There’s a reason that Djokovic is number 1 in the world.

There’s also a reason that Rafael Nadal is the king of clay.

For about a set and a half, everything seemed to be going Nadal’s way.  Did Djokovic tweak his ankle?  Was this a forgone conclusion?  Nadal took the first set 6-4 and had an early break in the second and it seemed like Djokovic’s desire to win his first French was going up in smoke.

But Djokovic regained his composure and began to control the rallies, and had a break and then a break, and took the second set.  At that moment, it seemed to turn the tide.  Both men were striking the ball hard.  Nadal felt he needed to do this to defeat the player that gave him so much trouble in 2011.

Instead, Djokovic got a break down in the third, and when he got down a second break, Djokovic decided it wasn’t worth fighting to win that set.  Djokovic held the one game he needed to so he could start the fourth set on serve.

Then, Nadal had numerous chances in the fourth.  He got up a break, was broken back, got up a break, was broken back again, and then Djokovic pushed it to a tiebreak which he won comfortably.

The fifth set opened with a break of Nadal’s serve, but the key was whether Djokovic could maintain that break lead.  He did for a while.  Nadal fought hard to hold to 4-3, and with that win, he knew he needed to attack the Djokovic serve before he ran out of time, and he managed to get the break to reach 4-all. That game was dicey for Djokovic because that was the one he got called on a time violation.  Furthermore, he had an overhead he hit where he fell into the net before the ball bounced twice.  Had he avoided the net, it would have been his ad, and maybe he would have held on that game and eventually won the match.

From then on, it was a dogfight with Nadal always in the lead by one game needing only a break.   Djokovic complained late in the fifth that the court needed watering and was upset with the umpire, Pascal Maria, who called time violations on both players and also a point penalty on Nadal.

In the 7-8 game, Djokovic quickly fell to 0-40 with some misses on his part, and some gets by Nadal, and eventually struck a shot long and Nadal kept alive his win streak.

Nadal compared this match to the 2012 Australian Open final where he fought to the end, but Djokovic won it instead.

The difference between this match and Australia was not just the amount of time played (two hours less), but how aggressive both players were.  Both Djokovic and Nadal hit the ball quite hard, trying to push each other and avoid long rallies where neither would take control until 20 shots were played.

This match, which many called the final, was played first because Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has a chance to be the first Frenchman since Noah in 1983 to win the title.  He’s also aiming to be the first Frenchman since 1988 to reach the finals since Henri Leconte.  Meanwhile David Ferrer is looking to reach his first Slam final ever.