Happy families as Novak wins at Wimbledon
NOVAK Djokovic is a grand slam winner once again after defeating a weary Kevin Anderson to claim his fourth Wimbledon title.
The Serbian has been fighting for two years to restore health, form and confidence after the heights of four slam titles in a row at the French Open in 2016.
His two-day semi-final victory over Rafael Nadal proved he was back to his best and he fought off a comeback from Anderson to win 6-2 6-2 7-6 (7/3).
Anderson, in his first Wimbledon final, had five set points in the third set but could not take any of them. Cheered on by his family, Djokovic wrapped up victory after two hours and 19 minutes, before taking his now customary bite of the Centre Court grass.
Novak Djokovic said that the prospect of having his three-yearold son Stefan see him lift the Wimbledon trophy here had been his biggest motivation.
“I was visualising, imagining this moment of him coming to the stands, cherishing this moment with my wife and me and everyone,” Djokovic said after claiming his fourth Wimbledon title by beating Kevin Anderson in yesterday’s final. “It’s hard to describe.”
Djokovic said that under All England Club rules children under the age of five are not allowed to watch matches in the stands. “I had never had him in the box watching a match, though I had been hoping that Wimbledon could be that tournament because he’s big enough now, I think, to stay quiet maybe for 30 minutes or so.
“He was not there until the very moment when I was walking over to be interviewed on court. That was when he walked in. It was a moment that I will carry inside my heart for ever.”
Asked whether he considered this to be the greatest achievement of his career, given the elbow injury and other issues he had had to overcome in the last two years, Djokovic said it ranked alongside his first Wimbledon triumph in 2011.
“It really is special considering the last two years,” he said. “I’ve never faced a major injury in my career before. I changed my racket. I also made some compensations in my game. I had to adjust. I had to get comfortable with that game. It took me a while.”
Djokovic, who was also watched in the stands by the surgeon who operated on his elbow in January, said that at the start of this year he could not have imagined winning Wimbledon.
“If you had asked me after Roland Garros, I would maybe have doubted it then as well,” he said.
“At the same time there is a part of me that always believes in my own abilities. Whenever I come to a tournament, and especially a Grand Slam, I believe I can have a good opportunity fight for the trophy.
“There were several moments where I was frustrated and questioning whether I can get back on the desired level or not.
“But that makes this whole journey even more special for me.
“It’s easy to talk now and look back at it and be kind of grateful, but I really am grateful to go through these kind of mixed emotions, turbulence as well mentally, moments of doubt and disappointment and frustration, anger.
“It’s a learning curve, it really is. It helped me, not just as a tennis player, but as a human being. It’s usually in a struggle that you get to know yourself, you get to have an opportunity to rise like a phoenix and evolve and get better.”
The Serb said his performances in his last two matches here had proved something to himself. “I wasn’t playing my best in the decisive moments,” he said.
“That was something that I was missing, to be honest, that kind of competitive match play, the feeling of being toeto-toe with an opponent in a big match in the later stages of Grand Slams.
“Playing against [Rafael] Nadal in the semi-finals here was the biggest test that I could have specifically for that, just to see whether I could prevail.”
Djokovic reunited with his long-time coach, Marian Vajda, only during the clay court season and said they discussed the future immediately after his victory here.
“It seems like he’s planning to keep on working with me, which is great news,” Djokovic said. “We’re going to keep on working till the end of the year and then we’ll see after that.”
He added: “We are family. We love each other. We nurture our relationships.”
Djokovic said that although Anderson had not played well at the start of the final, he felt the first two sets were the best he had played for a long time.
“Breaking serve in the first game was the perfect start,” he said. “After that I cruised for two sets. In the third set, he
started hitting his spots with the serve much better. He started swinging through the ball, making fewer errors.
“He was the better player in the third set, without a doubt. I was just trying to hold on and keep my composure in decisive moments. I served well, played some good shots when I was set points down and then played a perfect tie-break to finish.”
Djokovic said it was hard to predict how he might perform in the future but added: “I like to play on hard courts and the US Open has always been a successful tournament for me. I didn’t play it last year because of injuries. I’m looking forward to going and playing my best and seeing where it takes me.”