CONGRATULATIONS NOVAK, THE NEW WIMBLEDON CHAMPION! 07 03 2011, LONDON, ENGLAND
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Novak Djokovic has won his first Wimbledon title this Sunday after beating the defending champion Rafa Nadal 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.
Djokovic, who was already guaranteed to take over the No. 1 ranking from Rafa on Monday, played very well in the moments that mattered and in behalf of the entire team, we would like to congratulate him for such an incredible achievement.
THE MATCH
By Alix Ramsay from wimbledon.com
This was Nadal's 13th major final - he had only ever lost two, both to Roger Federer here in SW19 - and over the course of the seven years it had taken him to amass his 10 Grand Slam trophies, he had inflicted some terrible defeats on his rivals. For the most part, it has been Federer who has borne the brunt of Nadal's aggression. At the French Open in 2008 he humiliated the Swiss maestro, allowing him just four games in the final. That display was brutal, it was ferocious and it left Federer wounded for a long time.
But for all but a set of this two hours and 28 minutes Wimbledon final, it was Nadal who was on the receiving end of a heavyweight pasting.
As they began, Nadal and Djokovic were equals, two world No.1s competing for bragging rights and pride (and the small matter of £1.1million in prize money). Everyone knew that by reaching the final, Djokovic would be elevated to the top spot in the world pecking order - but that would not happen until the rankings computer produced the new list on Monday morning. So, for Sunday and Sunday only, Nadal was still, officially, the top man while Djokovic was only the No.1 elect. That semblance of parity did not last for long.
The defending champion came bounding on to the court, as he always does, full of energy and eager to get started. He is far too nice to be a raging bull but he is certainly an enthusiastic and over-excited bull, and he was desperate to unleash some of that energy on Djokovic. After winning so many big finals, there were no nerves, no tension, just a flurry of pounding forehands. They were better than pounding; they were terrifying.
There was a distinct pattern of play emerging in those opening exchanges. Nadal wanted to push Djokovic far and deep on his backhand side. With the Serb nicely tucked up in the corner and the court wide open, he would rifle one of those forehands into the green space yards from Djokovic's racket: push and fire, push and fire. This was working perfectly well for the first eight games - push and fire, push and fire - and then something happened: push and fire, push and fi... oh. Djokovic had taken off.
Suddenly he was out-Rafa-ing Rafa. It was Djokovic who was dragging the champion all over the court and then hitting massive ground strokes into empty spaces. Everything he touched turned to gold while Nadal watched eight out of nine games go to Serbia.
There seemed to be nothing Nadal could do: he was serving well - he only missed five first serves in the first set - and he was doing everything he could to keep the ball on his forehand side. There were times when this gave the impression of Nadal attempting to win Wimbledon by running backwards towards the trophy as he ran around his backhand time and again. But however hard he hit the ball, however deep he planted his shots, Djokovic was there and ready for him.
In five previous meetings at a Grand Slam, Nadal had only dropped two sets to the young pretender. He was supposed to be the indomitable force, the supreme champion - he had not been beaten in SW19 in 20 matches - and yet here he was, two sets down after just 74 minutes.
But at this level, matches are won and lost by the narrowest of margins - of those five first serves he missed in the first set, three came in the last four points of the set. They were not directly responsible for the loss of those three points, but they did give Djokovic the momentum and, ultimately, the set.
Then, when it seemed that all was lost, Nadal made the most of one of those narrow margins. In the first two sets, Djokovic had committed just four unforced errors yet, in the space of one service game, he added two more - and he dropped his serve.
That was the cue for the Spaniard to set off on a sprint through the next six games - he won five of them - and grab the third set. Alas, it was not enough. As the Serb regrouped and Nadal began to look desperate, the title slipped away from him and into the hands of a delighted Djokovic.
He took it well, mind you, and was gracious and generous in defeat. Well, he was when the microphone finally sprang into life. Yes, he remembered what it felt like to win his first Wimbledon title and, yes, it was an amazing feeling. Sadly for him, he also now knew what it felt like to be Rafa-ed in a Grand Slam final.
