DJOKOVIC IS KING AGAIN
Another big gun triumphs as Novak puts two years of agony behind him
WINNING the Wimbledon men’s singles title remains tennis’s closed shop, the preserve of a very select few.
It is scarcely believable that since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002, four individuals have sewn the finals up between them, and they are all still playing into their thirties.
The essential truth of the current era is simple: never write off the members of this extraordinary generation. That includes Novak Djokovic, 31, who yesterday fought off a spirited fightback from Kevin Anderson to win the 2018 edition 6-2, 6-2, 7-6.
Even when he lolled around at the Miami Open in late March in an existential funk. Even when he stormed into the interview room after losing at last month’s French Open and questioned whether or not he would attempt to play the grass- court season. The likes of himself, 36-year-old Roger Federer and 32-yearold Rafael Nadal are just different.
So is Andy Murray, even if the jury is out on whether his hip will allow him to rescale former heights when he plays again in a couple of weeks.
Of the quartet there is no doubt that the Centre Court finds yesterday’s victor the least easy to like, despite his articulate post-match speech and the appearance of his angelic son Stefan late on in his support box.
He began his march to the title in earnest with a highly charged win over Kyle Edmund a week last Saturday and got involved with the crowd to a lesser extent when Anderson ratcheted up the pressure in yesterday’s third set.
‘Tell them to shut the f*** up,’ he said to umpire James Keothavong after the assembly had roared out during a set point when it thought that a Djokovic forehand had landed long. He had a right to be annoyed on this occasion, although the means of expression was unfortunate.
Then there is the interminable ball-bouncing before he serves, which officials never do anything about. The rules of tennis state that the second serve should follow the first serve ‘without delay’ in the event of a fault. While he is not the only offender, to state that this is given a liberal interpretation would be putting it mildly.
But let it never be said that Djokovic is anything less than an extraordinary athlete and competitor.
He now has 13 Grand Slam titles, this victory his first since winning the French Open two years ago. Reaching a peak of holding all four at once after that win in Paris seemed to have sated his competitive instincts for good, coupled with undetermined issues in his personal life and matters more prosaic than developing a bad elbow.
If he and the likes of Nadal can hold body and soul together it would not be the greatest surprise if they maintain their lock on the title going into the next decade.
Wanted: a younger player who can emerge from the pack to provide a credible threat. This has been, again, a less-than-vintage Wimbledon, and some new challengers would be welcome.
This final actually had many similarities with the previous two, in that it pitted a seasoned Grand Slam champion against a first time SW19 finalist, and the outcome was largely the same.
It was not the crushing defeat of Marin Cilic at the hands of Federer last year, and Anderson deserves credit for that, particularly after his ludicrously long quarter and semi-final.
With tickets for the final going over the £200 mark for the first time, this tournament could have been laid very gently to rest, but the South African managed to rouse himself to provide some competition.
You doubt that a player will ever again have to try and recover from the kind of endurance test he was put through on Friday by John Isner. The change to introduce fifth- set tiebreaks, when it comes, may become known as the Anderson Rule.
Not that Djokovic would have been feeling ultra fresh on one last scorching afternoon of this fortnight, having fought out a gruelling and emotional semi-final against the luckless Nadal the previous day.
A strong start was essential and Anderson blew the chance of that by getting broken in the first game when he made a wild forehand error and then served a double fault.
The first two sets were as regulation as they come, with Anderson unable to challenge the rhythm of the ultimate rhythm player in Djokovic, who was reminding everyone that he is among the greatest returners of serve to play the game.
As Djokovic admitted afterwards, Anderson became the better player in the third set. He created five set points against serve, two at 5-4 and three more at 6-5.
The Serb was becoming increasingly agitated, blowing a kiss towards someone in the crowd out of annoyance. Yet as against Edmund he held his inner composure, putting together terrific serve and forehand combinations when he most needed them. The tiebreak was sealed when Anderson twice came into the net at 2-1 down and was twice defeated by Djokovic groundstrokes.
The celebration was relatively restrained, going to the team — led by low-key coach Marian Vajda — that he entirely cleared out in the spring of 2017 but wisely restored earlier this year after an ill-judged experiment with Andre Agassi.
The 18-month sequence of Nadal and Federer alternating the winning of six Grand Slams had been broken, albeit by a very familiar name.