Drama, tears and tantrums as Dimitrov knocks out Djokovic in Madrid

It was an event graced by tears, dramas, tantrums. No, this was not the coming out party of a Chelsea society girl made for reality TV but the very real coming out of the young Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the last 32 of the Masters 1000 Madrid event. It was a coming out party that few who witnessed will forget. Not only was it the night match at one of the ATP’s biggest tournaments but Grigor announced his arrival into the tennis big time by conquering none other than the world number one and leading player of the last two years, Novak Djokovic. And he did it in a manner which even the most skilled of reality TV editors would have failed to match for dramatic effect.

It was a coming out party that had been on the cards for a while. The invitations had been written and the suits bought a couple of years back when the Bulgarian first emerged onto the scene. Finally, and recently, it had seemed like stamps could be brought and trousers taken up. Dimitrov had pushed Murray in Miami, served for the first set against Djokovic in Indian Wells and won a set off Nadal in Monte Carlo. But each time stamps and sewing kits had to be put away. Nerves got the better of Dimitrov in the first couple of matches and poor fitness did him in in Monte Carlo. But while both those factors reared their ugly heads in his match against Djokovic in Madrid, the Bulgarian was able to make them up with lipstick and rouge and do what he had been threatening to do for so long: beating one of the big four on a big stage. And the fact he did it against the biggest of that four says it all.

Considering he was facing the number one player, the recent conquerer of the unbeatable Nadal in Monte Carlo, it is quite understandable that the young much-hyped star should have an attack of the nerves. And not only was there such a prime opponent to face but there were other pressures, too. Upon Grigor’s broad shoulders lie the hopes of the ATP and the tennis Media for a marketable and attractive future leader of the sport. It is not just his looks which have put him in this position but his talent. Not christened Baby Fed for nothing, the Bulgarian has all the backhand tools, slices and spins, and all the flair and touch of the Swiss. And like Federer’s game, the Bulgarian’s poses a problem for the Djokovics and Murrays of the world. While, as they have proved in beating both Federer and Dimitrov, they can handle such a game, when that game is at its best it is hard for them to negate, being, as it is, unpredictable and full of creative flourishes which no amount of drilling in a practise session can prepare you for. It is a game which has seen Dimitrov reside in the world’s top fifty as its youngest player and a game which has pundits whispering before he steps out against one of the game’s elite: ‘is his moment going to come now? Is he ready?’ Whispers which grow into shouts the more time passes. Whsipery-shouts which distract him, colluding with his inexperience to choke him when he could be coughing up big wins on big stages and silence the whispers for a few days.

Those whispery-shouty inducing qualities were on show in the first set, loud enough to rattle the world number one. Djokovic struggled with his opponent and also with his own game, and not just his play but his timing, too, a struggle that was to be the first flash of drama in the match. Serving at 4-4, the Serbian was on the receiving end of a code violation for excessive time between serves, a warning Djokovic felt was unnecessary seeing as it was given as he was tossing the ball. It bothered the Serbian and he did not let it go, taking it up with the umpire on the changeover. The Umpire defended his decision, saying Novak had broken the time limit 4 times with his excessive bouncing, his time between serves coming in at 29 seconds. You should have warned me the second time, said the Serbian. Rattled by both the imposition of a rule in part brought in due to his ball-bouncing and the challenge presented by the player hyped to usurp him, Djokovic was going to have to dig deep to get into the right mental state necessary for the battle he faced.

Such a mental state was only going to be more difficult to reach as the next dramatic moment flared up. At 30-30, 4-5, Dimitrov serving, the Bulgarian volleyed, a brave move on his part at such a crucial stage. The ball was called out and Djokovic covered a mark. Dimitrov called the umpire to check. The umpire said Djokovic was pointing to the wrong mark and that the ball had in fact been in. The crowd booed the Serbian, who grinned and shook his head somewhat sheepishly. The boos and whistles did not end there and neither did the applause for Dimtrov. The Bulgarian fed on it and broke Djokovic at 5-5 to serve for the set, just as he had done a month back in Indian Wells.

And just as they had then, those familiar nerves of late crept in and he was broken with ease. In the tie-breaker, Novak held two set points but Dimitrov was not to be denied this time. He went toe to toe with the Serbian, his heavier forehand and variety on his backhand getting the better of the world number one to take the first set, a feat much appreciated by the crowd who seemed to be enjoying supporting the up and comer as much as they were in casting the current star as the villain.

At 3-2 in the second, Dimitrov, on a roll on the back of his good from and the crowd’s good favor, piled on the pressure, attacking Djokovic’s forehand and drawing an error on his third break point to lead 4-2. Here it was then. The furthest he had gotten against one of the elite. The chance he had been working for. The whispers were dead, the shouting very much alive.

Djokovic, the best returner in the game, fought back, of course. And, unsurprisingly for the game’s best fighter, he was rather successful. However, an injury break when holding break point, an aggravated ankle injured in Davis Cup a month back, did him no favors when it came to another fight he had on his hands, that of endearing himself to the crowd, whose support he would benefit from if he did manage to make matters close. His time-out only drew more whistles and boos from a suspicious crowd. After having his ankle re-strapped, Djokovic broke back, a dangerous development for Dimitrov and one received coolly by the crowd, only too aware that the longer the match went, the better the Serb’s chances were and the worse their chances were to say they had danced at Dimitrov’s coming out party.

As the match progressed towards a second set tiebreak, the question loomed, the whispers boomed: Did Dimitrov have what it takes to get a win over one of the elite top four? He had come close in Monte Carlo before fitness became an issue. Could his fitness hold up now?

At 30-30, 5-5 we got our answer. Djokovic was in the forecourt but overcooked a forehand cross court. As the ball was called out, Dimitrov leaned forward, grabbed his leg and roared. Cramps. Djokovic looked to the umpire and pleaded hindrance. The Umpire denied him, telling him he had already errored before the call. More whistles. On the next point, Djokovic errored again and a cramping Dimitrov was up 6-5.

Djokovic held and a tiebreak was played. Djokovic did not error now, moving his opponent around and hitting drop shots, to a cauldron of boos and whsitles from the crowd. Djokovic though did not let it get to him this time and knuckled down to take the set, roaring as he won set point, and then throwing some choice words at the whistling crowd as he went to his seat and again as he changed his shirt at the changeover.

A third set, an injured Dimitrov and a pumped up Djokovic. Perhaps this was it for Dimitrov. It would still have been some form of progression. Another close encounter with one of the elite. A lesson reinforced. Surely, a victory would soon follow.

And then the magic, a mixture one suspects of the crowd’s conjuring and what lies inside Dimtrov, took effect. The Bulgarian was as steady as he had been in earning his set and a break lead as he kept sending different balls back at Djokovic who, unused to the variety, could not cope and dropped his serve.

Leading 1-0, this was Dimitrov’s big chance. He had not led a third set against a player of the stature of Djokovic and were he to lose it from a break up, all would be forgiven. But Dimitrov was not interested in playing the gallant loser tonight. He quickly assumed the role of giant killer. As he hit his heavy forehand, mixed up his backhand, and used the net to keep the Serbian guessing, he fought off two break points to hold his service game. Another test passed and a certain air of inevitably descended on the match, as if the storm had settled already and we were admiring the beauty of the rain ridden grass.

Games went with serve until 3-5, Djokvic serving. Dimitrov survived an attack on his backhand, the slice holding up to Djokovic’s relentless groundstrokes. It was Djokovic who blinked first, unable to cope with the low balls, dumping the ball into the net. Match point Dimitrov.

The cauldron alight with cheers and whistles, Djokovic served and then charged forward. A return landed in his strike zone. He swung at it. He would go down swinging and down he went as the ball went wide. Dimitrov fell to the ground. He got up and the two embraced at the net. The Bulgarian went to thank the crowd, tears in his eyes. Then he sat down, covered his face and took it all in before signing the camera ‘I love you Dad’.

Coming out in such dramatic fashion would make any father proud. It brought to mind a young player as feted as Dimitrov, another given the name Baby-Fed: Gasquet. In 2005, the Frenchman upset a prime Federer in Monte-Carlo to much applause and hopes of the game being graced by two sublime Major-winning talents. A good example to remember as we all know that the baby Federer that was Gasquet did not an adult Federer become. While this win ensures Dimitrov steps into the next stage of his career as the player who can do instead of might do, it does not mean he will do it again. In tennis, after all, you are only as good as your last match. There is another match ahead for Dimitrov, potentially against another man to trouble Djokovic lately, Wawrinka. Another match that will need a lot of work from Dimitrov, a player dubbed by Nadal as ‘the present and the future’. And if the future is as exciting as those moments last night in Madrid, then it is work which for us will be sheer entertainment and well worth waiting patiently for, just as this coming out party was. And whatever happens we will always remember that night in Madrid when we danced the night away with Dimitrov, how much fun we had and how, drunk in the outrageous excitement and drama of such a dashing debutante’s debut, we all threw ourselves at his feet, proudly desperate for the last dance.

Watch highlights here of Dimitrov’s defeat of Djokovic