Roger Federer breaks hearts, loses a winner
Novak Djokovic brought Roger Federer's Wimbledon fairytale to a halt today, but only after the most titanic struggle in a thrilling five-set final.
It was a spectacular match that boiled up into the most cliffhanging drama in the fourth and fifth set. But in the end it may have been the fact that Federer was giving away almost six years to his challenger that helped Djokovic over the line.
The final was played at a breakneck pace, with Federer landing 69 per cent of his first serves and both men firing off winners - a remarkable 143 between them in the match.
But Djokovic was awe-inspiring for the bulk of his 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 victory, hitting the lines so often that you wondered if the balls might turn white with paint.
"First of all I want to congratulate Roger it was a great match to be a part of he is a magnificent champion and a great example of a great athlete and a role model. I respect everything you have done and thanks for letting me win today," smiled Djokovic.
"That's why he has 17 Grand Slams because at important times he comes up with those shots. After losing the fourth set it wasn't easy to go on and win the fifth set, I don't know how I did it."
It takes something special to stop Federer in a Wimbledon final, as Rafael Nadal — the only man to previously manage it, in that other crazy five-hour final of 2008 - will tell you.
The greatest grass-court player these courts have ever seen, Federer was a huge favourite with the crowd. He drew some huge roars as he charged forward on point after point, looking to keep the rallies short and staccato with his net game.
But Djokovic had the game to negate him with extraordinary service returns and even better passing shots. The statistics said that Federer won 66 per cent of his points from the net but it felt much lower, so often did the ball go flying past him as he approached.
And so the men's and women's winners from 2011 are also the men's and women's winners in 2014. Djokovic might not have started quite as dominantly as Petra Kvitova did in Saturday's final but he was the better player for most of the first set, only allowing Federer to steal it at the death via a couple of inspired points in the tie-break.
The balance of power was restored early in the second set. Federer lost his opening service game — only the second time he had been broken in the tournament — and never managed to get back on terms.
That turned the third set into an absolute must-win for both players. Federer ramped up his service game hugely now, sending down no fewer than 13 aces in the set and winning one "perfect" game with four in a row.
But when the tie-break came around, he missed a crucial forehand putaway, dragging the ball a foot wide of the sideline to give away the mini-break. Two strong points from Djokovic on his own serve and Federer was left facing a 2-1 deficit in sets.
With that age gap to work against, this seemed an impossible task, and the prognosis worsened further when Federer was broken again in the fourth set. But now the match really sprung to life as the two men's serves, previously all but impregnable, began to falter.
Federer recovered the break, only to lose it again as Djokovic stood on the threshold of glory: serving for the title at 5-3. But he could not convert, being broken again, and then failing to snare his first match point in the next game when Federer hit the service line with an ace.
The final set swung to and fro, with Djokovic being forced to save a break point in the seventh game. Early in that set, he had seemed to be at odds with himself, calling the trainer to deal with a knee he had fallen heavily on in the first set, and throwing up his hands in despair when he missed shots.
But he clocked on properly after saving that break point, and from there he was near-flawless, finally claiming the victory when Federer hit a backhand into the net to be broken for the fourth and final time in the match. Perhaps it was a mercy, considering what happened in the fourth set, that Djokovic did not have to serve for it. DT
Sock-Pospisil win doubles titlle
American Jack Sock and Canadian Vasek Pospisil could have trouble improving on their first tournament as a doubles team. Sock and Pospisil defeated Americans Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in the Wimbledon doubles final on Saturday playing in their first event as a team.
The winners broke the top-seeded Bryan brothers' service in the final game on their fifth match point, with Sock smashing the winning forehand on a Mike Bryan second serve.
Pospisil said they had a simple formula for beating the all-time best doubles pair in Grand Slam history. "Close your eyes; hope you play the best tennis of your life," he said, smiling.
Sock and Pospisil were playing on Centre Court for the first time. "We had a lot of fun, people could see that," Sock said. "That's part of why we did well. We really enjoyed being out there. As kids we grew up watching this tournament. This is what we kind of dreamed of doing."
The 21-year-old Sock became the third-youngest player to win both a Grand Slam men's doubles title and a Grand Slam mixed doubles championship in the Open era, adding to the mixed title he won with American Melanie Oudin at the US Open in 2011. AP