Novak Djokovic beat Kevin Anderson 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) on Sunday to claim his fourth Wimbledon title and 13th Grand Slam.
It was always going to be a massive ask for the South African, who had needed six hours and 35 minutes to beat John Isner in Friday’s epic semi-final, and so it proved, even though Djokovic himself had required five sets to beat Rafa Nadal in a semi-final that was only completed on Saturday.
The 31-year-old Serb won the opening set of the final in just 29 minutes and broke Anderson’s serve twice again in the second set.
The third set was far more competitive, with the South African having five set points. However, he was unable to take any of them and Djokovic dominated the tiebreak to win the match.
Djokovic now has the outright fourth-most men’s Grand Slam singles titles behind Pete Sampras (14), Nadal (17) and Roger Federer (20), while Anderson – who lost last year’s US Open final to Nadal – is still searching for his first.
‘I would just like to congratulate Kevin,’ said Djokovic. ‘He has had quite a few hours in quarter-finals and semi-finals. In his first Wimbledon final he didn’t play well in the first two sets, but he was a better player in the third set and I was happy to come through.
‘I owe a great thanks to my team,’ he added. ‘The last couple of years haven’t been easy. I had surgery and was absent from the tour for six months. This was my first Grand Slam final after a couple of years.
‘There was no better place to make my comeback. This is a sacred place for tennis. I always dreamed of holding this trophy when I was a young boy. The grass tasted really good. I had a double portion this year.’
In his post-match interview, Anderson admitted he had been feeling the effects of two marathon five-setters but gave Djokovic credit for his victory.
‘Playing against Novak isn’t easy. Congratulations to him. I’m not feeling as fresh now as I was coming into the week. But this is an amazing tournament for all of us. That’s what it had to take for me to get here. I would have given another 21 hours to have the opportunity to play out here.’
