No. 3: Djokovic “closes his eyes” and hits two huge, match-saving forehands against Federer at 2010 US Open

FLASHBACK: Djokovic and Federer played their last Grand Slam final against one another at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.

Is the Big 3’s Grand Slam title race finally over? It appears so. Now that we (probably) know the winner, we’re looking back at the times when this two-decade marathon might have gone a different way.

For more on GOAT Race, a 10-part series leading up to Wimbledon, read Part I and Part II.

3. 2010 US Open semifinal: Djokovic “closes his eyes” and hits two huge, match-saving forehands against Federer

Novak Djokovic has never lacked for self-confidence. This is a man whose motto is “everything is possible.” But when he walked on court for his semifinal with Roger Federer at the US Open in 2010, it’s hard to imagine he believed that one day he would finish with more Grand Slam titles than his opponent. At that point, Federer had a men’s record 16, while Djokovic had just one.

Even worse, Djokovic was in a Grand Slam slump. His lone win, at the Australian Open, had come two and a half years earlier, and he hadn’t been to a final since. At the US Open in 2009, Federer had rolled past him in straight sets in the semifinals, and added insult to injury by firing off the tweener heard round the world, right past a helpless Djokovic at net. On this day in 2010, with Rafael Nadal already through to the final, anticipation was already high for the first match between Roger and Rafa in New York.

Two hours and 50 minutes after the semifinal began, that anticipation had only been ratcheted upward in Ashe Stadium. Yes, Djokovic had pushed Federer to a fifth set. No, Federer hadn’t served well, and had sprayed 60-odd errors around the court. But he had won the important points. He had broken Djokovic at love to win the first and third sets, and now, with Djokovic serving at 4-5 in the fifth, he had two more break points to win the match and make a Fedal final into a reality.

Djokovic had other ideas—two of them, in fact. On Federer’s first match point, after a long rally, Djokovic stepped inside the service line, took a floating ball out of the air, and hammered it for a swing-volley winner. On the second, he stepped into a mid-court rally ball and tomahawked a forehand for another winner that landed a couple of inches inside the sideline.

“I kind of closed my eyes on the forehands on the match points and just went for the shots,” Djokovic said. “Two top guys are playing against each other, and there’s not much difference.”

Federer fought on, but those forehands were a punch to the gut, and they swung the momentum in Djokovic’s direction for good. When he clinched the win three games later, Djokovic turned and stared in the direction of his parents, a look of bug-eyed disbelief etched on his face.

“It’s one of those matches that you’ll remember for the rest of your life,” Djokovic said afterward.

We’ll never know what would have happened in a Federer-Nadal US Open final. Rafa led their head-to-head 14-4 at that stage, but Federer had five US Open titles to Nadal’s none. As it happened, in those days the men’s final was played the day after the semifinals, and that wasn’t enough time for Djokovic, who lost in four sets to Nadal.

Still, after a two-year slide, Djokovic had taken a positive step at a Slam, crashed a Fedal party, and showed himself that he was never out of a match, even against Roger or Rafa. His second major title, and his first rise to No. 1, were just a few months away.