Djokovic takes Wimbledon title
WIMBLEDON, England – Novak Djokovic’s more than two-year title drought at the Grand Slams came to a welcomed end at the 132nd staging of Wimbledon on Sunday.
The 12th-seeded Djokovic was a bundle of emotions as he won his 13th Grand Slam title – his fourth victory at Wimbledon – and his first major title since winning the French Open for the first time in 2016.
All that is now in the rearview mirror as Djokovic is, once again, a Grand slam champion courtesy of a 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (3) win over eighth-seeded Kevin Anderson in the Wimbledon final.
As has become tradition for Djokovic here, he bent down and ate a few blades of grass from the court after the victory. He claimed he took a “double portion” of grass this time around.
What seemed to mean the most to Djokovic was that his 4-year-old son, Stefan, was allowed to enter the player’s box after the match to see him cradle the trophy.
“It feels amazing that this time I have someone screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy’ and it’s the little boy right there,” said Djokovic, who will rise to No. 10 in the rankings Monday. “He’s under 5 years old so he couldn’t watch the match live. But we were hoping that if I won he could come in and watch me hold the trophy. It’s very emotional for me for him to be there.”
In the past two years, there was a right elbow injury that sent him to the operating room and off the court for six months. And there was a constant scrutiny of his personal life that made the Serbian seem a shadow of the champion and No. 1 player he had been.
“There is no better place to make a comeback,” Djokovic said of winning his latest Grand Slam trophy at Wimbledon. “This is a sacred place in tennis.”
A fatigued Anderson, his arm aching from 21 hours on court and having already played 24 sets of tennis – 14 in the last five days – came alive in the third set. But it was too late to stop Djokovic from his splendid victory.
Anderson’s best moments came when he held set points in the third set. He had two on Djokovic’s serve in the 10th game when Djokovic double-faulted to 30-40 and ad-out. He had three on Djokovic’s serve in the 12th game, but couldn’t send the match into a fourth set.
Into the tiebreaker – a ninth for Anderson at this year’s Wimbledon with a 4-5 outcome – and Djokovic saw the trophy dangling in front of him and pounced. He breezed to a 5-1 lead and closed the match down four points later.
Anderson, vying to be the first South African man to win at Wimbledon, had very little more to give. This was a result of having to give every ounce of energy he possessed to get through the three previous matches.