Another dominant Wimbledon final for Novak Djokovic, the best Tennis player in the world for most of the last five years, beating Roger Federer in four sets, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.
This is the third Wimbledon title for Djokovic, who has made it to every Grand Slam final this year so far. He picks up his Slam title of the season after winning in Australia and losing at the Roland Garros and ninth Grand Slam title overall, putting him alone at 8th on the all-time list. One less than Bill Tilden, two behind Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver, three behind Roy Emerson, five behind Rafael Nadal and Pete Sampras, eight behind Roger Federer.
Federer held a 4-2 lead with a chance to take a 5-2 lead in the first set but let it slip away from him and was demolished in the tiebreak 7-1. In the second set, Djokovic held a 6-3 lead in the tiebreak but managed to let it slip from him, losing 12-10.
But as it usually is for Federer when facing Djokovic in recent years, fitness, age and everything that derives from it: Shot power, shot location and placement and overall accuracy, started to falter. Djokovic became more and more aggressive from the backline, be it in his returns or simply by dominating the service game, while Federer looked nothing like the man who made mincemeat of Andy Murray in the semifinal.
It’s quite astonishing to see Federer make it to final after final at his age after so many years, but he remains a step behind or maybe a little bit more someone like Djokovic, who might have his drops in concentration and ability during matches, but overall remains the most complete player in the world for the past five years, a lot of it thanks to his incredible mental fortitude, which is based on his incredible fitness levels, something he was lacking in during the early stages of his career.
Djokovic is obviously in a great position to win a third slam this year; hard courts are his thing, after all. This would mean he’ll have his second three-slam year, something Rafael Nadal has done just once, and in the overall look on the history of the sport, put Djokovic closer to the discussion of greatest player in history, although he is still quite a few wins away from being a more dominant figure in the argument.