DJOKOVIC OVERCOMES SELF-DOUBT

LONDON— With his Grand Slam reputation and place back in the world top 10 restored, Novak Djokovic will now target a third career Wimbledon/US Open double after clinching his fourth title at the All England Club.

Djokovic defied the odds and even stunned himself by cruising to a 13th major title on Sunday to go fourth on the all-time list of Slam winners.

Only Pete Sampras (14), Rafael Nadal (17) and Roger Federer (20) are ahead of him following his 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3) victory over Kevin Anderson.

Now the 31-year-old heads for the North America hard court season where he has traditionally thrived.

Of his 69 career titles, 51 have been on hard courts with 17 of those in the US.

When he won his first Wimbledon in 2011, he was to add his maiden US Open, repeating the grass court/hard court double four years later.

His desire to repeat that feat burns even deeper after he missed last year’s New York showpiece with the elbow injury which threatened to torpedo his career after his 2017 Wimbledon bid ended prematurely at the quarterfinal stage.

“Well, I understand that people are questioning whether I can consistently play at this level. Trust me, I am, too,” said Djokovic.

“If you asked me a month and a half ago whether I think I can win Wimbledon, part of me yes, I hope, but maybe I wasn’t that sure at that time of my level of tennis.

“But this is going to be a huge confidence boost and springboard for whatever is coming up. I like to play on hard courts.”