Novak Djokovic wins third Wimbledon title, 9th career major
Novak Djokovic wins The Championships, Wimbledon for 2015.
Coming off one of the more heartbreaking defeats in his career at the 2015 French Open, Novak Djokovic bounced back with aplomb to win his third Wimbledon title on Sunday afternoon. For the second consecutive year he was able to hold off a Roger Federer seeking his eighth career championship at Wimbledon.
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The match started with Federer winning the coin flip and choosing to serve. He handled serve easily and broke Djokovic early in the set. Rather than rolling over, the defending champion immediately broke back and pushed the set to a tiebreaker. After winning an acrobatic first point in the tiebreak, Djokovic would hit another gear and overpower Federer 7-1 to claim the set.
Throughout the second set, it appeared as though Djokovic was rolling. He scored plenty of easy points, and forced Federer to really work hard for each of his games. However, when it came to the second set’s tiebreak momentum shifted. After winning his second point Federer seemed to gain a little hop to his step. The two men would play some of the match’s best points in a hotly contested tiebreaker that would eventually go to Federer.
And then, in the blink of an eye, Federer’s momentum floated right out the open roof. He was broken early in the third set before play was halted for roughly 30 minutes due to a passing shower. Once the players returned to the court it was all Djokovic. The defending champion would continually have Federer on his heels, winning the third set 6-4 and then breaking serve for the championship. The final count was 7-6 (7-1), 6-7 (10-12), 6-4, 6-3.
The match was one of contrasts, with Federer continually coming up to the net and forcing Djokovic to do more than stand behind the baseline and hammer away. And while Djokovic is known as one of the game’s best returners, it was his serve that dominated on the day. Likewise, Federer’s first serve, which had held strong for two weeks, became scattered. For the first half of the match it felt as if the man who controlled momentum would lose the set. Following the rain delay, order was restored and there was a clear alpha on the court.
For Federer it was another crushing defeat at his favorite tournament. The 17-time major winner has said that he plans his entire year around Wimbledon, and for the second consecutive year he comes up a bridesmaid. The narrative remains the same for him: Will he win another championship? Was this his last best chance? Can he dial back the clock one final time?
As for Djokovic, the question turns to just how high can he climb. At nine Grand Slams, he’s now five behind contemporary Rafael Nadal. And at age 28, he still appears to have at least two-to-three dominant seasons left. His prowess on grass and the hard court cannot be questioned; it’ll all come down to when and if he can capture that white whale French Open.
Djokovic has now won two of the year’s first three majors, and has been a finalist in them all. He now sets sights on September’s U.S. Open – a tournament in which last year both he and Federer bowed out in the semifinals.