Wimbledon 2014: The Djoker vs The Fed Express
One of the great Wimbledon finals (GLYN KIRK/AFP)
The green, green grass. The white, white clothing. The royal family, the pineapple on the top of the trophy, the mandatory underwear checks. It all adds up to the greatest tennis tournament of them all. Wimbledon.
And it keeping with the epic, iconic nature of the tournament, we were treated to a final for the ages. Novak Djokovic, The Best Player in the World vs Roger Federer, The Greatest Living Swiss Citizen. I’m not gonna hide the fact that Roger Federer is my favourite tennis player ever, and one of my very favourite athletes full-stop. I was desperate to see him win an 18th Grand Slam title. It’s been 2 years since he last made a final, but finally the chips seemed to fall in his favour again. The draw opened up for him, balanced with a return to form like we haven’t seen in so long. Meanwhile Novak was out to regain the ATP number one ranking and edge his way past his coach Boris Becker on the career list of Grand Slam titles.
It took four thrilling hours to split them. Through a barrage of aces and winners, brilliant defence and unforgiving determination, injury timeouts and, well, as Prince William himself succinctly said: “Amazing tennis” - it was Djokovic who came out on top in 5 sets.
Unbelievable stuff. Federer rallied from 2 sets to 1 down, trailing 2-5 in the fourth and even batting back a few match points to win five straight games and take it to a deciding fifth set, where Djokovic eventually broke serve to take the title. And in the end, both men can hold their heads high.
It felt like Roger Federer may never be at this level again. By the age of 30 people were calling him washed up, which seems harsh, but tennis is such a tough balance of endurance and highly refined skill that players tend to peak early. Only four men have won more than a single Grand Slam title after the age of 30. Federer’s last title was at this very stage in 2012 – aged 30 years and 335 days. The oldest winner in the Open era at Wimbledon is Arthur Ashe, aged 31/360 back in 1975. But then again, no man had ever won more than 14 Grand Slam events before Federer too.
He may not have won, but Roger certainly fought off more than a few doubters in that final. Playing at such a high level over this marathon game shows he can handle the gruelling ones. That’s not an issue. And the standard he played at was as good as we’ve seen in ages. It took a fellow future legend of the game (still in his prime) in Novak Djokovic to beat him. More on that soon, but Novak is beyond good. It just so happens that we’re watching arguably the greatest era in the history of mens tennis right now. Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer are possibly the two best players of the last 50 years, and five more years of Djoko and he may just join them. Add in names like Andy Murray (I bet he wishes he were 15 years older…), Stan Wawrinka, David Ferrer (who has somehow never won a Grand Slam!) and the fast rising Milos Raonic too. Only a few men in history are beating Roger Federer on that day. One of them, unfortunately, was Novak Djokovic.
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In the past while we’ve grown used to seeing a Federer incapable of getting over the final few hurdles, letting the errors creep into his once seemingly flawless game, here we saw more than just glimpses of the elegant Federer of old. To know that he’s still able to compete in such an epic game is very refreshing. Not to mention his road to the final which was statistically as dominant as perhaps he’s ever been. The quality was there and if he keeps this up he’ll definitely win another special something.
More importantly, it seems like he’s willing to fight for it too. You could forgive him at this stage of his career for letting things slide against those with more to prove. Roger could ride off in the sunset tomorrow and his legacy would not suffer a bit. But he was quick to reassure the crowd that he’ll be back next year. Wearing a brave face for the cameras, he seemed to take the loss well, motioning to his family in the crowd as he put things in a little perspective. He’s not gonna let this one get him down, but don’t believe for a second that it didn’t hurt. A single tear told that story better than words ever could. It’s just that he knew he couldn’t play much better; he was beaten by a worthy foe. There’s no shame in that. I, for one, am looking forward to the late career Roger Federer resurgence.
And Novak. Wow, what an athlete. By rights, Federer should have won after rallying from 2-5 down in the fourth set. You really can’t overstate the amazing resilience and fortitude that Djokovic showed in fighting back from that devastating slip up. In fact, having lost the past 3 Grand Slam finals, that mental toughness required was increased even more so. The Djoker has clearly taken some hints from the way his latest opponent has always conducted himself. He’s reached a maturity that seemed unlikely as he forced his way onto the scene over half a decade ago with his cheeky impressions and his lack of reverence for the established order. He humbly thanked Roger for “letting him win” and it’s telling that he dedicated the victory in part (along with his coaches past and present) to his fiancé and his unborn first child. Family. Just like Roger.
As to Djokovic’s legacy, there’s no doubt now that he’s a classic player. 7 titles, and he’s done it in the age of Roger & Rafa. Over 100 total weeks at number one in the ATP rankings. Only 12 men have more Grand Slam titles, and this is a guy who’s still just 27 years old. And with this game he has that timeless match against a fellow legend that’ll be replayed on rainy days for years to come. The stats are just the evidence. The truth is in the moments and the memories.
Djokovic is now an undeniable legend, while Federer’s career has taken an upward turn, extending his stretch of dominant tennis as it seemed to be trailing off. The future is unwritten and it’s all in their hands. Only one of those two men got his name on the trophy, but (cheese alert) both were winners on the day…
(Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)