Djokovic lands Wimbledon crown

[celeste]

3 July 2011, 17:19Djokovic lands Wimbledon crown Novak Djokovic crowned his rise to number one in the world in perfect fashion with a dramatic 6-4 6-1 1-6 6-3 victory over Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon final.
The Spaniard was looking to make it three titles in four years at the All England Club and win back-to-back French Open and Wimbledon titles for the third time, but it was the player in his first final in SW19 who held his nerve the best.
Having been sublime in the opening two sets, Djokovic, the Australian Open champion in January, dipped in the third but he was not to be denied.
The Serbian began to come out on top in the long, brutal rallies Nadal so loves, and two stunning forehand winners took him to 30-30 with his opponent serving to stay in the first set.
Rarely does Nadal crack, but this time he did, dumping a tame shot into the net to hand Djokovic the set point and then missing with his favourite forehand down the line.
Djokovic promptly created two more break points in the second game of the second set and he took the first with a beautiful dinked backhand off a Nadal drop-volley, celebrating as if he had won the match. Murray had let the Spaniard off the hook but Djokovic simply got better, breaking again in the sixth game and clinching the set with ease.
The question was whether the 24-year-old would be able to keep up his almost superhuman level, and the answer arrived in the second game of the third set when a forehand error was followed by a backhand one and Nadal had his first break from his first opening.
Djokovic saved two break points in game six but a third brought the first double fault of the match, and Nadal served out another emphatic set to love.
They traded breaks early in the fourth set and the crucial break then came in the eighth game. Nadal started ominously with a double fault, and two more errors made it 0-40.
He saved one break point with a stunning forehand but on the second the coolest man in sport showed his nerve and blasted a forehand long and a brave serve and volley gave Djokovic a first match point and this time Nadal had no answer, drilling a backhand long.

[celeste]

Nadal admits mental block Rafael Nadal admitted his Wimbledon final defeat against Novak Djokovic was forged not just on the grass of the All England Club but also on the hard courts of Indian Wells and Miami and the clay of Madrid and Rome.
Sunday's 6-4 6-1 1-6 6-3 loss was Nadal's fifth of the year to the Serb, who on Monday morning takes his rightful place as world number one. Nadal took a 20-match unbeaten run at Wimbledon into the match against a man playing his first final but, when the crunch moments arrived, it was Djokovic who held his nerve.
"When I was 100% to play, I lost against him five times. The rest of the year I won almost every match. So I'm doing things very well, but probably not against him. That's what I have to change," said Nadal.
"Probably the mental part is a little bit dangerous for me, because when I was at 5-4 (in the first set), I played a bad game from 30-0. When I was 4-3 down in the fourth set, I played another bad game with my serve. To win these kind of matches, I have to play well (at those moments). These kind of points can change the match.
"When I had the break point in the first game of the fourth set, I didn't play that point well. That was a big moment for me. Because I came back with the 6-1, if I start the fourth with a break it can change everything.
"To change things I probably have to be a little bit less nervous, play more aggressive, and all the time be confident with myself. That's what I'm going to try next time. If not, I'm going to be here explaining the sixth."
Djokovic's win made it 48 victories from 49 matches in a phenomenal season that has also brought him the Australian Open and six ATP World Tour titles, with his only defeat coming against Roger Federer in the French Open semi-finals.
The 24-year-old, who secured the number one ranking with his semi-final win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday, said: "I managed to achieve a lifetime goal and I managed to make my dream come true, all in three days.
"It's just an incredible feeling that I'm never going to forget. This is the best day of my tennis career.
"For these kind of days, I was practising every day, being dedicated, being a tennis professional. Any athlete in the world dreams of being number one. This is something that gives us a lot of motivation. So finally when you really do it and when you know that you're the best, it's just an amazing achievement