Novak Djokovic Stuns Rafael Nadal at Madrid 2011, Reaches for No. 1

Perhaps one of the surprising results from last night’s very surprising result was the lack, precisely, of surprise. So, Novak Djokovic had defeated Rafael Nadal, on clay, in straight sets, in a final—nothing big, after all.

That was, evidently, the impression that a 31-match winning streak, an unbeaten start to 2011, and back-to-back victories at Indian Wells and Miami had engendered. Yes, Nadal was coming into the match off a 37-winning streak of his own on clay, but for much of the match, it was clear that it was Djokovic's winning statistics, and the confidence that exuded from them, that proved the greater boon.

Without saying anything about Djokovic and his career-defining five months in 2011 thus far, it needs hardly to be stated that Nadal's loss yesterday was a stunner. A loss on clay has come rarely for the Spaniard, having not mustered any more than two defeats a year, and on two occasions (2006 and 2010) a clean sweep on clay.

What was most interesting about this match was the sense that Nadal was, for one of the few occasions in his career on this surface, quite powerless to halt the emerging storm. Djokovic, simply, was utterly relentless.

He managed an early jumpstart to 4-0, and suffered something of a hiccup up 5-3, 30-0, to lose the next four points and a chance to serve out the set. Yet for the large part his strategy, of breaking down the Nadal backhand, pinning him behind the baseline, and slowly eroding the Spaniard's defense (much in the same way Nadal has too often done to countless others), proved an uneasy case of serving up the doctor his old medicine.

Against Djokovic yesterday, Nadal looked outmatched in the biggest moments. Yes, there were terrific additions to the highlight reel—a tweener lob in the first game of the second above all—but one could scarcely resist thinking that these were but moments of magic that could only halt, for that instance, the irresistible surge of the Serb.

Nadal played well for the most part, and for moments, especially in the first set, looked to regain his composure and the ascendancy in the match, with that crunching backhand crosscourt at the aforementioned point at 5-3 in the first set, or eking out that next long game to even things at 5-5. But they are, after all, just men, as much as gods they may seem to be.

How would one offer sufficient defense against a backhand like Djokovic's? Nadal attempted for the first four games to match it with his own forehand, but came out most of the time second best—a feeling which rankled in the Spaniard, and he proceeded to try to change things by opening up the Serb's forehand side.

But the sense that the king of clay had to play out of his comfort zone, hit into areas of the court which he would typically reserve for surprise rather than as a consistent tactic, was disconcerting.

In too many moments yesterday, the weaknesses of Nadal, glossed over so effectively over the last six years, found their most deadly exploiter. The long-awaited threat, a double-handed backhand which would draw him out wide on the forehand, finally materialized so fatally yesterday.

There was nothing wrong about Nadal's performance yesterday. Djokovic was simply utterly superb—he balanced confidence with an undisturbed game plan to storm to victory.

For one of the few times in his career, Nadal played his heart out, and perhaps played out his heart. He tried everything, and still, even while he had chances to take the initiative—the last game of the first set was possibly an aberrant four points of misfortune for him, with two net cords—his best efforts were not enough.

Too often, excuses were found for the last four defeats on this surface—he had had a tiring semifinal, had tendinitis, wasn't on his game. But no such excuse could be found yesterday. His semi against Federer was hardly over-taxing, and he had, after all, pretty much cruised through the tournament up to that point, with a walkover against Del Potro.

Which all, indeed, does suggest that we witnessed in the final the first inklings of something groundbreaking in tennis. Djokovic holds the second best-ever start to a year in 2011—lest he should in fact go on to break McEnroe's 42-match winning streak—and up to yesterday the suggestion that his clinching the number one ranking would require making significant inroads in the clay season still held.

In defeating Nadal, however, he has got himself one very big up in reaching that career-defining goal.

Indeed, should Nadal fail to reach the semifinals next week, and Djokovic win the title in Rome, the Serb will claim precisely that ranking. The broader question, however, would look beyond that, to the clay citadel that is Roland Garros.

Barring some slip in play, the real battle for No. 1 is likely to begin there. We have already been graced by three finals battles between these two, in match-ups that, arguably, reflect closer competition than the matches between Nadal and Federer. Might we be graced by a fourth in Rome, or a grand fifth in Paris? They would be mightily interesting,