Novak Djokovic kisses the winner's trophy after beating Roger Federer in the men's singles final match of the 2014 Wimbledon Championships. Source: AFP
Novak Djokovic eats some of the centre court grass as he celebrates winning the Wimbledon men’s singles final against Roger Federer. Source: Getty Images
A NEAR faultless teeth-gnashing five set effort from Novak Djokovic was required to overcome the tenacious battle from tennis master Roger Federer to win his second Wimbledon singles title 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4.
Djokovic, 27, was in tears afterwards, thanking Federer ‘’’for letting me to win today’’.
The gruelling match was why thousands of people pay many thousands of pounds for a Wimbledon centre court finals ticket.
The tension of the near four-hour match was excruciating and dramatic. Every point was sublime. And with the crowd firmly behind the old warhorse Federer, but showing due respect for Djokovic’s superb skill, the crowd erupted into long crescendo of roars that rippled around SW19 all afternoon.
Federer said: “It was a great final, I can’t believe I made it to five (sets), it was looking unbelievable for a while. ‘’
Even the Royal Box attendees demonstrated delight beyond a polite round of applause. Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge were as enthralled as David Beckham. Victoria Beckham even cracked a smile.
From the first set this match was always going to be a classic battle of Federer’s serving strength up against Djokovic’s brilliant return of serves.
But deep into the match, in the fourth set, the strain of the intensity added extra drama.
Federer, 32, was seemingly fatigued, and down 5-2. Djokovic only had to serve a game to take the championship and its £1.2m (A$2.2 million) paycheck. But Federer fought back. He fired down ace — after long rally — after drop shot at the net, to claw back in excruciating fashion to level the set. One of the three straight games won by the Swiss star was thanks to an appeal to the Hawkeye review which showed the ball in by a solo blade of grass. Federer then served to win that set 7-5 and take the game into the fifth set decider.
Djokovic had hurt his ankle in the first set, but after some treatment appeared untroubled until the fifth set when he took an injury break to have a massage on his thigh. That final set appeared to be going the same close way until suddenly, and perhaps with a hint of anticlimax, Djokovic broke Federer’s serve to take the championship.
Djokovic fell to the ground and burst into tears. He said his first memory of a tennis match was Wimbledon as a five-year-old and he was grateful for the opportunity to compete.
“I had to compose myself after the fourth set,’’ he said. “I don’t know how I did it.’’
Originally published as ‘Thanks for letting me win, Roger’
No comments:
Post a Comment