by Zack Pierce, FOXSports.com

It was August. Djokovic had just won the Rogers Cup tournament in Montreal for his sixth career title. But this win was very different from the others for one important reason. To win it, the young Serb had to beat Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer — at the time, the top three players in the world — in successive matches. It was only a matter of time, it seemed, before this skyrocketing up-and-comer would hoist a Grand Slam trophy.

Flash forward to January, Djokovic himself now the No. 3 player in the world, tearing through six rounds of the draw — including a semifinal win over Federer — without dropping a set. Djokovic is no stranger to Grand Slam success, but he was in only his second final, and first as a favorite.

So when the effervescent Jo-Wilfried Tsonga — the unseeded Frenchman who had ripped the likes of Nadal, Richard Gasquet and Andy Murray on his way through the Melbourne draw — won the first set on an athletic running lob shot, dropped to one knee and let his fists shake, it seemed like it was Tsonga's turn to be the giant killer. The momentum was on his side. The crowd was on his side. The underdog role had come full circle for Djokovic.

But Djokovic did what all great champions do, what Roger Federer would've done — he found a groove and banged out a win.

Djokovic's mother went so far as to proclaim that Federer's reign was over, that there's a new king in tennis. A stretch? Definitely. Federer can't play winning tennis at this level every night. But for the first time since 2005, someone other than Federer won a non-clay major — and had to beat the world No. 1 to do it.

"I've created a monster that I need to win every tournament," Federer said after the match.

The gap is closing. The monster has been hit.

Second serves