News
London- For the second year in a row Novak Djokovic beats Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final.
Djokovic won the title, preventing Federer from earning eighth record.
Photo:Google
Novak Djokovic wins 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 to win his third Wimbledon title.
In a match split between dry and rain-threatened, the world’s best player wore down the world’s favourite player 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 and spread the misery for the Swiss’s many fans over five minutes short of three hours of compelling theatre.
In this most intriguing of plays on the game’s grandest stage, there was little between the antagonists during the elongated prelude – the two hours and 11 minutes in which they stretched each other’s repertoire before rain forced them indoors – but plenty in the shorter concluding act under the partially drawn roof, especially in the denouement.
Djokovic played virtually friendless throughout, which came as no surprise to anybody. When Federer won the first five points of the match, striking the first of 13 aces he put past Djokovic on the day, there will have been a genuine and wholly ludicrous desire running through sections of the awed gathering for the No2 seed to continue winning every point all the way to the end, when the sun would reappear and trumpets would celebrate his greatness.
It did not quite work out like that. After an uncertain start, Djokovic got into his serve a couple of times but Federer was in a different zone – not for the first time in the tournament – and held to love again for 3-2 after a quarter of an hour.
As in his lead-from-the-front win over Andy Murray in the semi-finals, Federer had the advantage of scoreboard pressure, and that bore fruit to the delight of his fans when he broke the Serb to love in the sixth game with superb control of his racket and space.
Then the oohs of disappointment that greeted his botched volley, low and close to the net, reflected the tension in the crowd, who suspected there was plenty of tennis left in this match.
Serving to stay in the set after 32 minutes, Djokovic saved set-point and held with an ace to force the tie-break, which he won handsomely, Federer’s poise under pressure deserting him for the first time. It didn’t seem quite fair, on balance, as Federer, straining elegantly for his eighth title, had bossed most of the set with his precision tennis. But when he double-faulted to lose the frame he had nobody to blame but himself – and the persistence of his opponent.
After 44 minutes, the mood was beginning to shift. When Djokovic aced Federer and the Swiss handed him the first game of the second set to love, disappointment dulled the moment for the overwhelming majority of those present. They were heartened when Federer also held to love, the reception raucous; when Djokovic held to 15, there was muted applause. And so it went pretty much all the way to the line, an imbalance of love.
They worked their way towards another tie-break, Federer holding for 6-6, and this one could hardly have been more different to the first. This time, Federer would not be moved. He thrashed a classic backhand winner to announce his intent, but Djokovic led 4-2 at the changeover; it seemed very much like he was going two sets up. However, after he had served for the set four times, comfortable assumptions were shelved.
Djokovic handed Federer his first set point and, coming to the net in majestic style, the Swiss put away the winner. The place went wild.
The stage was set for a repeat of last year’s terrific final and Djokovic duly stuck to the script, breaking in the third game of the third set then steadying himself in the shot to protect his lead – while Federer, of course, continued to go for his shot in every exchange. The Serb led 3-2 with a break when the rain forced them off at 4.21pm. After two hours and 11 minutes – five minutes fewer than Federer’s longest match of the tournament – there was almost nothing between them.
Djokovic had 11 aces, Federer 10, but the Serb had two double-faults to one; they were each serving at 65%; Djokovic had 29 winners to Federer’s 45; Federer had 28 unforced errors to 13. Federer had taken just one break from seven chances, Djokovic two from six. It was at the net where Federer shone, winning 30 of 40 visits, Djokovic 11 from 22.
They resumed at 4.40pm and the narrative changed gear. Within a quarter of an hour Djokovic served out the set to love for 6-4, and it was surely his match to lose. He had won 94% of his first serves in that game, with just two unforced errors, which was too much pressure for Federer to deal with.
Still, there was belief in the crowd that Federer could produce a fourth set to match his effort at the same point last year. It did not look promising when Djokovic broke him for 3-2, nor when Federer hit his third double fault to hand Djokovic break point in the fourth game, but he held.For the first time in the match, Stefan Edberg rose from his seat in Federer’s box to chivvy him through a crisis but Djokovic’s serve was holding up well – even with a fan’s loud interruption before his serve at 40-15 and 4-3. He held with a quite startling second serve and appeared to remonstrate with the culprit.
Federer served to stay in the match, accepting a late call against him for 0-30 – as well as the kind intervention of the net that sent Djokovic’s backhand wide. But the world No1 absolutely nailed a return for two championship points and finished it with a cross-court forehand winner with his opponent standing helpless at the baseline.
It might have fallen a set short of the tremendous 2014 battle, but this was still a fitting conclusion to a tournament of many surprises and a lot of familiar moments. Djokovic takes his majors to nine; Federer remains parked on 17. But there is no guarantee that those numbers will remain separated by that margin.
No comments:
Post a Comment