London: Novak Djokovic had been getting to grand
slam finals, but he had lost the knack of winning them, losing five of
his past six. At Wimbledon on Sunday, the Serbian wobbled and teetered
before he courageously found what he needed to beat Roger Federer in
five memorable sets, his seventh grand slam title denying Federer a
Wimbledon men’s record of eight.
At almost 33, the legendary Swiss may have lost his last
opportunity to win his 18th major, two years after claiming No.17 on his
favourite grass court. Then again, he has shown his champion qualities
so many times – including in this match, when he recovered from 2-5 in
the fourth set and saved a match point at 3-5 to force a fifth – that
who could safely predict what may yet lie ahead?
For Djokovic, there would seem to be plenty more after a
dramatic 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 6-4 triumph that added a second
Wimbledon trophy to his first, from 2011. There have also been four
Australian Opens, and a single US. The French Open is still
conspicuously absent, with Rafael Nadal to blame for that.
This was a truly memorable, remarkable match that lasted almost four
hours, and deserved better than to finish with a netted Federer
backhand. An overcome Djokovic sank to his knees, tore at and ate a few
blades of grass, then walked up to embrace his team, including Boris
Becker, who was brought in to deliver high-stakes results in
high-pressure situations like these.
Djokovic dedicated the victory to “my future wife [Jelena
Ristic] and our future baby”, to his family and coaching team, and his
first coach Jelena Gencic, who died last year. He admitted it was
difficult to regroup and recover from the loss of the fourth set, but
he'd found a way.
“This is the best tournament in the world, the most valuable
one. This is the first match I have ever seen in my life when I was five
years old was Wimbledon, and that match stuck to my mind,’’ Djokovic,
27, said after acknowledging Federer.
“He’s a magnificent champion, a great example, great role model to
many kids, so I respect your career and everything you have done, and
thank you for letting me win today.’’
Federer’s twin girls arrived for the ceremony in matching
floral dresses, but only in time to see their father accept a second
runners-up plate to go with his seven champion’s trophies, the last of
them claimed in his previous grand slam final, in 2012.
“It was a great final – I can’t believe I made it to five. It
wasn’t looking good there for a while,’’ Federer said. “So I hope, who
knows, maybe it was going to be enough.’’
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