Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer served up the best Wimbledon final since the latter’s epic title-deciding match with Rafael Nadal in 2008.
Watching them fight for almost four hours yesterday, it was impossible to sense who wanted it more, but it was evident Djokovic needed it more than his Swiss counterpart.
Federer shed a single tear during the trophy ceremony while Djokovic was in floods of them.
The Serb did not want to go down in history as one of just four players to lose four consecutive slam finals and the way he was broken while serving for the championship in the fourth set was further proof of the mental problems he has suffered at pivotal moments in finals.
Even the first set should have been won by Djokovic, as he continuously put pressure on Federer’s serve and whose stats were flawless.
But while Federer saved two set points, the new world No1 couldn't pounce on his half chances early on.
Both players got more and more aggressive as the match went on and one would struggle to find another match where Djokovic hit 68 winners and just 27 unforced errors.
For someone who is an incredible defender, Djokovic excelled in making Federer make more running than he did, with IBM stats showing the Swiss covered 4,096 metres of centre court compared to the 3,773 metres run by the champion.
Even more impressive from Djokovic, was that he was on the receiving end of 68 winners from Federer, including 29 aces.
Only six points separated the pair at the end and it’s this kind of tight match that Djokovic needed to win to regain his confidence in major finals.
Saving a break point in the seventh game of the fifth set will arguably be one of Djokovic's proudest moments of the tournament, defying himself, and all the doubts he’s had in recent finals, to hold his nerves and hang on to his Wimbledon dream.
Djokovic later admitted that this was the highest-quality major final he’s ever been a part of and it is hard to argue with that.
He now heads into a well-deserved break – where he will get married – feeling secure about where his game is at.
As for Federer, he has shown signs of his revival throughout the season but he managed to make a real statement at Wimbledon.
He was strong throughout the fortnight, had lost serve just once heading into the final, and pushed Djokovic to his limits before faltering at the very end.
There’s no way he can’t be pleased with his performance, which would explain why he seemed calm in his post-match press conference.
Wimbledon caused a reshuffle at the top of the rankings with Djokovic replacing Nadal as No1, the Spaniard down to No2 and Federer deservingly climbing up to No3.
It’s great to see the three of them playing at such a high level and, with Andy Murray vowing to work harder on his game, we should expect the ‘Big Four’ to be in solid shape for the US Open.
If anyone was wondering about a changing of the guard, yesterday’s final was a clear reminder that the top dogs remain where they deserve to be, at the very top.
