WIMBLEDON, England — After more than two years without a Grand Slam title, Novak Djokovic reclaimed a central place in men’s tennis on Sunday by beating Kevin Anderson, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (3), to win Wimbledon for the fourth time.
Ousted by Sam Querrey in the third round here in 2016 and by pain in his right elbow in the fourth round in 2017, Djokovic made it to the finish line this year at the All England Club, even if he did so the hard way.
Djokovic, 31, defeated Anderson without getting a customary day of rest before the match. Anderson’s marathon victory over John Isner in the semifinals on Friday forced Djokovic to play his own marathon semifinal against Rafael Nadal, a match that lasted more than five hours and, because of a curfew, stretched over two days.
Djokovic looked flushed and weary after closing out that emotional victory, 10-8 in the fifth set, on Saturday afternoon, and he had less than 24 hours to recover before facing Anderson, the No. 8 seed from South Africa, who had saved a match point before upsetting No. 1 seed Roger Federer in the quarterfinals.
But Djokovic, whose conditioning and ability to bounce back were instrumental in his previous dominance of the men’s game, was able to prevail despite the 6-foot-8 Anderson’s huge serve and baseline power. Djokovic also won the Wimbledon title in 2011, 2014 and 2015.
Anderson, 32, had his own recovery to manage. His semifinal with Isner, which stretched to 26-24 in the fifth set and lasted 6 hours 36 minutes, was the second longest match in Grand Slam history and the longest played on Centre Court, which opened in 1922. But unlike Djokovic, he had all of Saturday to rest as he prepared for his first Wimbledon final.
It has been a breakthrough stretch for Anderson, who also reached the final at last year’s United States Open. But he keeps running into opposition from the so-called Big Four, losing to a resurgent Nadal in New York and now to a resurgent Djokovic at the All England Club.
Anderson, who lives in the United States and is married to an American, was attempting to become the first man from South Africa to win Wimbledon, but he had to settle for being the first South African male finalist here since Brian Norton in 1921.
“I think more than anything I’ve just really trusted the process,” Anderson said. “There’s ups and downs. Even in the last 12 months, I’ve made finals of U.S. Open and now Wimbledon, but at the same time I’ve lost 7-6 in the third twice in Indian Wells and Miami. I was two sets to love up and served for it twice at the French Open to make quarterfinals. There’s been ups and downs even in the last little while. I’m just always looking at learning, keep improving. I feel like that’s probably one of my biggest strengths is my ability to sort of keep at it, keep my head up. It’s not easy at times.”
Djokovic knows that all too well. He was on top of the tennis world in June 2016 when he finally won the French Open and became the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam singles titles at once. But personal and motivational issues plus persistent pain in his right elbow, which ultimately required surgery this year, combined to knock him off his pedestal.
Sunday’s match was his first major final since he lost at the 2016 U.S. Open to Stan Wawrinka, and it came three months and 10 days after he had reunited with his longtime coach, Marian Vajda.
“He had the injury and then he needed time to recover and now everything is coming together again like a puzzle,” said Goran Djokovic, his uncle and longtime adviser.
Sunday’s victory gave Novak Djokovic his 13th Grand Slam singles title and guaranteed his return to the world top 10. He was ranked 21st when he arrived at Wimbledon, which made him the lowest ranked men’s singles champion here since Goran Ivanisevic won as a wild card in 2001. Ivanisevic was ranked No. 125.
But Ivanisevic’s major title was a one-off. Djokovic’s victory could be the gateway to several more, particularly with the hardcourt season about to begin in North America.
“My opinion, he’s playing at his top level again,” said Nadal, who has played him 52 times, more than any other rival.
Source : NYtimes
