When he won Roland Garros last month, overcoming Nadal along the way, it felt as though Djokovic was playing better than ever.

The only set he dropped all fortnight had been his very first, on the opening afternoon against Jack Draper. Until Sunday, no-one in the men's draw had offered Djokovic a sustained challenge. At times, it feels as if he could outplay his rivals with a wooden racket.īerrettini's fortitude was vital to the occasion, and to the whole tournament. And that’s all we can really ask, when there is such a clear gap between Djokovic and the field. After an error-prone start from both men, the challenger forced Djokovic to lock in and concentrate. To Berrettini’s credit, he made this an entertaining and memorable match with his brutal serving and venomous forehand. But that moment was not on Sunday, and one suspects it could be many years in the future, after he has taught this generation of greenhorns a thing or two about competing. One day, Djokovic will put his foot down – metaphorically speaking – and his internal emotional engine will cough and splutter rather than roaring to his rescue. His main challenge lies in staying calm when there are patchy periods along the way.

As soon as the crowd starts thrilling to the idea of an upset – for there is usually a substantial anti-Djokovic lobby within the stands – he dials up the defiance and focuses on the hand-to-hand battle in front of him instead.Īs we saw during Djokovic’s 2019 Wimbledon final against Federer, his match-management is based around an understanding that his best stuff will show up when he most needs it. Once he goes behind, though, Djokovic seems to wipe all thoughts about his place in history from his mind. When drawn against a less favoured opponent, he often struggles to find his game until backed into a corner. Djokovic feels the weight of history on his shoulders on these showpiece occasions, especially in the context of the GOAT race (in which GOAT stands for greatest of all time). And yet there was intrigue in this final. Djokovic has been an almost unbackable favourite to win Wimbledon since he lifted the French Open trophy last month. The real Novak Djokovic stood up at the start of the second set and remained immovable until he had sealed his 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 victory via a Berrettini slice which failed to clamber over the net. But he was only capitalising on Djokovic’s own early anxieties, which we have seen before in this context. Matteo Berrettini created a buzz around the crowd, when he roused himself from a nervous start to snatch the opening set against the run of play. The trophies keep accumulating for Novak Djokovic, who has levelled up with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on 20 Grand Slams apiece, and now needs only one more title in New York to confirm his status as the greatest player in the sport’s history.

Live score wimbledon 2021