Djokovic Beat
Novak Djokovic was the hot favorite to win his 20th slam, but getting hands-on that trophy was not that easy. He was looking off-color as his service games were long as most of his serves were returned back. He probably asked Berrettini to break, but Berrettini, for some reason, denied. He was the feeling the head of his first final and had few niggles as well. The match started with a full house and royal family members taking up the Royal Box of the center court.
Djokovic broke Matteo in only his 3rd serve, but Matteo broke back during Novak’s 4th serve, and the score was 5-5. The first set went to the tie-breaker, and Matteo won the first set and made the crowd going Matteo, Matteo. Serb took a small break and returned stronger than ever. He broke Matteo’s first two services in the second set and even got broken once but clinched the set after offering some more breakpoints.
The next two sets again, he took it quite comfortably as Matteo’s service was way far behind his service games in the previous encounters. It was Djokovic who had all the answers to Italian’s 135mph services, and some of the shots he played were just gorgeous. After wining, Novak did his customary of eating grass and entertaining the crowd for a while. He ran to his team immediately after winning and gave selfies to some fans as well.
Along with this win, some stats that have made the headlines are, Novak is only the 3rd player in the open era to be a part of 7 Wimbledon finals. He is now 3rd in winning the trophy for the maximum number of times as Pete Sampras 7. Roger Federer 8 leads the race with maximum Wimbledon trophies.
He has equaled the record for maximum men’s singles titles of 20 grand slams with his win. He is now tied with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. He has the opportunity to become only the second player in the open era to complete a calendar slam and golden calendar slam as well. He was asked in the presentation about the same, but he gave his usual answers that we want to live in the present.
The kind of form he is in, there’s probably no one who possesses a challenge to him. The hard court season will begin with the Olympics, where the Serbian team will accompany him. He has only won a Bronze medal thus far at the Olympics, which is his chance to have one. He will keep sitting on the number one position after the Wimbledon win.
He was knocked out in the 3rd round of the US Open due to disqualification last year, so he has a chance to add on those points. Novak has almost ended the GOAT debate as his records and numbers are better than his counterparts, and with age on his side, he is looking good for a few more grand slams.
He is playing the best tennis of his career and has ruled the last decade, with 18 of his grand slams out of 20 that have come in the last decade. On the other hand, Matteo Berrettini showed what he is capable of. One thing that he can be proud of is that he may have lost, but Italy won the Euro Cup, and he can take some inspiration from that in the future. He has also confirmed his participation at the Olympics. With the kind of form he is in, he is also looking good for having an Olympic medal at the start of his career.