Wimbledon Men's Final: The Survivors

At the end of a Wimbledon that was highlighted by the emergence of a new generation of stars, the men's final featured a continuation of what has been "the norm" over the past decade -- another match-up of two men from a small group of elite players who have dominated the sport's major titles for what seems like ages.

Well, if you can call taking 36 of the last 38 slams "dominating" for what seems like "ages." And I think we can.



In the men's final, top-seeded Novak Djokovic faced off with seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, with both men looking for a bit of redemption on a Sunday afternoon in London. Djokovic, the 2011 champ at SW19, came into today having lost in his last three appearances in slam finals, and in five of six over the last three seasons; while Federer, still looking for career major #18 and trying to end a two-year slam title drought since winning at the AELTC in '12, was seeking to extend his amazing era of heroics into an area of a tennis career where few players in the sport have ever thrived. After all, only five times had men older than the 32-year old Swiss legend managed to lift slam singles trophies in the Open era. Yet, here he was... looking for still more.



Federer, who would become the oldest Wimbledon men's champion in the Open era with a victory (topping the run by a 31-year old Arthur Ashe in 1975), has been written off by some as a continued slam contender more times than one can count over the last few seasons, only to win #17 and briefly return to the top ranking just the year before last. But after an early exit at Roland Garros, the whispers grew louder even as the Swiss legend got an early start on his grass court preparation. As it turned out, he seemed to turn back the clock at the All-England Club over the past two weeks, serving as well as he has in years and easily putting young up-and-comers in their place en route to his record twenty-fifth appearance in a slam final.

Time has been infringing on the property of the 27-year old Serb, as well. Set to soon join Federer as the only members of the "Big 4" who have dominated the men's game over the past decade to become a married man and, in a few months, a father for the first time, Djokovic came to Wimbledon off yet another failed attempt to complete a Career Slam in Paris, being unable to take out Rafa Nadal in the final as the Spaniard claimed career Roland Garros crown #9. After fighting to escape his early-career label of a player who couldn't win the big match, Djokovic's recent slam results were bringing back a slew of bad memories, even if he IS still a player against whom no lead is safe, and no close match isn't capable of being taken over by the six-time slam champ down the stretch. Just ask Grigor Dimitrov, Djokovic's fallen semifinal opponent. Looking to make a '14 slam stand at Wimbledon, even before his loss to Nadal last month, the Serb brought former Wimbledon champ Boris Becker on as his "head coach," seeking to utilize the history of big match prowess sported by the Hall of Fame German at the AELTC (he won three Wimbledon titles) to help him get "over the hump" and return to the top of the men's game.

In just the second slam final match-up ('07 U.S.) between the two, Federer played as well as he has in years at the All-England Club, maybe even better than he did while winning the final over Andy Murray in '12. Still, he had a hard time shaking Djokovic. In the 1st set, which was ultimately decided in a tie-break, Federer saved two set points before converting the first of his own to take the TB 9-7 and grab the lead in the match. After Djokovic took the 2nd set at 6-4, Federer put on a serving display of great mastery in the 3rd, firing in thirteen aces in the set. Still, it wasn't enough, as the Serb went a third straight set without dropping serve in the final and took a 7-4 TB to edge ahead in the match.

In the 4th, Djokovic looked ready to close out his second Wimbledon title, getting a break to go up 4-2 and then serving for the title at 5-3. But Federer broke his serve for the second time in the set, putting away a forehand winner into the open court as Djokovic slipped and fell behind the baseline. A game later, Djokovic held a match point, only to see Federer save it with an ace -- ruled his point via a replay challenge -- and hold, and then break the Serb yet again, on his third break point of the game after having taken a 40/love lead on Djokovic's serve. Suddenly looking the fresher of the two men, Federer was in control, with the Centre Court crowd decidedly on his side, as he closed out a 7-5 set and forced a deciding 5th set.

Djokovic, 2-0 vs. Federer in five-set matches, led 2-1 in the 5th when he called for a trainer to look at the calf he'd injured in game #3. After the break, the Serb seemed to be refreshed, or maybe pain-free, down the stretch. Federer held a BP at 3-3, but Djokovic held. After falling down 15/40, Federer saved three BP in game #8, holding the final one with a masterful half-volley that barely cleared the net, to which Djokovic raced to collect the ball and scoop it back, only to see the Swiss precisely angle a backhand volley that the Serb couldn't get back. Federer held for 4-4, but at 15/15 a game later, he failed to put away a leaping overhead that might have given him the momentum to take control in the closing moments. Instead, Djokovic held as the 35th match-up between the two men became their longest ever, edging past 3:50.

In the tenth game of the set, Djokovic went up 30/love on Federer's serve then reached his second MP when a Federer forehand went long. A netted backhand quickly ended things as the Serb grabbed career slam win #7 with a 6-7(7)/6-4/7-6(4)/5-7/6-4 victory.



Federer isn't going anywhere, as he made crystal clear in his post-match comments. And the game he displayed in London makes it easy to believe he still might be able to make room for a future 18th slam trophy on his mantle, after all. But Djokovic's staying power likely will be longer lasting.

In this era of Roger and Rafa (and, to a lesser degree, Andy Murray), Djokovic will always be a "third wheel" in the minds of many, but he's still managed to put together a career that would rank as one of the all-time best, even with such fierce competition standing guard at the four majors over the last decade. Djokovic has now won as many slam crowns as John McEnroe, and he now stands just one behind Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and Andre Agassi. Just beyond that? The likes of Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver. And, remember, the Serb is still the youngest spoke in the "Big 4" wheel and will likely be the last of the group to still be winning slam titles a few seasons from now. Well, I guess we can't rule out Rafa winning in Paris even as he creeps into his 30's... but Novak would surely be able to swipe ONE RG crown from the Spaniard's grasp at some point, right? Come tomorrow, Djokovic is back in #1 ranking, knocking Nadal off the top perch, and could be coming to New York as the favorite to win there.

The NextGen is barking at the door, but the current owners of the ATP home aren't ready to sell. Not yet.

To be continued in NYC...



=GENTLEMEN'S SINGLES FINAL=
#1 Novak Djokovic/SRB def. #4 Roger Federer/SUI 6-7(7)/6-4/7-6(4)/5-7/6-4

=GENTLEMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL=
Vacek Pospisil/Jack Sock (CAN/USA) def. #1 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA/USA) 7-6(5)/6-7(3)/6-4/3-6/7-5

=MIXED DOUBLES FINAL=
#15 Samantha Stosur/Nenad Zimonjic (AUS/SRB) def. #14 Chan Hao-Ching/Max Mirnyi (TPE/BLR) 6-4/6-2

=BOYS SINGLES FINAL=
(Q) Noah Rubin/USA def. #6 Stefan Kozlov/USA 6-4/4-6/6-0

=BOYS DOUBLES FINAL=
#3 Orlando Luz/Marcelo Zormann (BRA/BRA) def. #1 Stefan Kozlov/Andrey Rublev (USA/RUS) 6-4 3-6 8-6

=WC GENTLEMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL=
#1 Stephane Houdet/Shingo Kunieda (FRA/JPN) def. #2 Maikel Scheffers/Ronald Vink (NED/NED) 5-7/6-0/6-3



*RECENT WIMBLEDON MEN'S CHAMPIONS*
2003 Roger Federer, SUI
2004 Roger Federer, SUI
2005 Roger Federer, SUI
2006 Roger Federer, SUI
2007 Roger Federer, SUI
2008 Rafael Nadal, ESP
2009 Roger Federer, SUI
2010 Rafael Nadal, ESP
2011 Novak Djokovic, SRB
2012 Roger Federer, SUI
2013 Andy Murray, GBR
2014 Novak Djokovic, SRB

*ALL-TIME SLAM TITLES*
17...Roger Federer *
14...Rafael Nadal *
14...Pete Sampras
12...Roy Emerson
11...Bjorn Borg
11...Rod Laver
10...Bill Tilden
8...Andre Agassi
8...Jimmy Connors
8...Ivan Lendl
8...Fred Perry
8...Ken Rosewall
8...Max Decugis
7...Henri Cochet
7...NOVAK DJOKOVIC *
7...Rene Lacoste
7...Bill Larned
7...John McEnroe
7...John Newcombe
7...William Renshaw
7...Richard Sears
7...Mats Wilander
--
* - active

**SLAM FINALS**
[active]
25...ROGER FEDERER, SUI (17-8)
20...Rafael Nadal, ESP (14-6)
14...NOVAK DJOKOVIC, SRB (7-7)
7...Andy Murray, GBR (2-5)
4...Lleyton Hewitt, AUS (2-2)
[Open Era]
25...ROGER FEDERER (17-8)
20...Rafael Nadal (14-6)
19...Ivan Lendl (8-11)
18...Pete Sampras (14-4)
17...Rod Laver (11-6)

*WIMBLEDON BOYS CHAMPIONS - since 1998*
1998 Roger Federer, SUI
1999 Jurgen Melzer, AUT
2000 Nicolas Mahut, FRA
2001 Roman Valent, SUI
2002 Todd Reid, AUS
2003 Florin Mergea, ROU
2004 Gael Monfils, FRA
2005 Jeremy Chardy, FRA
2006 Thiemo de Bakker, NED
2007 Donald Young, USA
2008 Grigor Dimitrov, BUL
2009 Andrey Kuznetsov, RUS
2010 Marton Fucsovics, HUN
2011 Luke Saville, AUS
2012 Filip Peliwo, CAN
2013 Gianluigi Quinzi, ITA
2014 Noah Rubin, USA

*U.S. OPEN SERIES WINNERS*
2004 Lleyton Hewitt, AUS
2005 Andy Roddick, USA
2006 Andy Roddick, USA
2007 Roger Federer, SUI *
2008 Rafael Nadal, ESP
2009 Sam Querrey, USA
2010 Andy Murray, GBR
2011 Mardy Fish, USA
2012 Novak Djokovic, SRB
2013 Rafael Nadal, ESP
--
* - also won U.S. Open title

"Wimbledon By the Numbers," courtesy of Wimbledon Debenture Holders. Click on image for larger version.






All for now.

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