Novak Djokovic wins fourth title
July 15, 2018
Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic won his fourth Wimbledon title on Sunday, defeating South African Kevin Anderson in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (3).
The win was his first at a Grand Slam tournament since having surgery on his elbow at the end of 2017 season. He has now won 13 Grand Slam titles in his career.
"I had to really trust the process. I had to trust in myself," Djokovic, 31, told British broadcaster BBC on Centre Court after the match. "The last couple years haven't been that easy. I had surgery and faced a serious injury for the first time. I didn't know if I could come back to a final and compete."
Djokovic added this was the first title at Wimbledon which his five-year-old son, Stefan, had been able to watch first hand.
"It feels amazing because for the first time in my life, I have someone screaming 'Daddy! Daddy!" Djokovic said. "I am very emotional for him being here."
A much quicker match
Both Djokovic and Anderson were coming off five-set thrillers in the semifinals. Anderson needed six hours and 36 minutes to defeat John Isner on Friday and Djokovic finally triumphing over Rafael Nadal after five hours and 15 minutes on Friday and Saturday.
But the Serbian needed much less time to defeat Anderson, vanquishing the South African in just two hours and 19 minutes.
Anderson wasn't broken in 27 service games in his seminal against Isner, but Djokovic broke serve in the first game in the final. Anderson also made life easer for Djokovic with 32 unforced errors.
Djokovic breezed through the first two sets, but the 2.03-meter (6-foot-8) Anderson became a much tougher opponent in the third. Neither broke serve however and Djokovic regained momentum, eventually closing out the match in the tie-break.