How Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer in 2019 in the final at Wimbledon.

Before Sunday at Wimbledon, tennis fans had never understood what it was like. Snort cocaine and take out a helicopter on a motorcycle. No grand slam final had been decided in a decisive game of the fifth set, partly because of tradition (Wimbledon instituted a tiebreak at 12-12 in the last set this year, may -being out of fear that John Isner will die on the ground) and partly. by chance (the US Open added a decisive barrage in 1970, but the men's final never needed it). In addition, no Grand Slam match was scored by a 13-12 series, a score line that smelled more of Texans Bills in October than Court Center in July. And yet, despite all the novelty, the anguish and ridicule of the 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 13-12 (3) victories of Novak Djokovic on the climax of Roger Federer and the resolution of Sunday's final seemed surprisingly familiar. Never before has an unprecedented sporting event felt so precedent.

If you watched the semi-finals of the 2010 US Open between Djokovic and Federer, you'd be sorry to think you'll never see it again. In the fifth set, Federer had more than a goal to qualify for the final against Rafael Nadal, a match that New York fans desperately wanted to see. Even as the crowd applauded his service errors, Djokovic recorded two consecutive match points with two huge right-handed winners, then broke Federer's serve and maintained his lead over a 7-5 win over the fifth. "Today, I have somehow turned a blind eye to the forehands and I just took the shots," said Djokovic, calling it "one of those matches of which you will remember all your life. " Federer described his loss. like "a little disappointing".

A year later, in 2011, Federer and Djokovic found themselves in the semifinals. Federer still had two match points, this time on his own service. In front of the first of them, the crowd shouted for 20 consecutive seconds – a TV announcer called it "almost hysterical" – while Djokovic was bending over and over to squint his head and nodded. head, resembling a submarine captain who did not fear the fact that his ship filled almost to the brink of seawater. Djokovic then stopped nodding, crouching and one of the most beautiful shots of the history of tennis, striking Federer's first serve against a straight winner, barely visible to the naked eye. After knocking him, Djokovic walked to the side of the yard with his arms raised, triumphant, with a mischievous smile.

Djokovic won the next point thanks to a mistake by Federer, then won the match and took the fifth set, 7-5. But let's go back to that winning forehand. After the match, Federer called it a "stroke of luck" and blamed Djokovic for turning a blind eye and going away. "I have never played this way," said Federer. "How can you play a shot like that on a match point?" Djokovic was without excuse. "Yes, I tend to do it on match points," he said. "It works a little."

Three years earlier, Djokovic had been a victim of a Federer tweener at the US Open. A shot that, given the terrain and circumstances, is also one of the biggest in the history of this sport and has been received by the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium. a gift from a god of kindly tennis.

Djokovic's forehand in 2011 was a gift no one asked for. The crowd at Ashe Stadium had been against him all match, as he always does when he plays against Federer. Djokovic raised his arms as both a plea and a statement of intent. He asked to be loved and demanded to be respected, and that day and in the years that have passed since he was solid, 1 to 2. Djokovic has never been and never will never be loved in the same way as Federer and Nadal (but especially Federer). He was the third man to fight his way in a rivalry between two men and he was always more an opponent than a hero (at least outside of Serbia). But in the greatest moments, on the biggest stages of the sport, Djokovic is almost always at his best. If he's not the greatest player of all time, he's certainly the best to summon greatness.

For 4 hours and 57 minutes Sunday – the longest men's final at Wimbledon, nine minutes faster than Federer against Nadal in 2008 – Federer was the best player of almost every indicator. The Grand Slam champion had 20 times more aces, fewer double faults, a better percentage of first serve, more points in his first two services, a higher percentage of net points, more points converted, more than winners and more points. better ratio of winners to mistakes, and won more games (36 vs 32) and more points (218 vs 204) than his opponent. *

But also:

It must be said that these 21 points were generated by generous gifts in kind from the Roger Federer Foundation. Federer scored 5 to 3 in the decisive game of the first set when he played one of his worst game sequences, making an unplayed error, another unplayed error, a non-forced error, and an unforced error on the reverse. gave Djokovic the decor. In the decisive game of the third set, Federer's setback completely abandoned him because he made four unforced errors.

Djokovic, however, deserves credit for playing clean tennis while Federer could not. And in the final tiebreaker, after a nervous fifth set in which each player broke the service of the other two times, that is Djokovic who was the aggressor. With the title in play, Djokovic forced Federer to make mistakes and hit two winners himself. On the point of the match, Federer had a forehand and Djokovic had his 16th^th Grand Slam title.

On the men's side, the 16 slams of Djokovic only count the 20 of Federer and the 18 of Nadal. They could have, and would have been maybe 21, 18 and 15, if only Federer had – tell me now – converted one of the two match points he held in the fifth set.

Federer got those points with an advantage over the T, a shot that inspired a good half-dozen spectators to stand up and block the camera directly behind the server. (And I thought the English had good manners.) Kurt Streeter of The New York Times reported, "One could hear a man shouting to anyone in particular and to everyone:" Oh my God, my God, we'll see win him. Roger will win! The TV show highlighted Federer's wife, Mirka, with her head in her hands. I do not know if she was thinking about the 2010 and 2011 US Open at the time. Two points later, it was difficult to think of anything else.

At age 40-15, Federer got a second serve, but was unable to move his feet fast enough to respond to Djokovic's forehand at his feet, which caused him to project his own. right hit. At 40-30, Federer managed a first serve, but did not hit the goal too much, T. Djokovic easily blocked it, but left the ball short, just past the service line . It may be over by then, if Federer had sent a forehand into a corner. Instead, he found Djokovic's forehand and rushed forward. Djokovic did not have to hit the shot of his life to win the point. But given Federer 's stakes and feats at the net, he had to call on something quite close to the extraordinary. He did it because that's what he does.

Djokovic has gained the following two points (which is much more difficult than the mere statement can suggest) and after that, his victory proved inevitable (although it is not). "It was a blow to lose the match," Djokovic said afterwards. "In those moments, I just try to never lose confidence in myself, stay calm, focus on balloon recovery." Federer for his part described his loss as "an incredible opportunity that was missed". was the first time since 1948 that a man had held a match point in a final at Wimbledon and had lost.

At Federer's post-match press conference, he asked whether Sunday's win would help make Djokovic a fan favorite. "You have to go down the street and ask these people," Federer said before adding that "every victory" helps Djokovic's cause, "without a doubt." In reality, it is exactly the opposite that occurs. As Lauren Collins put it in a 2013 New Yorker profile, "The paradox of Djokovic's career is that the better he gets, the less he is loved, at least among those who cling to the binary model perpetuated by Federer and Nadal. . By a lapse of time, he is the man forever, the automatic outside.

On Sunday, on the center court, Djokovic seemed comfortable with his stature in the match and with himself. He does not have to go wild to save those game points, and when he saved them, he did not smoothere or hold his hand to his ear. His best was more than enough, that the fans appreciated what he had done or not. "When the crowd chants" Roger ", I'll hear" Novak "," he said after the match. While this line drew laughter in the newsroom, he was not joking. "It sounds silly, but it's like that," Djokovic said. "I'm trying to convince myself that it's like that."

As long as Federer continues to play, that's what tennis will be like. Novak Djokovic will never be the public's favorite, but he should always be.