Serbs just keep serving notice

Dateline: Serbian Wells.

That cute name change, in jest, was suggested to the newly crowned men’s champion of the Pacific Life Open, Novak Djokovic, a few short hours after his Serbian countrywoman and childhood friend Ana Ivanovic won the women’s title at Indian Wells.

“Uh, yeah,” Djokovic said.

He’ll get to that rewrite job as soon as he’s done reworking the top of the rankings. The footsteps Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are hearing, as they say, are getting only louder, and closer, after Djokovic’s 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory against unseeded Mardy Fish.

He might as well be No. 2B, not No. 3. On paper, he is No. 3, having pulled to within 425 points of last year’s Indian Wells champion, Nadal. But he is two for two in the most important events of 2008, winning the Australian Open in January, and now the first Masters Series event.

The No. 1 debate -- put in long-term hibernation by Federer -- is actually back in circulation. Federer may say there is no rivalry between him and the 20-year-old Djokovic, but maybe that’s because the Serb keeps saying people “got a little bit bored with Federer and Nadal winning and being so dominant.”

“I’m aware of the fact that people started talking about that, and looking at me as the best player in the world this moment,” Djokovic said. “Of course, looking at the results, I think I deserve to be. But again, I don’t want to think in that direction because it creates an extra pressure.”

And a word from a neutral observer -- Fish, who will move from No. 98 to about No. 42 and was the fifth-lowest-ranked player to reach an ATP Masters Series final.

“I think it is Roger Federer, hands down,” said Fish, who beat three top-10 players to reach the final, including Federer. “He hasn’t shown anything to say otherwise. He’s got a few results these past few weeks that are uncharacteristic for him last year to build on. I think he’s going to continue to be No. 1 for a long time.”

Fish came within a set of winning the title, and it almost seemed like destiny because, after all, the trophy here is a black whale.

Turning points in matches often are subtle and difficult to pinpoint. Sunday’s shift was dramatic.

Djokovic, looking unsettled after having been within two points of taking the final in straight sets, fell behind, 0-40, on his serve in the opening game of the third.

He hit one ace. Then another. And still one more to reach deuce. Two points later, the escape was complete, and Djokovic broke Fish in the next game at 15.

“I was like I pull three aces from the sleeve, right?” Djokovic said.

A relatively routine victory slipped away when he had Fish, who was serving at 4-5 in the second set, down, 0-30. Fish won four straight points to pull to 5-5, and Djokovic later was asked what he was thinking. “You don’t want to know,” he said.

He dropped his racket in anger during that game, a good indication. The role of favorite, apparently, was deeply unsettling.

“I was behaving pretty bad today,” Djokovic said. “I don’t know why. I wasn’t calm enough.”

It didn’t cost him, though, and it’s rather amazing how far he has come from the nervous teenager who could barely keep a ball in the court early in last year’s final against Nadal.

Now he’s trading one-liners with Jay Leno, hanging out with Maria Sharapova and taking a political stand, releasing a video message last month in the aftermath of Kosovo’s declaration of independence, saying Kosovo would remain Serbian forever.

Some of his countrymen tried to get the same message across at Indian Wells Tennis Garden with a banner that read, “Kosovo is Serbia.” It was up during Ivanovic’s match but gone by the time Djokovic played.

Tournament organizers confirmed they took the banner from the Serbs but said that they told the group they would return it afterward. Djokovic declined to comment on the move by officials but said he has not received any repercussions from his speech.

“Even though I’m young, I gave that speech because I felt in that moment very bad and very disappointed in what’s going on in our country,” he said.

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lisa.dillman@latimes.com