{"id":1312397,"date":"2019-07-14T13:56:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-14T19:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/djokovic-tops-federer-in-historic-final-for-5th-at-wimbledon\/"},"modified":"2019-07-14T13:56:00","modified_gmt":"2019-07-14T19:56:00","slug":"djokovic-tops-federer-in-historic-final-for-5th-at-wimbledon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/djokovic-tops-federer-in-historic-final-for-5th-at-wimbledon\/","title":{"rendered":"Djokovic tops Federer in historic final for 5th at Wimbledon"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic kisses the trophy during the presentation after he defeated Switzerland’s Roger Federer during the men’s singles final match of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Sunday, July 14, 2019. (Laurence Griffiths\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/strong>
AP | POOL Getty<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

WIMBLEDON, England \u2014 For nearly five tight, tense and terrific hours, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer traded the lead, playing on and on and on until an unprecedented fifth-set tiebreaker was required to settle their memorable Wimbledon final.<\/p>\n

In the end, it was Djokovic who emerged victorious, coming back to edge Federer 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 13-12 (3) and become the first man in 71 years to take home the trophy from the All England Club after needing to erase championship points.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately in these kinds of matches, one of the players has to lose,\u201d Djokovic said. \u201cIt\u2019s quite unreal.\u201d<\/p>\n

After facing two match points at 8-7 in the last set, he wound up claiming his fifth Wimbledon title and second in a row.<\/p>\n

This triumph also earned Djokovic his 16th Grand Slam trophy overall, moving him closer to the only men ahead of him in tennis history: Federer owns 20, Rafael Nadal has 18.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just feel like it\u2019s such an incredible opportunity missed,\u201d said Federer, who actually accumulated 14 more total points, 218-204. \u201cI can\u2019t believe it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has ruled grass courts since the early 2000s; he has won Wimbledon eight times dating to 2003, and this was his record 12th appearance in the title match. But Djokovic is now 3-0 against Federer in finals at the place and 4-0 against him in five-setters anywhere.<\/p>\n

This one was unlike any other, though.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because, while it was reminiscent of Federer\u2019s 16-14 fifth-set victory over Andy Roddick in the 2009 Wimbledon final, that score is no longer possible: The All England Club altered its rule this year to do away with never-ending matches and institute a tiebreaker at 12-all in a deciding set.<\/p>\n

At one point during the final set Sunday, Djokovic asked chair umpire Damian Steiner whether the change called for the tiebreaker at 10-10. Later, when Djokovic held for an 11-10 lead, it was Steiner who got confused, beginning to call out the score as 11-9, before catching himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI respect whatever the rule is,\u201d Federer said when asked what he thinks of the altered setup. \u201cSo really, it is what it is, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

Federer and Djokovic pushed each other to the limit in what became as much a test of focus and stamina as it was about skill. It is the longest final in the history of a tournament that dates to the 1870s, eclipsing by nine minutes Nadal\u2019s five-set win over Federer in 2008.<\/p>\n

Like that one, this is destined to be discussed for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll try to forget,\u201d joked Federer, who is less than a month shy of his 38th birthday and would have been the oldest man to win a Grand Slam title in the professional era.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great match. It was long. It had everything. I had my chances. So did he. I thought we played some great tennis. In a way, I\u2019m very happy with my performance, as well,\u201d Federer said during the trophy ceremony. \u201cBut Novak, it\u2019s great. Congratulations, man. That was crazy. Well done.\u201d<\/p>\n

First, it was Federer who kept falling behind, then coming back. He twice trailed by a set even though he came quite close to winning the match in three: Federer was two points from grabbing the opening set on seven occasions but couldn\u2019t do it; he was one point from seizing the third, but again came up short.<\/p>\n

Then, Federer was down a break early in the crucible of the fifth. And then, after seemingly gaining the upper hand, standing a single point from winning while serving for the victory at 8-7, 40-15, he faltered.<\/p>\n

He sent a forehand wide on the first championship point, and Djokovic produced a cross-court forehand winner on the next. Soon enough, the 32-year-old Djokovic had broken back and on they would play for another 45 minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely tough to have those chances,\u201d Federer said.<\/p>\n

Djokovic has done this to him before.<\/p>\n

In the semifinals of the 2010 and 2011 U.S. Opens, Djokovic erased two match points each time before coming back to win.<\/p>\n

Looking at the bigger picture, there\u2019s also this takeaway from Sunday: Nadal\u2019s status as Federer\u2019s principal nemesis has been well-documented and much-examined over the years \u2014 which is a small part of why Friday\u2019s semifinal victory for Federer was fraught with meaning. But it\u2019s now high time to discuss Djokovic\u2019s edge over Federer.<\/p>\n

Djokovic has won their past five meetings and holds a 26-22 advantage overall head-to-head, including 10-6 at Grand Slam tournaments and 3-1 at Wimbledon.<\/p>\n

By the reverberating sound of things around the old arena Sunday, a vast majority of the spectators were pulling for the popular Federer. Made it seem as though he might be British, not Swiss.<\/p>\n

While one person cried out, \u201cWe love you both!\u201d \u2014 a fitting sentiment, given the high quality and unceasing shifts in momentum \u2014 the \u201cCome on, Roger!\u201d count far outnumbered the shouts for his Serbian foe.<\/p>\n

Yes, they roared for Federer\u2019s ace on the very first point and when he sent the final to a fifth set. They even applauded when he kicked a ball to a ball boy or when he brought his racket around his back to make meaningless contact after Djokovic served a let.<\/p>\n

And then there were the \u201cAwwwws.\u201d So many \u201cAwwwws\u201d \u2014 pained sighs of despair accompanying a missed backhand here, a double-fault there, by their guy.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until the fourth set that Federer faced so much as one break point, no small accomplishment against Djokovic, considered by many to be the greatest returner of his, or perhaps any, generation. Still, even though Federer did get broken in that set, he won it to send this match to a fifth.<\/p>\n

What already was fun to watch became completely riveting.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say the tennis was perfect, because both men showed signs of fatigue and perhaps nerves. Federer\u2019s mediocre approach shot provided Djokovic an opening for a backhand pass that earned a break and a 4-2 lead.<\/p>\n

Djokovic\u2019s double-fault in the next game helped Federer break back, and the ensuing changeover was filled with a fugue of fans\u2019 voices chanting the first names of both.<\/p>\n

As the newfangled tiebreaker carried the last set alone past the two-hour mark, it was Djokovic who was better. When Federer shanked a forehand off his racket frame, it was over, allowing Djokovic to renew his personal tradition of plucking some blades of Centre Court grass and chewing on them.<\/p>\n

\u201cConstant pressure,\u201d Djokovic said. \u201cI had to fight and find my game to stay in the match.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic kisses the trophy during the presentation after he defeated Switzerland’s Roger Federer during the men’s singles final match of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Sunday, July 14, 2019. (Laurence Griffiths\/Pool Photo via AP)AP | POOL Getty WIMBLEDON, England \u2014 For nearly five tight, tense and terrific hours, Novak Djokovic and Roger […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1312397","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-20 17:06:56","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1312397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312397\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1312397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1312397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1312397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}