Novak Djokovic Outlasts Federer To Win Longest Ever Wimbledon Final
14th July 2019
The 32-year-old Serbian saved two match points as he took his Grand Slam tally to 16, four off Federer's overall record
- Defending champion Novak Djokovic claimed his fifth Wimbledon title on Sunday beating eight-time champion Roger Federer 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 13-12 (7/3) in the longest ever final
- Djokovic's victory extends to 11 successive Grand Slams won by the big three, himself, Federer and Rafael Nadal
- Stan Wawrinka was the last player outside the trio to win a Grand Slam, the 2016 US Open beating Djokovic
LONDON, United Kingdom- Novak Djokovic saved two match points to clinch a fifth Wimbledon title
and 16th major on Sunday, shattering Roger Federer's bid to become the oldest
Grand Slam champion in the longest final ever played at the tournament.
Despite being
outplayed by the 37-year-old Swiss for large parts of the knife-edge encounter,
the world number one triumphed 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 13-12 (7/3).
At 4 hours and 57
minutes, it was the longest Wimbledon final ever played and settled by a final
set tiebreak for the first time.
Djokovic is the
first man in 71 years to win the title from match points down.
He is now level with
Bjorn Borg as a five-time Wimbledon winner.
"I think that
if this is not the most exciting final then definitely it's in the top two or
three of my career against one of the greatest players of all time, Roger, who
I respect," said Djokovic.
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"Unfortunately
in this type of match someone has to lose. It is quite unreal to be two match
points down to come back and strange to play a tie-break at 12-12."
Djokovic is just
four Grand Slam titles shy of the all-time record held by Federer who is more
than five years older.
It was incredibly
tough on Federer, chasing a ninth Wimbledon crown, who didn't face a break
point until the eighth game of the fourth set.
He even had two
match points in the 16th game of the deciding set which lasted over two hours.
"It was long
and it had everything. I had answers, so did he and we played some great
tennis," said Federer.
"I hope I give
some other people at 37 the feeling it is not over yet."
- Two match points saved -
Djokovic's win meant
that the 'Big Three' of men's tennis -- himself, Federer and Rafael Nadal --
have won the last 11 Slams.
He has now won nine
of his last 11 clashes against Federer and three of their four Wimbledon meetings.
With William and
Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge looking on from the Royal Box,
Federer carved out the only break point of the opening set.
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Drama
But Djokovic saved
it and with serve dominating, the set was decided by the tiebreak.
The top seed was 3-1
up, then Federer inched to 5-3 before Djokovic swept the next four points.
At 58 minutes, it
was two minutes longer than the women's final on Saturday.
Djokovic, however,
then went completely off the boil, losing his footing as he was broken in the
first game of the second set.
Federer broke twice
again and after just 25 more minutes the final was all-square with Djokovic
managing just two winners in the set.