Below-par Djokovic succumbs to rejuvenated Federer
Novak Djokovic lost his Gentlemen's Singles title at the 2012 Championships today - and to a great extent it was his own fault. That was the Serb's own post-match assessment of his 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 defeat in two hours 19 minutes by the six-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer under the roof on Centre Court. The match had been evenly poised until the later stages of the third set, when a poor service game in effect gifted Federer a two-to-one sets lead.
"Then at the start of the fourth set there was a drop in my energy level and a couple of sloppy games with no pace and a low percentaqge of first serves," was how Djokovic summed up his defeat while at the same time sportingly paying tribute to the high level of skill which the 30-year-old Federer maintained throughout.
The surprise was how seriously the Djokovic game deteriorated as he appeared to run out of steam. What a contrast to the man who gave every impression a year ago of being able to keep up his energy levels for ever.
From the very first rally Djokovic was battling against the crowd as well as the most successful man in the history of Grand Slam tennis. Loud cheers greeted every Federer winner, muted applause welcomed his own successful efforts. So he was expecting the roar which greeted his loss of serve in the sixth game of the opening set when he sent a poor backhand into the net. The Swiss, who dropped only three points on serve in that first set, held on comfortably from that 4-2 lead to go one set up but the Djokovic counter-attack was typical of the man who had such a remarkable year in 2011.
He broke Federer to go 2-0 up in the second set, moved 3-0 in front and was always in charge of things. Like Federer in the first, Djokovic conceded only three points on serve and fully deserved to be level with the match 54 minutes old.
But after that it was Federer whose service games were held with more ease as Djokovic started to struggle. He fought off a break point which would have put the Swiss 2-0 up and survived two more break points at 2-3 as the two men thrilled the crowd with some rallies of the highest quality. However, the suspicion was that if a break was to come it would not be in Djokovic's favour. And so it proved. At 4-4 Djokovic could not convert a break point and he paid the price in the next game as Federer, to wild acclaim, had two set points when the Serb sent an easy smash over the baseline. Djokovic saved the first but on the second he underhit a lob which Federer put away forcefully.
That was when the Djokovic game unravelled.Three backhand errors, two of them unforced, saw him fall 2-0 behind in the fourth set and all Federer had to do from then on was hold serve, something he had done convincingly throughout. With Djokovic clearly tiring, Federer reached match point on a Hawk-Eye ruling which said his serve had been good, and on the next point Djokovic put a forehand service return into the net.
"No question about it, Roger was the better player," said Djokovic. "In the important moments he was aggressive, hitting from both sides. That's what you expect when you play against him in the final four of the Grand Slams. But I expected more from myself. I needed to be very consistent to win this match, and I wasn't. I had ups and downs throughout. Unfortunately the one that lasted for 15, 20 minutes at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth cost me the win today.
"What I did badly today was my first shot after the serve. I missed a lot of those. If you play the first shot defensively you are on the back foot and have very little chance to win the point."
Djokovic revealed afterwards that he had not been feeling well. "I had a bad last couple of day. But I don't want to talk about it now. I lost the match, not for the first or last time. I lost to a great champion, somebody who has the most Grand Slams in the history of the sport. I regret that I didn't play as well as I thought I would, but life goes on. This is sport. I have to move on."
Djokovic took issue with those who say his year has not been great compared to the unforgettable 2011 season. "Look, I won a Grand Slam [Australia], played finals, semi-finals, won a couple of big tournaments. So I'm very satisfied. It is really difficult to repeat what I did last year and I didn't expect myself to do that. But I feel good about myself in general. I just need to continue working hard and hoping for the best."
Djokovic, who says he now expects Federer to win the title on Sunday, said he was going on holiday. "It's been a long five, six months for me. Then of course I'm coming back here for the Olympics, which I'm looking forward to.The Olympic Games are the pinnacle of all sports."
