Djokovic a champion again
Star claims 13th major after finding lost form
LONDON — Novak Djokovic acknowledged he was worried.
Could he return to the top of tennis, to the heights he already had reached? Could he put aside the time lost to a painful right elbow that required surgery and the disappointment of poor-for-him results? Could he end a Grand Slam drought that lasted more than two years?
All of that fretting seemed misplaced Sunday. Back at his best, the 12th-seeded Djokovic became the men’s Wimbledon champion for the fourth time by grabbing a lead right away against eighth-seeded Kevin Anderson and holding off a late challenge to win 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3).
‘‘There were several moments where I was frustrated and questioning whether I can get back [to the] desired level or not,’’ Djokovic said. ‘‘But that makes this whole journey even more special for me.
‘‘It’s easy to look back at it and be kind of grateful, but I really am grateful to go through this kind of, so to say, mixed emotions mentally, moments of doubt and disappointment and frustration, anger.’’
It is Djokovic’s 13th major trophy, the fourth-highest total in the history of men’s tennis, trailing only Roger Federer’s 20, Rafael Nadal’s 17 and Pete Sampras’ 14. But it’s also Djokovic’s first since he completed the career Grand Slam at the 2016 French Open.
‘‘It was a long journey,’’ said Djokovic, who also won the tournament in 2011, 2014 and 2015. ‘‘I couldn’t pick a better place, to be honest, in the tennis world to peak and to make a comeback.’’
Because he had fallen out of the top 20 for the first time in more than a decade, the 21st-ranked Djokovic became the lowest-ranked Wimbledon titlist since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001. But under a pale blue sky interrupted only by the occasional cloud, he looked far more like the player who used to be No. 1.
‘‘The first two sets, Novak beat up on me pretty bad,’’ said Anderson, who played college tennis at Illinois.
Anderson could be excused if he was feeling some exhaustion. His semifinal was the second-longest Grand Slam match in history, lasting more than 6½ hours until he edged John Isner 26-24 in the fifth set Friday. And that followed a 13-11 fifth set in his upset of eight-time champion Federer in the quarterfinals.
Anderson also blamed nerves. He was so out of sorts that Djokovic won eight of the first 10 games, even though he hit only two winners. Anderson committed 15 unforced errors during that span.
‘‘I didn’t really find my form the way I wanted to,’’ said Anderson, whose right elbow was massaged by a trainer after the first set. ‘‘Of course, my body didn’t feel great.’’