Djoker battles past Rafa
LONDON — From the way Novak Djokovic repeatedly smacked his racket against his shoe after one miss, to the shouts directed at himself and his coach after others, it was clear how much he wanted to prove he’s past the roughest patch of his career.
Djokovic sent the strongest signal yet he is back at the top of tennis by reaching his fifth Wimbledon final with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9), 3-6, 10-8 victory over rival Rafael Nadal yesterday in a match suspended overnight.
“It really could have gone either ways,” said Djokovic, who is bidding for a fourth championship at the All England Club and 13th Grand Slam title overall. “Basically until the last shot, I didn’t know if I was going to win.”
He’ll face Kevin Anderson in today’s final. Anderson beat John Isner in a 61⁄2-hour semifinal that ended at 26-24 fifth set Friday night, pushing back the start of Djokovic vs. Nadal.
The second semifinal then was halted when the third set ended just past 11 p.m., because of a neighborhood curfew. It had started with Centre Court’s retractable roof closed and so concluded that way, too, even though there was no rain.
It all made for an unusual schedule, with the start of the women’s final — normally the stand-alone showcase on the fortnight’s last Saturday — delayed until Nadal and Djokovic finished.
Djokovic hasn’t won a major in more than two years, dealing with an injured right elbow that was so painful in 2017 he quit his quarterfinal at Wimbledon and sat out the rest of the season. He had surgery in February, but his results were still shaky.
Until now, that is. His defense and returning are as good as ever and made the difference in his 52nd career tour-level meeting with Nadal, more than any other two men have played.
“In my opinion, he deserved it,” Nadal said. “I deserved it, too.”
Undaunted by losing a lead and being forced to an extra set, Djokovic saved break points at 4-all and 7-all in the fifth, before breaking Nadal at love to end it.
“It’s hard to pick the words,” said Djokovic. “I’m just going through things, flashbacks of the last 15 months, and everything I’ve been through to get here.”
Later, Mike Bryan won his record-tying 17th Grand Slam men’s doubles title, and first without his twin brother Bob, by teaming with fellow American Jack Sock to beat Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Michael Venus of New Zealand 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.