Djokovic Breaks Slam Finals Losing Streak, Edges Federer for Wimbledon Title
Novak Djokovic snapped a losing streak of three in Grand Slam finals and edged Roger Federer in five close sets, 6-7 6-4 7-6 5-7 6-4 yesterday at Wimbledon. Federer lost for just the second time in Wimbledon slam finals, and overall drops to 17-8 in grand slam finals, as he reached his first in two years. Djokovic is the one who has upped his slam count to 7 and he sports a 7-7 slam final record.
Federer was able to have success when he got aggressive and took it to Djokovic, coming to the net and having his stellar inside out forehand do damage for him, but he couldn’t maintain the consistency over five sets to have that strategy result in a victory, as we have seen in his other head to head battles with Djokovic recently.
Novak counterpunched in sets 2, 3 and 5 strongly, and he hung around in every set. This match could have ended in 4 as Djokovic had a match point in the fourth set 5-4 up on serve, but Fed saved it. Djokovic really lost his focus in the fourth set, surrendering five games in a row from 5-2 up, but he pulled it together in the fifth, breaking Federer at 4-5 for the victory. With skill and technical talent so close, it was Djokovic making better and more adjustments as the match wore on that won him the day.
Earlier in week 2, Djokovic beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straights, Marin Cilic in 5 and first time grand slam semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov, who beat defending champion Andy Murray in the quarterfinals, in 4. He had control of all of those matches, and though Cilic tested him, the fifth set itself wasn’t competitive.
Federer may well never win another grand slam title, as he had one of his best chances this week but fell just short. To reach the final, he beat Tommy Robredo in straights, Stan Wawrinka in 4 and first time slam semifinalist Milos Raonic in straights to reach the final. It was an interesting two weeks at Wimbledon, and among other notable results, the young Nick Kyrgios beat world number 1 Rafael Nadal to reach the quarterfinals. He is a name to watch in the future.
Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil teamed up to beat the Bryans for the doubles title. The Bryans have failed to win a slam in three tries this season, and Sock now has grand slam titles in both men’s and mixed doubles. Also, young American Noah Rubin won the junior singles title over fellow American Stefan Kozlov.
—-Steen Kirby, Tennis East Coast
Tennis Atlantic 