Wimbledon Day 13 - Djokovic Reigns Again

Wimbledon has become a place of solace for Novak Djokovic in the last two years; he may have been denied the career Grand Slam at the French Open a month ago, but the curse of Roland Garros is once again a thing of the past thanks to the Serb’s growing enchantment at SW19.

Novak Djokovic with the Wimbledon trophy

For the second year running Djokovic shook off the disappointment after not winning in Paris, which remains the only major to elude him, to pull off a memorable victory over the great Roger Federer on the headline stage of Centre Court.

It wasn’t quite the 5 set epic of 12 months ago where Djokovic squandered a match point and break of serve in the fourth set before winning the title in the fifth.  There were similarities as Federer was left with the task of recovering from 2 sets to 1 down, yet this time the Serb was too canny to let the match unravel into a deciding set.

Even so there was no shortage of drama and after Djokovic convincingly secured the first set tie break by 7 points to 1, he blinked in the second as seven set points came and went. Six of which came in a classic breaker which Federer acquired 12-10, that could have been the cue for sudden   momentum swing but after recomposing himself in the manner of a champion Djokovic reeled his way through the next two set before closing out a 7-6 (1) 6-7 (10) 6-4 6-3 victory.

It’s a result which moves the Serb onto 9 major titles, surpassing the likes of Ivan Lendl, Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors on 8. That’s the sort of company the Serb is mixing with right now and at 28 he appears to be at the peak of his powers.

Djokovic still has some way to go to catch Federer on 17, but if the Serb continues to play like this over the next couple of years he could yet join the Swiss in the conversation about the greatest ever player.   

This was Djokovic’s third Wimbledon title, but for all his assets you still get the impression he isn’t as treasured in the same way that Federer and even Rafael Nadal are upheld.

Nevertheless none can question the resolution and drive the Serb has shown in the past few weeks, after seemingly cracking his jinx at the French he came up against an inspired opponent in Stanislas Wawrinka who wrestled the title away from him. He didn’t play a warm up tournament before Wimbledon and had to recover from two sets down against the giant serving South African Kevin Anderson. Yet his best match came in the final and in the end he was more than a worthy champion.

"I have to say it's a big challenge playing against Roger," said the Serb after the match. "A lot of players of my generation have looked up to him and followed his lead. He makes you push your limits, work hard and win every single point."

As for Federer, this tournament has shown that there is still plenty of life left in him, especially on grass. His statistic in the final didn’t quite match the immaculate ones he produced in Friday’s victory over Andy Murray, where his first serve percentage reached 76%. Here it finished at 67% which against any other player would probably have got the job done. Not Djokovic.

"I had my chances in the first set. I got lucky to win the second, had chances in the third. Said the Swiss "But he was better on the bigger points. He was rock solid, I didn't play badly myself. That's how it goes."

The first break of serve went Federer’s way in the first set, however Djokovic broke back immediately. The Serb went on to save a total of six out of seven break points in the opener, including two set points, before dominating the tie break which ended with a Federer double fault.

Serving first in the second Djokovic quickly applied some scoreboard pressure. He had two set points before the tie break and five more in it; however Federer saved them all with some fearless tennis including a second serve which checked the line and an incredible 21 shot rally.

After finally levelling the match Federer had break point at the start of the third but it was Djokovic who broke through a couple of games later. At 3-2 to the Serb, the match was temporarily stopped due to a brief ran delay. Went they resumed it was all Djokovic as he calmly converted his third set advantage while keeping Federer at the back of the court with his relentless depth.

An early break for Djokovic in the fourth gave the match an inevitable feel as the Serb’s energy sapping performance appeared to leave Federer on the edge. Djokovic broke serve again to seal the victory, before following his tradition when winning the title by eating some of the Centre Court grass.