THE CHAMPIONSHIPS, WIMBLEDON

Men’s Final: [CR1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. [CR2] Roger Federer (SUI)

Federer lost his second consecutive Wimbledon Final to Djokovic.  The level of play required to defeat Djokovic was too high even for Federer to sustain.  For two sets, Federer was right there with Djokovic and even played better that him at times; yet, he failed to win the first set and that cost him the match. You cannot give Djokovic chances to get back into the match.  He started off a little tentative, hampered by the pressure of not only trying to win the Wimbledon title, but also defend his title.  Winning the first set was the advantage that Federer needed if he wanted to win his eight Wimbledon title and he failed to do so. Once he lost that set, mentally it was too much for him.

Add to that the physically demanding toll of playing Djokovic and you understand why Federer lost the third and fourth sets so easily. The effort it took to win the second set depleted the reserves that Federer had. The psychological factors that were in play the entire match continued to weigh Federer down and once he got broken in the third set, the match was essentially over.  Given the magnitude of what was at stake, it surprised me that Federer was unable to maintain the momentum gained after taking the lead in the first set and again after winning the second set.  Djokovic is difficult to defeat; however, it’s not impossible. When you play him, you need to believe that you will win and Federer is no longer confident he can consistently defeat him. Djokovic defended his title and won his second consecutive Wimbledon title at the expense of Federer, 7-6(1), 6-7(10), 6-4, 6-3.