Novak's Grand 10th

Taking the court more than three hours later than originally planned, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic delivered two of the best sets of tennis this tournament has seen. By the fourth set, though, the crowd's beloved Federer had lost a step.

He could not keep pace with No. 1 Djokovic, who earned his 10th Grand Slam title with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win.

Djokovic has dominated the Grand Slams this year – this is his third major title, and he was runner-up at Roland Garros – but Federer has been playing like he did in his own dominant years.

They'd played 41 times prior to this match, most recently at this year's Wimbledon final, with Federer leading the head-to-head by the slightest margin: 21-20. This final was expected to be a battle.

Just as they prepared to walk out to the court, rain started falling. It forced tournament organizers to push the start back to more than three hours.

From the moment they finally started, it was clear that each had brought his best tennis.

The first set can be best described as a marathon. After forcing deuce five times but failing to convert in Federer's first service game, Djokovic earned three break-point opportunities in Federer's second. He finally converted when a Federer backhand went long, and that too after a 25-shot rally.

But Federer won a quick break to even it at 2-2. The momentum briefly shifted there, as Federer took four straight points to hold serve and take the advantage. Djokovic responded by holding serve, sealing the game with an ace, then quickly breaking Federer. Federer held to 4-5, but Djokovic answered with a quick 40-0 hold to take the set.

The second set absolutely flew. Federer jumped out to 40-0 lead in most of his service games. Djokovic followed suit. They sprinted to 5-4, where Djokovic served to stay in the set. The game turned into an epic, 20-point battle. Federer had set point and failed to convert, before Djokovic closed it out with a 117mph serve. Djokovic smiled at the crowd, which was so clearly backing Federer. But the fans soon got their wish: Federer broke Djokovic in his final service game, evening the match at one set all.

Federer had two opportunities to break in Djokovic's first service game in the third set, but failed. He had 15 chances to break serve to that point, but only converted on three and Djokovic finally won it when a Federer shot went long.

And from there, the writing seemed to be on the wall. Djokovic proved why he is the one who already held two major titles this year; why he is the world No. 1. In the fourth, Djokovic earned an early break, and another at 4-2 to take complete control.

As the Serbian served for the trophy, the crowd continued rallying behind Federer.

Djokovic probably felt like he was battling against 20,001 people, with grand slam king Federer on the other side of the net. As the match reached its gripping climax, they cheered every point Federer won and celebrated Djokovic's errors as the Serb dug deep to eke out a memorable win.