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This Day In Sports…July 14, 2019:
One of the most riveting men’s finals in Wimbledon history, as Novak Djokovic captures his fifth crown on Centre Court with a five-set victory over Roger Federer. There were serious momentum swings as the match crawled into the evening at the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Federer twice fought back from a set down to force a deciding set, while Djokovic fended off two match points in the final set.
This was as dramatic as it gets. Federer was poised to clinch his ninth Wimbledon title in the fifth set, as he was serving with an 8-7 lead. He rocketed a pair of aces on his way to 40-15, setting up two championship points. Federer sent a forehand wide on the first championship point, and Djokovic blasted a crosscourt forehand winner on the next before recovering to win the game. The rivals would play on.
When they got to 12-12, a new Wimbledon rule was invoked, requiring a tiebreaker once the game score in the deciding set reached that point. It was the third tiebreaker of the match, and Djokovic—as he had been all day—was money in the clutch, winning the tiebreak 7-3. Inthose three tiebreakers, Djokovic did not make any unforced errors while Federer recorded 11. The match was the longest Wimbledon men’s final ever, lasting four hours and 55 minutes.
Federer lost despite outplaying Djokovic in almost every statistical category. Federer won the most points, 218-204. His first and second serve percentage was superior. Federer logged more aces, fewer double-faults, more winners and more service breaks. Besides the scoreboard (which is all that matters), the only statistical category Djokovic won was fewer unforced errors.
It was Djokovic’s 16th career Grand Slam championship, trailing only Federer’s 20 and Rafael Nadal’s 18 at that point. Federer was 37 years and 340 days old and was seeking to become the oldest men’s Grand Slam winner in the Open era. But he wouldn’t win another major nor make another final before retiring in 2022. That hardly diminished Federer’s legacy—he’s one of the greatest sportsmen of our time. Djokovic has since set the career record for major wins at 24 (Nadal retired with 22).
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
