Djokovic's victory firmly cements his place among the greatest tennis players of all time. He now surpasses the Grand Slam haul of Fred Perry, Ken Rosewall, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and Andre Agassi and will now be chasing other greats of the game who have amassed more than nine titles. His nearest contender is unheralded American Bill Tilden who won ten Grand Slam titles and with the US Open coming up in late August, Tilden's haul may well be in danger of being equalled by the Serbian.
But going into the third Grand Slam of the season it did seem that all momentum was on the side of Andy Murray who had just come off a great victory week at the Aegon Championships at Queens. Djokovic had not played any competitive grass-court tennis and with his loss in the final at the French Open, most experts felt that it was difficult to see how the Serbian would bounce back from the disappointing climax in Paris. And no doubt, Novak did face some serious questions during the fortnight at SW19 and none more-so than his fourth round encounter with big serving South African Kevin Anderson, the 14th seed. Runner-up at Queens a few weeks previous, Anderson was playing the match of his life and took the defending champion way out of his comfort zone bringing him to the net with some unstoppable drop-shots. With his pin-point serving to match, the South African took a 2-0 lead taking both sets in tense tiebreakers and it was at this point the crowd were sensing a monumental upset. The last time a No.1 seed had lost at Wimbledon before the quarter-finals was in 2003 when Lleyton Hewitt lost in the first round and the last time Djokovic had lost before the quarters at a Grand Slam was at the 2009 French Open. But this wasn't the Djokovic of 2009, this is a player who has developed into an almighty warrior and with his back firmly against the wall, the Serbian managed to raise his game during the third set to a level that he never relinquished for the remainder of the match, winning the final three sets 6-1, 6-4, 7-5. This seemed to propel Djokovic to a level that he maintained for the rest of the tournament and it was maybe this match that actually, in the end, "won" the title for the Serb, pushing him to a level that took him to the brink of an early exit to a back against the wall win, where his level never dropped thereafter. Marin Cilic and Richard Gasquet would be the next victims of the Djokovic game which culminated in a final showdown with 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer.
Federer showcased tennis fans exactly why he is considered one of the greatest players of all time during his fortnight at Wimbledon. The Swiss steamrolled his way through the draw, dropping only one set on his way to the final. In a repeat of last year's showpiece, Federer found himself in a familiar scenario playing the World No.1 who had just come off the back of a French Open final defeat looking to stop the maestro from making more history at The All England Club with an eighth Wimbledon crown. The 33 year-old was in imperious form coming into the final with a straight sets win over Britain's Andy Murray in the semi-finals. Many critics hailed Federer's performance against Murray as one of the most clinical displays of tennis they had ever seen and the match statistics say it all, with the key stats highlighted in blue:
| Murray | Federer | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | Aces | 20 |
| 1 | Double faults | 1 |
| 74% | First serve % | 76% |
| 71% | Pts won on first serve | 84% |
| 50% | Pts won on second serve | 55% |
| 35 | Winners | 56 |
| 17 | Unforced errors | 11 |
| 0/1 | Break point conversions | 3/10 |
| 8/11 | Pts won on net approaches | 29/42 |
Murray simply had no reply against the Federer game and with a first serve percentage of 84% it would have easily been enough to beat any player in the world on the given day. Even Andy himself knew he was up against a perfect display, "It was his best serving performance in one of our matches and not just by a little bit, by far". But had Federer peaked too soon? And would this clinical performance be repeated against Novak in the final?
It was always going to be tough for Federer to emulate his performance with Murray against Djokovic. Whether he mentally stumbled throughout the match isn't quite clear because Djokovic raised his game at key moments during the match, always applying immense pressure on the Federer serve and dragging him into long rallies which meant the Swiss had no direct control throughout the match. When Federer double-faulted on set point during the first set tie-breaker to lose it 7-1, it seemed that the 7-time Wimbledon champion was going to have a difficult afternoon. However, with the crowd fully behind the popular Swiss, a highly competitive second set ended in a pulsating tie-breaker that was mandatory for Federer to win if he was going to get back into the match. At 6-3 down and with three set points the 15,000 spectators on Centre Court were becoming increasingly confident that Novak was on the cusp of another Wimbledon title. But Federer fearing he now had nothing to lose played all out aggressive tennis that was very Wawrinka-esque and with a mesmerising backhand to save the first set point it seemed to inspire Federer for the remainder of the tie-breaker. With Djokovic becoming flustered, Federer managed to save the set points and converted his own one at the second attempt much to the dismay of Djokovic. A great showcase of how a tie-breaker should be played finished 12-10 to Federer and at one set all, it was all to play for. In these moments of turmoil, some players may fold and just fall to pieces as being on the verge of a two set lead to suddenly one set all is a massive mental discouragement and can really affect a player's performance. But if there is one player who has mastered this mental block, that's Novak Djokovic. The Serbian raised his level once again like so many other times and wore down his opponent, giving Federer no more break point opportunities and comfortably taking sets three and four 6-4, 6-3 to win his third Wimbledon crown.
A fascinating Wimbledon that heralded a familiar ending did feature some unfamiliar stories that will be remembered long after the tournaments end:
- Who will forget the fantastic run of Frenchman Richard Gasquet who reached the semi-finals by seeing off French Open winner Stan Wawrinka. In what was called the "battle of the backhands", Gasquet's backhand finesse was enough to fend off the power of Wawrinka's one-hander and although ultimately overthrown by Novak Djokovic in the next round, Gasquet had a successful tournament.
- British hopeful James Ward made his most promising run through a Grand Slam by reaching the third round and almost made the second week. With the gruelling five-set loss to Canadian Vasek Pospisil which the 28 year-old could have won, Ward now breaks into the top 100 for the first time in his career.
- Australia's Nick Kyrgios was creating manic headlines last year when he reached the quarter-finals by knocking out Rafa Nadal. But this year the 20 year-old was front-page news for the wrong reasons. Never far from controversy, the Australian was accused of tanking against Gasquet in the fourth round by not even trying to return the Frenchman's serves in one game during the second set. A major talking point, Kyrgios denied he was tanking during a press conference which is futile considering the obvious evidence. Kyrgios needs to improve this mental aspect of his game if he is ever to contemplate winning majors in the future.
- Finally, if not unfamiliar but still shocking was to see 14-time Grand Slam champion Rafa Nadal fall during the early stages of Wimbledon for the fourth consecutive time. Nadal has not been beyond the fourth round since he was runner-up in 2011 and this time it was German Dustin Brown who was the instigator during the second round. Always predicted to be a tricky encounter for Nadal, Brown produced a crowd pleasing performance that Nadal just never got to grips with. Drop-shots, net rushing and powerful winners gave the 102nd seed a four set win and he now has a 2-0 head-to-head lead against the Spaniard.
The crowd may not have been fully behind him during his fortnight at Wimbledon this year but Novak Djokovic is creating stories everywhere he goes and it's about time that Novak is appreciated for what he is, a truly fantastic tennis player who is living in an era of other greats of the game. If Wimbledon is the most prestigious slam of them all, then Djokovic has now won the most illustrious tournament three times and he has a total of nine Grand Slam titles. By the time next year rolls around and we look back at the 2016 Championships we could say that the Serbian will be holding a fourth Wimbledon crown and a 13th Grand Slam title...Well, only time will tell, but that's what Djokovic does to your predictions.
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