Novak Djokovic out of the dark to win Wimbledon

Novak Djokovic celebrated a Wimbledon triumph that ended the most testing time of his career.

Serbia's Novak Djokovic holds the winners trophy after beating South Africa's Kevin Anderson in the men’s Wimbledon final. Picture: AFP.

As Novak Djokovic celebrated a Wimbledon triumph that ended the most testing time of his career, his satisfaction was evident.

To achieve greatness on the most sacred site in tennis, with his son Stefan in the stands, sparked immense pride. It was a stark turnaround from the disarray he appeared in just six weeks ago.

The four-time champion thanked his wife Jelena, coach Marion Vajda and other members of a support cast that includes Australian data analyst Craig O’Shannessy.

A 6-2 6-2 7-6 (3) victory over Kevin Anderson secured the Serbian his first major title since a career-defining moment in Paris in 2016, when he became the first man since Rod Laver to hold all four grand slam crowns at the one time. But in the same on-court interview, the Serbian identified a key to his comeback as a contender. He had to regain trust in the methods that had made him a legend. And part of this was working again with Vajda after a break. “The boys band”, as Djokovic described it.

Throughout a period of self-doubt, caused by a significant elbow injury and a personal issue he has acknowledged publicly but never clarified, Djokovic lost control.

Of his game, of his body, of an irrevocable belief in himself. With an elbow aching amid the inner turmoil, the game that made him the best in the business faltered. It was the reason he is the lowest ranked Wimbledon winner since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001.

After his victory over Anderson, who was clearly hindered early by the enormous battles he had survived against Roger Fererer and John Isner to reach the final, Djokovic touched on the doubts that plagued him.

He admitted to being too impatient in the early stages of his comeback, with the frustration boiling over after a quarter-final loss at the French Open to Marco Cecchinato, where he declared: “I don’t know if I’m going to play on grass”.

“My ambitions are quite high,” he said yesterday.

“I think maybe I went against myself, especially the first few months post-surgery because the expectations were so high from myself that I could not understand why I could not perform and play on the level that I’m used to.

“If you asked me a month and a half ago whether I think I can win Wimbledon, part of me yes, I hoped, but maybe I wasn’t that sure at that time of my level of tennis.

“This is obviously very pleasing and satisfying to be able to play the way I played in the last couple of tournaments, in Queen’s and Wimbledon. This is going to be a huge confidence boost and springboard for whatever is coming up.”

Re-establishing that control has been critical and Djokovic has clearly done this, with a 13th grand slam title and a return to the top 10 his reward.

An example of this occurred in his semi-final against Rafael Nadal which resumed on Saturday. Although the 31-year-old had won a thrilling third set tiebreaker before the match was halted for an 11pm curfew, his team had identified an area that needed recalibration.

In the first three sets, the Spanish great made all 26 returns when Djokovic served to his backhand on the advantage court.

Taking on the Nadal forehand might seem a kamikaze tactic but there appeared to be a greater likelihood of drawing an error.

Only a point or two can make the difference and Djokovic was able to execute in one of the finer finales seen in a grand slam semi-final.

Another indication of his renewed control became apparent early on against Anderson, who understandably took his time to work into the final given the exhaustive encounters against Roger Federer and John Isner.

Djokovic went to work on testing Anderson’s legs, making him play and moving him around. It was a tactic the supreme returner from the previous generation in Andre Agassi deployed with success. And with the South African half-a-step slower than he had been and, perhaps, also battling nerves, the errors flew frequently.

While Anderson rallied and was unlucky not to win the third set, Djokovic’s belief was renewed. He stepped up to each challenge and executed perfectly.

Just as he had against Nadal in the decider and in a series of wins over quality rivals including Kyle Edmund, where the passion he displayed hinted at the Djokovic of old.

“I wasn’t playing my best in the decisive moments,” he said.

“That was something that I was missing, to be honest, that kind of competitive match play feeling of being toe-to-toe with an opponent in a big match in the later stages of grand slams.

“Playing against Nadal in the semi-finals here was the biggest test that I could have specifically for that, just to see whether I can prevail.

“That’s why I spend a lot of energy and I put a lot of effort to win that match, because I knew on a short run and long run how much that will mean to me and how much it means to me, to my confidence.”

Remarkably, the Serbian believes he is playing better now than he was two years ago.

The triumph ends the streak of six majors split by his great rivals Federer and Nadal dating back to the 2017 Australian Open. It means the three men have now collected 50 grand slam tournaments combined. And those three, along with Andy Murray, have now won the past 16 Wimbledon titles. It is an astonishing dominance that further underlines the quartet’s greatness given the calibre of other contenders headed by Stan Wawrinka, Juan Martin del Potro and Marin Cilic.