Today's Men's Wimbledon Finals was an instant classic with Novak Djokovic defeating Roger Federer in 5 thrilling sets. The drama was intense partly because this was such an important finals for both players.
Djokovic came in to the Wimbledon finals with a 6-7 record in grandslam finals. With a loss today, he would be approaching Ivan Lendl territory: one of the finest players of his generation but with a losing record in grandslam finals (8-11) that defined his legacy downwards. I thought Djokovic had turned the corner with his 2011 campaign, one of the best ever, with 3 grandslam wins, a 70-6 record, and 6 wins in finals over Rafeal Nadal. He then followed that up with a win at the 2012 Australian open over Nadal in one of the longest and greatest tennis matches ever. It was perhaps the height of the reign of Djokovic. Since then Djokovic's level has dropped off and more troubling has been his inability to close out matches in the late stages of grandslams, leading to a 1-5 record in the finals of grandslams in the last 2 years.
On the other side of the net, Roger Federer is on the shortlist of greatest tennis players ever. At 32 he is likely in the twilight of his career but he had stormed through Wimbledon 2014 like it was 2006 with only one service game and set dropped through 6 matches. This may have been one of his best remaining opportunities to capture grandslam win #18 at his favorite tournament.
The high quality match had incredibly twists and turns, especially in the 4th set, where Djokovic blew a 5-2 lead to lose 7-5. His inability to close out the match, combined with his recent struggles must have played havoc on his mind. Add to that a slight ankle injury, no tie breaker in the 5th set, and the unflappable Roger Federer on the other side; that Djokovic was able to win the 5th set was truly a testament to his mental fortitude.
I've always wondered something about Americans' passionate love affair with sports. Team sports such as football, basketball, and baseball sit atop the pantheon, which belies another observation: Americans value the rugged individual. A tennis match is truly an individual effort. Preparation itself involves a team but during the match, there are no teammates, there is no coaching, there are no breaks for being tired. It's you and the opponent and nothing else. In that 5th set, Novak Djokovic had no one else to rely on except himself. No teammate to pass the ball to as the doubt crept into his head. No sub to take his place for a few minutes while he got treatment for his body. No coach to give him a pep talk or offer strategy. The pressure, the mind questioning, the body breaking down, legacy on the line. Djokovic re-wrote his today. Tennis tests the physical and mental limits of human's capacity for resilience in sports that team sports simply cannot match. This is why I love tennis.
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