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After the French Open final, Novak Djokovic was in tears. But don’t be fooled – these were not tears of disappointment at losing.
After the winning point – a thunderbolt backhand down the line from Stanislas Wawrinka – the Swiss champion rushed to his family, coach and support team, while Djokovic sat alone.
Wawrinka soon joined Novak and they embraced a second time, before standing side-by-side for the official presentation. What happened next brought the Serb (and the sports purists still watching) to tears.
The announcer called Djokovic forward, and he stepped up, waved and smiled.
The crowd applause was loud, and sustained. It went on, leading to cheers and hollering, mixed within the kind of applause reserved for the champion. Novak waved a second time, and the crowd lifted in
Djokovic fought hard to maintain composure, but the crowd would not let up. The applause occupied the best part of a minute; a complete demonstration of total respect.
The crowd had witnessed Grand Slam tennis of the highest order. Wawrinka possesses a game of such quality that it makes a mockery of the ‘best player of all time’ tags handed out to his contemporaries.
By stopping Novak in full flight, Wawrinka ensured that the tag of greatest of all time belongs to one man only: our Rod Laver.
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