LONDON: Novak Djokovic got the better of Roger Federer at Wimbledon again.

The defending champion displayed his full acrobatic repertoire to win a third Wimbledon title and a ninth Grand Slam crown on Sunday, ruthlessly shattering Federer’s bid for a record eighth All England Club triumph.

The Serbian world number one got over the disappointment of squandering seven set points in a gripping second set to win 7-6 (7-1), 6-7 (10-12), 6-4, 6-3 and add this year’s Wimbledon title to the Australian Open he captured in January, stretching and sliding after the ball to all corners of the court to douse second-seeded Federer’s firepower in a repeat of last year’s final.

It was a cathartic moment for Djokovic just a month after his heartbreaking French Open final defeat against Stan Wawrinka — a loss that denied him the only major title he has yet to win.

A forehand crosscourt winner after two hours and 56 minutes handed him victory and drew him level on three Wimbledon titles with his coach Boris Becker.

He pumped his arms and screamed, then bent down, plucked some grass from Centre Court and put it his mouth — just as he did when he won his first title in 2011 and again last year.

“He [Federer] makes you push your limits, work hard and win every single point,” 28-year-old Djokovic said on court. “I have to say it’s a big challenge playing against Roger. A lot of players of my generation have looked up to him and followed his lead.”

For 33-year-old Federer, it was a bitterly disappointing end to his bid to become the oldest Wimbledon champion of the Open Era. The 17-time major winner has now gone three years since his last Grand Slam triumph, at Wimbledon in 2012.

“Novak played not only good today but the whole two weeks, the whole year, last year and the year before that,” said Federer.

“I had my chances in the first set. I got lucky to win the second, had chances in the third. But he was better on the bigger points. He was rock solid, I didn’t play badly myself. That’s how it goes.”

The final featured two of the fiercest competitors in the sport going toe-to-toe, with each going for big serves and engaging in furious corner-to-corner rallies.

Federer took more risks and was more aggressive, but the steely Djokovic refused to bend, digging in and lifting his game whenever he had to in order to prevent his opponent from gaining the edge.

While Federer had more winners (58) than Djokovic (46), the Serb finished with only 16 unforced errors, compared to 35 for the Swiss player.

Federer scored the first blow in the final, breaking for a 4-2 lead but Djokovic hit back immediately.

The Serb’s often under-rated serve bailed him out at 5-6 in the first set when he saved two set points and he then ran away with the tiebreak, winning it 7-1 as Federer crumbled.

Djokovic had already wasted a set point in the second set before an epic tiebreak.

The clinical Serb was 6-3 ahead and seemed to have the final in his pocket, but Federer showed incredible fight to stay in the final and provoked an explosion of noise heard halfway across London when he cut off a backhand volley to eventually take the breaker 12-10.

It proved the high point of the afternoon for the Swiss maestro though and his level dropped sharply as he was broken early in the third set.

A short rain delay halted Djokovic’s progress, but when play resumed the fire had gone from Federer’s belly and he was powerless to stop the top seed’s march to victory.

Published in Dawn ,July 13th, 2015

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