By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
In his book “The Greatest Tennis Matches of All Time” tennis historian Steve Flink rated the return of serve and the backhand of Novak Djokovic among the best in the history of tennis.
It was the serve, however, that may have won Djokovic the 2015 men’s singles title at Wimbledon.
The strong serving performance from the Serb enabled him to defeat seven-time champion Roger Federer for a second straight year in the Wimbledon final to earn his ninth major singles title and his third at Wimbledon.
Djokovic connected on 66 percent of his first serves and won 74 percent of points when he got his first serve, but his ability to connect on big first serves in crucial points proved critical in his 7-6 (1), 6-7 (10), 6-4, 6-3 victory. In the first set, Federer had a look at two set points with Djokovic serving at 5-6, but Djokovic connected on two huge flat out wide first serves to Federer’s backhand that were not returned into play that prevented the front-running Federer from taking the opening set. Djokovic then held serve and rolled through the first-set tie-breaker 7-1, placing him in the important position as front-runner.
After Federer was able to squeak out an incredible second-set tie-breaker 12-10, saving six set points that would have placed him down two-sets-to-love, Djokovic was able to regain his composure and increased the efficienciy of his first serve as the match drew on. After a 20-minute rain delay with DJokovic leading by a service break 3-2, Djokovic won an impressive 88 percent of points on his first serve (21 of 24 points) as he was able to close out Federer in four sets.
Djokovic was only broken once in the match (in the sixth game of the match, but broke immediately back the next game) and fought off six other break point opportunities, hitting first serves into play on five of seven times when facing break point. For most of the match, Djokovic out-aced Federer, but Federer was able to serve one more ace Djokovic 14-13 by the end of the match.
The third Wimbledon championship for Djokovic draws him level with his hard-serving German coach Boris Becker, who 30 years ago won his first title at the All England Club at the age of 17. Djokovic’s ninth major title places him No. 8 among men all time, moving ahead of Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Connors, Ken Rosewall, Andre Agassi and Fred Perry. If not for an incredible upset performance by Federer’s Davis Cup teammate Stan Wawrinka over Djokovic in the French Open final last month, Djokovic, like Serena Williams, would be gunning for a Grand Slam at the U.S. Open in New York later this summer. Djokovic, however, still has a chance to join Federer as the only man to win three major titles in a season for multiple seasons. Djokovic won the Australian, Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles also in 2011, while Federer won three majors in 2004, 2006 and 2007.
Federer, 33, was attempting to win his eighth Wimbledon title, which would give him the most of all-time, releasing him from a tie with Pete Sampras and Willie Renshaw. He has won an all-time record 17 major singles titles, but none since his 2012 title at Wimbledon.
