When Novak Djokovic lost a 23-stroke rally on set point in the second set against Jaume Munar, he flipped over on his back and lay on the court, absolutely exhausted.
What could the 38-year-old possibly have left to give after two hours in brutal conditions, with nothing decided?
A lot.
Djokovic picked himself off the canvas, played an extremely aggressive deciding set and came away with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 victory to become the oldest Masters 1000 quarterfinalist in history.
Between the second and third sets the medical team attended to Djokovic, who had still just barely caught his breath, checking his blood pressure and consulting with him. The four-time major champion had already struggled with a foot issue in the match, receiving a medical timeout in the opening set.
In short, things were looking bleak.
Meanwhile, sensing that it was his time to strike, a fired-up Munar sprinted past Djokovic, sending a clear message to begin the final set.
That message was received by Djokovic, and vollied back with interest.
The 24-time major champion struck early, taking advantage of a horrific miscue by Munar, who missed an easy smash at 40-15. Three points later the Serbian icon struck, breaking to open the set with a 1-0 lead.
The momentum continued, as Djokovic ramped up his aggression, taking big cracks off of both wings as he eventually scored the double-break in the seventh game to extend his lead to 5-2.
The 38-year-old dropped just four points on serve in the final set, and two in the final game, but he converted his second match point to close the harrowing affair in two hours and 35 minutes of pure drama and true grit.
Djokovic finished with 32 winners and won 21 of 30 points at the net as he denied Munar his first Masters quarterfinal. The No.3 seed, who owns tournament records for wins (42) and titles (4), improves to 26-0 after winning the first set this season.
