WIMBLEDON -- The tides of history are as treacherous as they are powerful. When they are in flood, they can sweep a man like Novak Djokovic to astonishing heights. In ebb, they can suck him into unforeseen, inescapable eddies.
On Saturday at Wimbledon, top-seeded Djokovic was caught in the ebb. It carried him to a most unlikely agent of disaster, a laid-back 28-year old Californian who had lost eight of his previous nine matches to Djokovic. The vicious surge ultimately carried away Djokovic's Wimbledon title, his attempt to tie Rod Laver's consecutive Grand Slam win streak at 31 and his drive to try for a calendar year Grand Slam at the US Open.
Djokovc was sucked under and drowned in a sea of Sam Querrey aces and forehand blasts in a match played out over two days under angry skies and sun, through spitting rain and seemingly interminable rain delays. It took just 2 hours and 57 minutes, but it felt like a month. Querrey won it, 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5).
"In sports, everything is possible," Djokovic said shortly afterward. "If you're playing somebody of as a high quality as Sam Querrey is on this surface, with a big serve, anything can happen. I was a few points away from losing last year against Kevin Anderson in a very similar match on the same court. Sometimes [a history of success] works in your favor, sometimes against. You got to deal with that."
True, Querrey spat out aces like an ATM discharging $10 bills. He cracked 31 in the match, 15 in the critical fourth set, many of them when he was break-point down. (Djokovic converted just one of 12 break points in the decisive set, mainly to Querrey's superb serve.)
This was an unexpected show of resolve from a player who inspired so little confidence on the morning of the match that bookmakers installed Djokovic as a 3-1 favorite despite the fact that Querrey had won the first two sets late in the day Friday before rain canceled play.
At the time, the postponement seemed like a reprieve for Djokovic. No one has accomplished more over the past two years since Roger Federer held his opponents gape-jawed awe in the sweet spot of his career. Federer, though, had his flaws. Once Rafael Nadal matured, he hacked all of Federer's passwords.
And Federer's defense was never the equal of his offense. As Djokovic piled title upon title, increasingly irrespective of surface, his comprehensive skill set became mind-blowing. He had everything.
Many expected that a little routine, overnight maintenance was all Djokovic needed to add another chapter to his legend. Djokovic was in nearly identical straits last year against No. 14 Anderson in the fourth round. He survived and went on to win the title.
But Querrey is an underachieving No. 41. On a good day, he can match Anderson serve for serve, and the American's groundstrokes are better.
"He served very well, as he usually does," Djokovic said. "I think that part of his game was brutal today. He made a lot of free points with the first serve. As I said, his accuracy [was excellent]. Then, you know, I think he didn't want to stay too long in the rally. [We had] few long rallies. Other than that, he was just going for it. He was aggressive, and it paid off."
The big difference between this and the Anderson match, though, were the stakes. And it showed. Djokovic didn't play as well today as he did against Anderson a year ago. He seemed caught up in the same tide as Serena Williams has been since the U.S. Open. Djokovic made more unforced rally errors in that critical final set than any other one (12). In total, made just three more winners (34) than mistakes.
"I don't want to take anything out of victory from my opponent today," Djokovic said. "He played very well, and he deserved to win. I had my chances serving for the [fourth] set [at 5-4]. In the tiebreak, I was leading [3-1]. I Just wasn't feeling the ball as well as I wished. But that's sport."
It's sport, and it's the tide of history at work, always flowing -- one way or the other.