Novak Djokovic triumphed in a five-seat, five-hour epic over Roger Federer after a thrilling Champions tie-break. The Serb prevailed 7-6 (7-5), 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 13-12 (7-3) and saved two Championship points in a back-and-forth contest on Centre Court.
World No.1 Djokovic is now a five-time winner at Wimbledon, with three of his victories coming against Federer. Swiss star Federer is an eight-time winner at the All England Club.
After breaking Djokovic at 7-7 in the fifth with a forehand passing shot, Federer served for the championship at 8-7 and took a 40-15 lead with two consecutive aces. Federer was one point away from winning his ninth Wimbledon singles title and becoming the oldest man to win a major singles title in the Open era.
On the first match point, Federer missed an inside-out forehand after a deep second-serve return. On the second match point, Federer decided to hit a topspin forehand and rush the net. Federer has hit much more convincing approach shots in his life, and Djokovic capitalized by coolly flicking a forehand passing shot winner crosscourt.
It was deuce, and two points later after two Federer forehand errors on the move, Djokovic completed the break of serve and evened the fifth set at 8-8.
Federer’s best chance for victory was gone, even if the match and the tension were far from finished as Djokovic had to boldly save two final break points at 11-11 at the net before getting into the final tiebreaker.
Federer was the more consistently brilliant and aggressive player over all. He hit 25 aces and finished with 94 winners and made 61 unforced errors. Djokovic finished with 54 winners and 52 unforced errors and struggled with his rhythm in the second set, which he lost in only 25 minutes. He didn’t break Federer’s serve until the fourth set, nearly three hours into the match.
“It was probably the most demanding, mentally most demanding, match I was ever part of,” Djokovic said.
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