It turned out to be the perfect place, the perfect time. A humid summer night in New York City, under the bright lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium. The quarterfinals match of the 2015 US Open, a lasting memory in every fan’s hearts. The 28 year old from Serbia on one baseline, and the 34 year old from Spain at the other. Their meeting tonight, here, was more than just another clash between young vs old, righty vs. lefty, one hand vs. two hand backhand, slice vs. topspin. Above all else, it was old school meet new school. Unlike the modern baseline game we have grown accustomed to, Feliciano Lopez brought the serve and volley game back into the limelight, on one of the the biggest stages of tennis. For four action packed sets that lasted well past midnight local time, one of the most entertaining tennis matches in recent memory unfolded before us as the world number 1 battled to the 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6, victory.
Those in the crowd had the treat of watching up close as Lopez immediately started coming in to net right at the onset of the match, following in even on his 2nd serves. A veteran on the tour, he is known for his big lefty serve, so the serve and volley game suits his game. If Novak was taken by surprise, he showed little signs of it, chasing down volleys in either corner as he showed one reason why the baseline game have prevailed in the modern era, passing Lopez fairly easily. To be fair, Feliciano may have still been adjusting to the conditions of the court. The bad news was he did not have the luxury to do so. A mere 20 minutes into the match, the man with the new school game was leading 5-0. Not to be discouraged, Lopez continued his foray to the net, and finally held for 1-5. On points where a rally game ensued, Lopez sliced close to 95% of the time on the backhand side, keeping the ball deep crosscourt in Novak’s corner. It made no difference however, and the world #1 served out the set 6-1.
The 2nd set Lopez stuck to his game plan, going for massive serves that he came in on, forcing the issue right away. Djokovic remained steady, playing his baseline game. Then in the 2nd game Lopez revealed the other element of old school tennis: the chip and charge. With break point on the line, Novak went for a lob over the Spaniard, but it landed long. Just like that, Old School had the early break. This pattern continued, and Novak seemed at a loss for a better answer as he went to the lob over and over to counter the aggressive net play. At 5-3, 30-30 Lopez once again found himself at net, this time missing the overhead and having to chase down the lob into the deep corner which he managed to do, but in the rush his forehand dumps into the net. It was the opening the new school student needed. But old school grad blasted an ace down the T to earn set point. The next points turned into a replay, with a lob and a forehand back into the net. It threatened to repeat once more, but this time the lob drops long. With set point back in hand, old school shuts the textbook with a big ace out wide.
The 3rd set began by paralleling the old vs new battle, but with the opposite result this time around as Lopez committed a double fault to give Djokovic the early break at 2-0. Indeed, it looked very much like a mirror image of the previous set as both men then held their serves until the 7th game, when Novak faced break point. As Lopez covered the distance to get to the net once more, Novak was able to pass him this time to make it deuce. Then, taking a page from his old school opponent, the Serbian snuck in on the next point and makes a volley winner. The crowd is hushed to silence with break points erased. Things became desperate for the lower seed as we neared the end of the set, and despite Lopez holding his own serve, the Serbian completed the mirror image by serving it out 6-3.
The old school tennis on display seemed to have charmed the New York crowd, and they began to chant “Let’s go Lopez’ as the 4th set got underway. Both players stayed on serve until the 6th game when Lopez was able to strike at net again, this time going down the line on his volley for break point. He failed to convert by floating his next forehand long, but Novak offered another chance when he dumped a backhand into the net. Once more, the crowd erupted into chants to root Lopez on. Despite all the third party encouragement, Novak managed to hold for 3-3. As for his service games, Lopez willed himself to come to net point after point, serve after serve. It paid off as Novak could not find a passing shot against the tall 18 seed. At 6-5, the crowd remained very much pro Lopez, and despite its much smaller number due to the time, the chanting was heard loud and clear. Undaunted and focused, the former US Open champ held serve to make it 6-6.
Whereas the first set barely lasted 25 minutes, this one was already twice as long and counting. More chanting continued for Lopez, and the tiebreak stayed on serve to 2-1. Then Lopez made his umpteenth trip to the net once more, but this time the ball fell into the net. Despite the mini break, he remained true to the old school style, and came in again. As the clock struck 1 AM, the student of new school tennis found the lesson plan against such net play, and executed the pass to lead 4-1. With the ball on his racket, Djokovic threatened to prove that the chapter of new school tennis is here to stay. He wins both points for 6-1. Lopez quickly was able to erase one match point with more of his big serving. 6-2. On Novak’s routine return, he then chose to stay back and hit a forehand from the baseline. Old school was no more as Djokovic reached his 9th consecutive US Open semi-final.
