what happened, and I underperformed and I was outplayed. So I learned my lesson.”
The Serb is always learning, always striving for more. That’s his nature.
He dominated the first set, breaking Medvedev’s first service game and never facing a break point himself.
The second set was tougher, a 1-hour 44-minute marathon.
But in what Djokovic called the longest set of his career, he pulled out arguably the most important. Despite struggling to catch his wind and his legs getting heavy, he found a way.
The defensive-minded Medvedev forced more long rallies than a presidential election, including a 36-shot classic.
Medvedev won an 18-shot rally to force a set point; but Djokovic staved it off and sent it into a tiebreaker. Djokovic won it 7-5, and cruised to take the third set.
And the latest part of a dream that seemed impossible to a kid from war-torn Serbia.
Djokovic has talked about being asleep in his Belgrade bed, just 11, when the first day of NATO bombing shook their building and shattered glass.
He remembers running with his father, Srdjan; mother, Dijana; and little brothers into the unlit streets trying to reach a family member’s building with a bomb shelter.
A year later, his father borrowed from loan sharks to get enough to send him to a Munich tennis academy, with the dream of being the No. 1 player in the world.
“At that point, [this] was definitely not a dream,” Djokovic said. “That was already incredibly high ambition for someone coming from a family with no tennis tradition, for a boy in Serbia going through sanctions and embargo, war-torn country, and being [in] the very expensive and unaffordable, unaccessible sport. The odds were against me and my family, but we did it.
“It was extremely difficult with lots of adversities they had to face and atrocities. … The last thing you want to think about is supporting your child in expensive sport. It was more about bringing the bread to the table at that point. So reflecting on the whole journey, it’s been an incredible ride.”
One his family was in the Arthur Ashe stands for.
