Djokovic Defends the Wimbledon Title After a Fantastic Match Against Federer

In the longest Wimbledon finals ever, Novak Djokovic retained his title by defeating Roger Federer after an epic match. This fantastic clash of two legends lasted for four hours and 55 minutes.

The Serbian defended the throne in London, after a dramatic spectacle which went into five sets and the newly established tiebreaker. Djokovic was better than Federer with 3-2 by sets, 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-6(4), 4-6, 13-12.

It is his 16th Grand Slam in career and fifth here at the All England Club.

“I know I said this before but when I was a four or five-year-old boy I used to dream of being a tennis player one day,” said Djokovic, who was thrilled after the match. “This has always been the tournament for me that I wanted to win one day.”

Novak won all of his three sets in tiebreakers, among them the last one was with both players leveled at 12-12. It is the new rule which was implemented to prevent the matches from lasting too long. And this one would definitely go for several games more if weren’t for that.

Djokovic and Federer fought heroically, giving everything they had this Sunday afternoon. With his 38 years of age, FedEx proved that he still has what it takes to be the greatest active player. The way he performed today is simply unreal.

He was so close to his 9th Wimbledon title, but failed to convert two championship points on his own serve! With 8-7 in his favor, Roger was near heaven, but Djokovic dragged him back down to earth and made one stunning comeback.

“I don’t know what I feel right now. It was such an incredible opportunity that I missed that I can’t believe it, but it is what it is,” Federer said, stressing out that he needs to move on from this and focus on the positive things which took place in this final.

*How* do you do this to save Championship point?#Wimbledon @Djokernole pic.twitter.com/cHPpqADVFG

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 14, 2019

“You take it on the chin, move on, and try to forget. I will try to take the good things out of this match because there is tons of it.”

Djokovic couldn’t break Roger’s serve in the first set, but he eventually took the opening part of the match in the tie-break. What we saw after that was Federer from his glory days some 10 or 12 years ago. In no time the veteran sliced Joker igniting the crowd who was on his side.

Both guys entered the third set highly motivated, but again, Djokovic had more nerves in the tie-break, as he immediately made a mini-break and killed FedEx’s morale.

The fourth set brought three break points, two of them in Federer’s favor, and he routinely leveled the result.

After that came set which lasted for two hours exactly and had to be resolved in another tie-break following 24 games played. Novak’s composure and stubbornness were the decisive factors, and despite the overall affection of the crowd towards his rival, the Serb came out victorious, 7-3.

In head-to-head meetings, Djokovic leads 26-22 against the Swiss, but he is still four Grand Slams short (16-20). This is the first time since 1948 that one player saves the championship point at Wimbledon, and lifts the trophy afterward.

The spectators had a chance to witness one classic clash which probably cast a shadow on the 2008 finals between Nadal and Federer.

“Unfortunately in these kinds of matches,” Djokovic said, “one of the players has to lose.”

Even after beating him in the #WimbledonFinal, Djokovic is still inspired by Federer 👏 pic.twitter.com/4240Wm3sYg

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 14, 2019

After failing to make another Grand Slam achievement and hold all four titles at the same time, Novak is ready to start the quest all over. Even though many predicted his fall after a hard hit he took in Paris, and the elimination in the semis, Djokovic came back even stronger.

We might say that he slowly becomes one of the greatest champions here at Wimbledon. Only three players have more titles, Pete Sampras, William Renshaw 7, and Roger who has 8.

Both guys are now facing new challenges, and the next big tournament will take place in just three weeks time. Coupe Rogers in Montreal, Canada, will host the best tennis players in the world, and right after that, we have Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati.