How Novak Djokovic prevented Roger Federer from winning the men's title at Wimbledon



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LONDON – After four hours and 55 minutes of play, Novak Djokovic won the tiebreaker in the fifth set of Wimbledon's longest singles final, which beat Roger Federer in a match for the ages.

The fifth set lasted just under two hours, but that's Djokovic who outshot Federer in an epic win of 7-6, 1-6, 7-6, 6-5, 13-12 (3) – the first fifth of Wimbledon tie under the new rules introduced this year.

Djokovic saved two points in the final set, and his resilience and ability to break the decisive playoffs in his favor allowed him to clinch his fifth career singles title at Wimbledon. This is how he did it:

Federer tightens in tie-break

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Novak Djokovic wins the third set to take a 2-1 lead over Roger Federer.

Look at the statistics and you would think that Federer had that match in the bag. He had a better percentage of first serve, more points earned first and second serve, better return and points earned. Everything went in favor of Federer – including 40 more winners than Djokovic – while he converted seven opportunities out of 13.

"I do not know if losing 2-2-2 feels better than this one," Federer said after the match. "In the end, it does not really matter to a certain extent, you may feel more disappointed, sad, too angry, I do not know how I feel at the moment." just that it's such an incredible opportunity missed, can not believe it. "

However, considering all that, there was one statistic that doubted Djokovic: the untrained errors, Federer hitting nine times more than Djokovic. And it is there that lies the story of the match. Djokovic did not have his first break before the fourth set, but he had already won two sets against one at this point.

"It was probably the most demanding, mentally demanding match I've ever played," Djokovic said after the match. "I had the most physically demanding match against Nadal in the final of Australia. [in 2012] it took almost six hours, but mentally, it was different, because of everything. "

Djokovic managed to find the mental advantage in the tie-break, concentrating just long enough to defend himself from Federer. Federer made eight unusual mistakes in the two decisive first and third sets and in the fifth inning, Djokovic responded to everything Federer had thrown at him. The pair have now played four five-set Grand Slam matches and Djokovic has won all four.

Djokovic sticks to the plan

Federer tried to mix things up against Djokovic. He explained how he was very familiar with Djokovic's game – he targeted Djokovic's backhand with slicing shots, keeping them low while neutralizing the threat from Djokovic's righthand shot. Federer also knew that if the game turned into a rally, then the innocent Djokovic would come out. So he tried to force the tempo, using more volleyball than we saw and accelerating the pace of the match. Federer scored 27 times more points on the net than Djokovic and gained 15% more points.

Similarly, in his service, Federer caused Djokovic all sorts of trouble by using his brilliantly neutral ball to disguise the direction of his service. Djokovic struggled to read it throughout the match. Federer scored 25 aces against 10 for Djokovic. However, in the tiebreakers, Djokovic played in the first place, playing on occasion and causing Federer some unusual mistakes.

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Wimbledon finalist Roger Federer looks back at his chances of winning the match and compares the 2019 final to his 2008 loss to Rafael Nadal.

In the end, Djokovic had to convert the key points when they mattered most, like those two championship points he saved when they lost 7-8 in fifth place.

"I was always happy to be at 8-all, 9-all, I do not remember what it was [after not converting on the two match points], "Federer said. You try to see the positives, you try to take it as a good thing, I guess, that you are not down or that the match is not over yet. If I could have chosen it before the match to be 9 in total in the fifth, it would not be a terrible thing. You always try to force yourself to see things from the best side. "

Argentina's Gaston Gaudio was the last player to bounce back after two match points to win a Grand Slam final. He beat Guillermo Coria in five sets in the final of the 2004 French Open. Only two other players did the same thing in a final at Wimbledon:

  • 1927 Henri Cochet (defeated Jean Borotra in the final)

  • 1948: Bob Falkenburg (defeated John Bromwich in the final)

  • 1949: Ted Schroeder (Frank Sedgman in QF)

  • 1960: Neale Fraser (Butch Buchholz in QF)

During the mini-breaks of the decisive start, Djokovic reversed the trend and converted more points of his first serve than Federer to secure the title.

"It was a blow to lose the match," said Djokovic. "This game had it all, it could have gone easily, it served the whole game very well, I had a lot of trouble reading its service, it was a bit of a flashback to the US." Open when I saved the two match points against him too [2010 and 2011 US Open semifinals].

"In those moments, I just try to never lose confidence in myself, to stay calm, to concentrate on getting the ball back, to come back, which did not serve me well today." . "

The survival of the strongest

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Novak Djokovic qualifies the 2019 men's final at Wimbledon as "one of the most exciting matches of his life" after his five-set victory over Roger Federer.

Federer will be 38 in just over three weeks and would have become the oldest winner of a Grand Slam title he 'd hung on the fifth set. Djokovic is already 32 years old, but he too could stay in the area. He even paid tribute to Federer's longevity in his post-match speech, calling his opponent to be a source of inspiration.

"I do not really consider age as a restriction of any kind, at least for me," said Djokovic. "What I said on the pitch was really sincere: Roger really inspires me from his effort at his age … … It does not just depend on me, it depends on the circumstances of life. I'm not just a tennis player, I'm a father and a husband, you have to balance things. "

No man seems to slow down. In the fifth set, they both covered more points per point than any other time of the match (Djokovic scored at 12.5 meters per point against 12.2 for Federer). Neither of the two seemed likely to crack at 6-5 in the last set, Djokovic even had to check with the referee when exactly a decisive game would come into effect.

Far from a sign of loss of concentration, Djokovic remained in the zone all along. He saved two championship points dramatically and simply refused to give in to the defense before defeating Federer in the deciding game. His fifth title at Wimbledon does not give the impression that it will be his last.

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