THEY ARE fierce rivals and long-time friends. Over a computer in the bowels of Flushing Meadows, as the winds howled outside, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic watched together as their respective countries, Scotland and Serbia, played out a scoreless draw in the World Cup qualifying rounds.
However, there is a new edge between them, a bristling vibration in their professional lives as they prepare for what should be another struggle of high intensity, this time to decide the US Open in the delayed final at Flushing Meadows today.
It could be better than any of their 14 matches, of which Djokovic has won eight, Murray six of the past 10, including their most recent contest, in two sets in the semi-finals at the London Olympics.
Yet, given the events and pronouncements of recent days, this final promises to be a collision suited to the loud, anarchic surroundings here because, if an extra ingredient were needed, Djokovic has provided it – in word and deed.
Hitting with the urgency of an angry man, the defending champion set subtlety to one side as he came from a set down to belt David Ferrer into submission in four sets yesterday in the held over second semi-final and looked in as mean a mood as his recent statement about his relationships with Murray and other leading players might suggest.
They were born a week apart and have known each since Murray beat him in a junior tournament at the age of 11, but now, at 25, the Serb says they must stand back from that.
A couple of days ago Djokovic said of Murray’s win over Roger Federer in the Olympic final: “The gold [medal] in London was great for Andy. I think he will use it as a springboard to now go and win majors.
“I can’t be friends with Andy, though. I really like the guy, but how can you be best friends with a guy you know you are going to be doing battle with?
“It is true for myself, Roger [Federer], Rafa [Nadal] and now Andy. We like each other and there is mutual respect but common sense tells you we can’t be best friends and hang out.”
And yet, even at the heart of sporting tumult, there was time for them to forget for a little while the burden of their calling and enjoy the simple shared pleasure of football.
“We watched [Scotland v Serbia] before his semi-final, on the computer,” Djokovic said yesterday. “We tried to be quiet but inside we were cheering for our own national teams.”
And who was smiling widest at the end?
“Two minutes before the end he went to warm up, so ... then we had the great chance, but we missed. I think it was fair, 0-0.”
There will be no sharing of the spoils on the Arthur Ashe Court today, in the fifth US Open final in a row to spill over into a day tacked on to the tournament because of the predictably poor weather.
Every year it rains; every year they cover their ears but not the courts. Next year they will rearrange the fixture list to unclog the traffic jam of the final weekend.
It may work. It would work even better if they would include plans for a roof in their $500 million rebuilding of the site over the next five years.
But we have what we have, and that is a fascinating final in prospect.
Murray sped through to it like a leaf tossed in a breeze in four sets on Saturday, grinding out a clever windy win against the stubborn but ultimately bewildered Tomas Berdych in what the Scot described as the “most brutal” match he has ever played in. Berdych agreed.
Djokovic beat Ferrer 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in a little over two and a half hours, but it was a grimmer struggle than those numbers suggest.
While Ferrer fought, as ever, for every point, Djokovic fought with more art and science. His movement, flexibility and power are in prime working order. He hit seven aces, the quickest 127mph, and won 106 points, 20 more than Ferrer.
Djokovic reached his third consecutive final here with a blitz of a fine opponent, moving John McEnroe to observe: “The quality was extraordinary, it really was. I am so looking forward to the final.”
Murray has had the chance to think about this match – and recover – since the hairily physical battle he had with Berdych, not long before storms and gales returned to New York to lash the city with venomous force on Saturday evening. It was such a wild ride of weather that the tournament organisers locked journalists, players and staff inside the building until the danger of a revived tornado passed.
Who will prevail when the storm on the court returns today? Djokovic will start a marginal favourite, whatever his diplomacy yesterday.
It has been a curiously lopsided year for him after his wondrous deeds of 2011 when he looked and was invincible. That could not last, of course, but he has rediscovered a good measure of that form.
Murray, too, has operated at an impressively high level. In his important wins, he has shown a new maturity, in demeanour and in the quality of his tennis. Sometimes he has dipped, but not often.
Sometimes he has struggled, but he has mostly prevailed, as he is accustomed to doing in adversity, never more starkly than against Berdych, although it was an entirely different test from the examination of his talent against the eventual champion Djokovic in the marathon semi-final in Melbourne.
That was an astounding exhibition of prolonged quality tennis, and it could have gone either way.
Their form here is the most relevant and there has not been a lot between them, even though the 2-6 against Ferrer was the first set Djokovic has dropped.
However, I am drawn to Murray for two reasons: he has never been hungrier to realise the expectations heaped on him by a nation and deliver a hoodoo-breaking victory in a slam final; but, more importantly, he has never been better placed to do so for himself.
I think he could win a classic encounter in five sets.
Guardian Service
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