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1/23/09 10:28 PM | David Cox
Sometimes in sport, one lucky break can be all you need. The cards had certainly fallen in the right places this week for Amer Delic, giving him a clash with the defending champion on Rod Laver Arena.
Having won two five-setters to reach this stage after getting a lucky loser place in the main draw, the prospect of facing Novak Djokovic held no fear for Delic. He'd pushed Djokovic all the way two years ago at Wimbledon and it was almost the same again.
Djokovic would have been wary of Delic's main weapon--an awesome serve--going into the match, but there wasn't much evidence of it in the first set. Coming from two sets to love down in the previous round appeared to have taken its toll, Delic seemed lethargic and his backhand was terrible. No problems for Djokovic, who cruised through it 6-2.
There was only one thing for it; throw caution to the wind and Delic did exactly that in set two. Barrages of ferocious drives pushed Djokovic back and he got the break with an inspired sequence of shots, diving full length to make the perfect drop volley and then ripping a backhand down the line.
Soon it was one set apiece, but Delic couldn't keep it up in the third. Back came the errors and back the advantage swung to Djokovic.
After so much court coverage these past two weeks, Delic's feet began to blister in set four and he required a timeout for treatment. The break worked wonders, as the American rediscovered his energy and soon Djokovic was serving to stay in the fourth set. He held his nerve and his class told in the tiebreak, but few people expected that it would be as tough a workout as 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6.
Afterward, Djokovic felt it had been a great match for him, as having a tough one early often allows players to hit some rhythm. "I need some matches like this to feel really what is Grand Slam all about," he explained. "It's about those long four, five set matches on the heat like this. I didn't really plan to be that long on the court. You always want to finish the job as soon as possible."
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