The best moment in Roger's win over Djokovic in the Monte Carlo semi today was when Roger testily
told Novak's camp to quiet down.
It was not Roger at his best, exactly. On the other hand, he snapped just as he was offering the sportsmanlike gesture (typical of Roger) of conceding a replay on a point when a close line call had gone against his opponent.
It highlights what Novak's ascent has meant to the game. Djok has made tennis more interesting, certainly. But he does so by trying to end what has to be considered one of the great ages in tennis history. Roger and Rafa have dominated the sport and at the same time treated the game and each other with complete respect and class. These two set a tone that lower ranked players strove to meet. One example is Roddick. He seemed like a punk when he was young. But he seemed to mature into a classy adult precisely through dealing with his string of losses to a #1 that he respected so completely.
It is only from this perspective that the typical tennis fan's growing annoyance with Djok can be understood. His antics (conveniently timed injuries, the interminable ball bouncing, his impression of rafa, annoying comments from his camp, questionable retirements like the one today) are minor compared to much of what we saw in the 70's, 80's and 90's. But when compared to Roger and Rafa, his behavior seems much worse.
The way Djok, despite his incredible game, veers from total confidence to a sudden amalgam of mental and physical fragility is disconcerting. But it reminds us how fragile greatness can be. Suddenly Roger's own mentality has become the subject of constant speculation. His snap towards Novak's camp today was galvanizing. But it also calls to mind the whininess that he was capable of early in his career -- which also emerged briefly in the last two sets of the Wimbledon final last summer.
On the other hand Roger has never retired from an ATP match, even way back when he whined his way through some terrible losses. Tomorrow it is certain they will battle to the end.
