Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 winning his third Wimbledon singles title in a match that reached sublime heights before ending on a somewhat anti-climatic note.
Tackling the Federer serve with ferocious and intimidating deep returns, and relying on his own serve to pull him out of trouble time and again, Djokovic looked the much stronger player after two breathtaking first sets, where the two were locked eyeball to eyeball in a contest where there was little to choose between one or the other.
Federer began well, winning his first service game to love, with three good serves and an aggressive step forward to take control of the fourth point. It was a perfect start, reminiscent of the way he played against Murray and he kept up the aggression, breaking Djokovic to love to go up 4-2.
But Djokovic broke back immediately, thanks to some loose points and a missed volley to level 4-4. At 5-6, the Djokovic serve came under threat again, but Federer was unable to close the set out, thanks largely to a couple of fine serves.
Leitmotif
This ran like a leitmotif through the match with Djokovic summoning aces and service winners at his imperious will when he needed them most. The failure to hold on to his lead and capitalise on the break points cost Federer hugely, when he uncharacteristically fell way in the tie-breaker to hand over the first set to Djokovic.
The Swiss earned two more break points when the second set was level 2-2, but once again Djokovic came out blazing to avert the break.
By now, it was clear that Federer was not hitting as many first serves in as he would have liked. Worse, his second serve was coming under pressure from the Djokovic return, something he tried to address by hitting it harder.
At 4-5, Federer went down 30-40 to give Djokovic a set point after serving up a double fault, but a forehand error from the champion and a brave stop volley helped stave off the threat.
Federer would go on to win the set 12-10 in the tie-breaker after some heart-stopping exchanges and saving a string of set points.
Taking its toll
Considering he has never beaten Djokovic in five sets, a win in the second was essential to keep his hopes alive.
But the toll of two enervating sets against an opponent who was able to summon something special on the big points were probably too much for the 33- year old. In the third set, after surviving a scare in the first service game, he gifted the next to Djokovic by fluffing a sitter of a forehand at the net. After this, the momentum shifted in favour of the Serb, who wrapped up the set 6-4.
Federer had come back against Djokovic in last year’s Wimbledon final after being two sets to one down, but despite a facile hold in the first game, it was slowly becoming clear that the Swiss was slowly running out of fuel. The match ended somewhat weakly with Federer broken twice to give Djokovic his ninth Grand Slam.
The big difference between Federer’s performance against Murray and this one lay mainly in his serve. The Swiss was able to get 67 per cent of his first serves in, well down from the 76 per cent against Murray.
Dropping numbers
The average speed of his first serve also gradually reduced during the match, from 118 mph in the first set to 115 in the second, which suggests he was weakening as the match progressed. He was able to win only 74 per cent of his first serve points, which is not a bad figure in itself; only, it was not quite the 84 per cent he logged in the Murray match. Right through, it was Federer that was forced to take the risks — he had many more winners (58) than Djokovic (46) but committed as many as 35 unforced errors against the Serb’s 16. With this win, Djokovic has reinforced his status as the dominant player in the game. As for Federer, he will have to return next year to try and become the first man to win eight Wimbledon singles titles — a task for which time is fast running out.
Men's singles: 1-Novak Djokovic (Srb) bt 2-Roger Federer (Sui) 7-6(1), 6-7(10), 6-4, 6-3.
Mixed doubles: 7-Leander Paes (Ind) & Martina Hingis (Sui) bt 5-Alexander Peya (Aut) & Timea Babos (Hun)) 6-1, 6-1.
Boys’ doubles: 8-Sumit Nagal (Ind) & Nam Hoang Ly (Vie) bt 4-Reilly Opelka (USA) & Akira Santillan (Jpn) 7-6(4), 6-4.
