Epic Wimbledon final Djokovic’s ‘most demanding win’

Forget the six-hour epic — Novak Djokovic claims his incredible win over Roger Federer was the most mentally draining of his career.

Novak Djokovic following his victory over Roger Federer in the men's singles final. Picture: AP

Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic has described his historic victory over Roger Federer in a truly astonishing final as the most mentally demanding match of his career.

MORE: Djokovic wins epic Wimbledon final victory over Roger Federer

The world No 1 became the first man in 71 years to overcome match points in a Wimbledon final to prevail when successful 7-5 (5) 1-6 7-6 (4) 4-6 13-12 (3).

It is the first deciding set tie-breaker played in a singles match at Wimbledon since the rule was introduced, causing a truncated end to the longest final ever played at the All England Club.

Djokovic appeared on the brink of defeat when Federer, who was seeking a ninth Wimbledon final, held match points at 8-7 in the deciding set, but he managed a reprieve when clubbing a forehand passing shot winner on the second.

He also proved too tough mentally in all three tiebreakers to claim what is truly a remarkable victory given the level Federer sustained throughout and that fanaticism of having almost the entirety of the centre court crowd barracking against him.

“It was probably the most demanding, mentally most demanding, match I was ever part of,” he said.

“I had the most physically demanding match against Nadal in the finals of Australia that went almost six hours. But mentally this was different level, because of everything.

“I’m just obviously thrilled and overjoyed with emotions to be sitting here in front of you as a winner. It was one shot away from losing the match, as well. This match had everything.

Roger Federer. Picture: AP

“It could have gone easily his way. He was serving extremely well, I thought, the entire match. I had a lot of difficulties to read his serve. Well, it was kind of a flashback of US Open (in 2011) when I saved two match points against him, as well.

“But, look, you know, in these kind of moments, I just try to never lose self-belief, just stay calm, just focus on trying to get the ball back, return, which wasn’t serving me very well today. But in the most important moments, all three tiebreaks I guess, if I can say so, I found my best game.”

The Serbian won 14 fewer points that the 37-year-old and was behind in most key statistical areas, something he acknowledged after the match when noting he was on the defensive.

But he did win the most critical points of all to become the first man since Gaston Gaudio in 2004 in Paris to win a major after facing match points in the final. Bob Falkenburg was the last man to achieve the feat at Wimbledon when defeating Australian John Bromwich in 1948.

“I thought most of the match I was on the back foot, actually,” he said.

“I was defending. He was dictating the play. I just tried to fight and find a way when it mattered the most, which is what happened.”

Federer, who was seeking to defeat both Rafael Nadal and Djokovic for the first time in a grand slam, was understandably shattered after the match.

But the 37-year-old is confident it will not be a result that shakes his morale for too long.

He cited a similar loss to Nadal in the 2008 final in a match described as the greatest of all time — though there is clearly another challenger now — as an example of this. He rebounded to win the US Open less than two months later when beating Andy Murray.

“(It’s) similar to getting broken when serving for the match,” he said.

“(You) take it on your chin, you move on. You try to forget, try to take the good things out of this match. There’s just tons of it.

“Like similar to ‘08 maybe, I will look back at it and think, ‘Well, it’s not that bad after all,’. For now it hurts, and it should, like every loss does here at Wimbledon.

“I think it’s a mindset. I’m very strong at being able to move on because I don’t want to be depressed about actually an amazing tennis match.”

Federer plans to skip the Canadian Open next month and will return to the tour in Cincinnati in the lead-in to the US Open.

As for Djokovic, his predominant post-match priority was slipping into a tuxedo to attend the Wimbledon Champions Ball, where he will share a celebratory dance with women’s winner Simona Halep.