The moments that cost De Minaur the biggest win of his life

Sydney Morning Herald

5 hours ago

It was just the second time this tournament that the former world No.1 had dropped serve. But arguably the key moment in deciding where this set was headed came in the second game, when Djokovic had the chance to immediately break back on de Minaur's serve.
Djokovic made a decent-enough return, which de Minaur countered with a backhand slice, but the Serbian superstar lost balance and awkwardly flayed a forehand well long.
De Minaur held two points later for 2-0, then benefited from another erratic Djokovic serving performance in the fifth game. Djokovic dumped a mid-court backhand into the net, then double-faulted on the second point and again at break point to fall 4-1 behind.
One last unforced error off Djokovic's racquet – his 16th for the set – handed de Minaur a 6-1 lead.
Demon misses his chance
Second set, Djokovic wins 6-4
Any number of points seemed like crucial ones throughout this set as Djokovic began to assert his authority on the contest, only for de Minaur to repeatedly hit back.
After they traded breaks to begin the second set, Djokovic poured the pressure on again to restrict de Minaur to 30-40. An incredible 35-shot rally followed, ending with de Minaur missing a backhand slice down the line. Djokovic sensed the moment, putting his finger behind his right ear and urging the crowd to make some noise.
But de Minaur reeled in his 3-1 deficit to again level the set through six games. Djokovic came out on top in another titanic rally in the seventh game – this time 31 shots – to leave de Minaur 0-30, and the Australian eventually relented on serve.
However, the critical moment for the set was still to come as Djokovic served to level the match at a set-all.
De Minaur had already had a break point, but the second one was where his big chance came, on a Djokovic second serve. The Aussie pounced on it, pounded a forehand at Djokovic's feet, then, on a mid-court ball, struck a forehand long.
Djokovic clinched the set two points later.
Impatience costs de Minaur
Third set, Djokovic wins 6-4
Both players fended off a break point each to start the set, and they held until four-all, when Djokovic made his move.
De Minaur found himself in a 15-40 hole, but a superb inside-out forehand set up the easiest of put-away volleys. On the second break point, he nailed a 206km/h first serve out wide – exactly what he was after – that enabled him to step into the court, but he sprayed a forehand wide going for a winner.
De Minaur's aggressive mindset helped him throughout the match, but, just like the previous set, his impatience and lack of execution at a key time cost him dearly.
Djokovic leaked a forehand error in the next game to fall to 30-all, but was celebrating a two-sets-to-one lead soon after when he won a 27-shot rally with the simplest of dinks into the opposite service box.
The damage was done two shots earlier when he ripped a cross-court forehand that sent de Minaur scurrying off court before forcing him to sprint across the other side with an off forehand near the opposite sideline.
Brutal baseline warfare
Fourth set, Djokovic wins 6-4
After saving a break point in the opening game, de Minaur stormed to a 4-1 lead as he threatened to send the match to a deciding fifth set.
Djokovic even faced a break point to go 5-1 down, where de Minaur could not quite chase down an angled drop volley that ended up being his only opportunity for the game. The 24-time major champion made it out of the game without further damage, then tightened the screws.
De Minaur defended back-to-back break points on excellent second serves and baseline play that drew Djokovic errors and got him back to deuce.
But the Australian went break point down again trying to force the issue on his forehand. This is where Djokovic showed his mettle.
A 32-shot rally followed of side-to-side brutal baseline warfare, but Djokovic took the initiative on a de Minaur backhand slice to rip a cross-court forehand on an extreme angle before crushing an inside-out forehand winner.
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Starting with the final two points of that game, Djokovic captured 14 of the last 15 to complete his four-set defeat of a gallant de Minaur, who was left ruing his performance on the biggest of points.
De Minaur won 36 of 52 points on rallies lasting nine shots or longer – an extraordinary feat – but Djokovic claimed four such exchanges mentioned above of 27 shots-plus at clutch moments that helped decide the match.