It took five months, two matches, and too much tennis that lasted into the small hours of the night. At 3:06 on Sunday morning in Paris, the version of Novak Djokovic that has become so familiar over the past decade finally emerged.
When it was over, Djokovic gave full credit to the crowd for turning him into his old self at 2-2 in the fourth set. Before that, the 37-year-old had struggled to penetrate the aesthetic steel of 22-year-old 30th seed Lorenzo Musetti, an opponent he described as impenetrable.
Really, there was one especially important person in the crowd who probably needed more credit than anyone else. That would be Djokovic’s wife, Jelena — the teenage sweetheart who turned into his life companion and stuck around through the inevitable chaos and dips of his life and their bond.
At this moment, she is just about the only person in his inner circle who has been there for the long haul, especially during the nine-month period in which he has jettisoned much of his staff for the final segment of his career.
Jelena Djokovic watching on (Pierre Suu/WireImage)
At a game apiece in that fourth set, he and Jelena locked eyes. The rest of the people in his box were pretty quiet, but Jelena was up on her feet, clapping her hands, making it clear her husband…
