Novak Djokovic won his fifth Wimbledon title and 16th majoron Sunday after saving two match points while defeating Roger Federer in thelongest Wimbledon Final.
Novak defeated Federer 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 13-12(7/3). At 4 hours and 57 minutes, it was the longest Wimbledon final everplayed and settled by a final set tiebreak for the first time.
Djokovic's win meant that the 'Big Three' of men's tennis —himself, Federer and Rafael Nadal — have won the last 11 Slams.
What. A. Final. @DjokerNole and @rogerfederer went back and forth for nearly five hours in the longest Wimbledon singles final ever, and the first ever Grand Slam final to go to a fifth set tie-break. https://t.co/L5lf1ycHs1
— Twitter Moments (@TwitterMoments) July 14, 2019
Despite his advancing age and one of the oldest at 37 tocompete in a Wimbledon fina, Federer kept Novak on the run for most of the timeand came twice withing whispering distance of winning the tournament.
But Novak became the first man in 71 years to win the finalfrom match point down. He is now level with Bjorn Borg as a five-time Wimbledonwinner.
"I think that if this is not the most exciting finalthen definitely it's in the top two or three of my career against one of thegreatest players of all time, Roger, who I respect," said Djokovic.
Even after beating him in the #WimbledonFinal, Djokovic is still inspired by Federer 👏 pic.twitter.com/4240Wm3sYg
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 14, 2019
"Unfortunately in this type of match someone has tolose. It is quite unreal to be two match points down to come back and strangeto play a tie-break at 12-12."
Djokovic is just four Grand Slam titles shy of the all-timerecord held by Federer. Novak is 32 andhe has five year advantage with Federer.
It was incredibly tough on Federer, chasing a ninthWimbledon crown, who didn't face a break point until the eighth game of thefourth set.
Novak Djokovic beats Roger Federer to win fifth #WimbledonFinal https://t.co/mt5tnnQihc pic.twitter.com/4wtjXU9MlL
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) July 14, 2019
He even had two match points in the 16th game of thedeciding set which lasted over two hours.
Federer finished with 25 aces and 94 winners to Djokovic 10aces and 54 winners.