德约科维奇成功卫冕温网
Novak Djokovic the upstart keeps grip on Wimbledon title（642words）

By Matthew Engel

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Roger Federer returned to his old palace, Wimbledon Centre Court, on Sunday to reclaim the throne from the upstart Novak Djokovic. But usurpers can have a nasty habit of keeping a firm grip on the levers of power. And this one never really looked like letting go.

Djokovic became the first man since Federer himself nine years ago to retain the men’s title, winning his third Wimbledon and his ninth grand slam — his victim’s totals of seven and 17 may yet be in sight.

This was a final that promised to be an epic. When Federer took control of the second set tiebreak and levelled the match, there were a couple of roars perhaps louder than anything ever heard on the Centre Court (patriotic occasions excepted). Djokovic had reached set point seven times in the second yet failed to seal the deal. But for Federer and his army of supporting Wimbledonians this was the last hurrah.

Federer got to break point himself at the start of the third set, but the moment passed and he blew the next game. From then on the life went out of the contest. It had started out as one of overwhelming intensity: for a time even a missed first serve seemed to tilt the combat in the other direction. But it began to matter less; and a 20-minute rain delay failed to change the momentum.

Djokovic won 7-6 6-7 6-4 6-3 in just under three hours. As has become his victory custom he nibbled a little Centre Court grass in celebration. “It tasted great this year,” he said. I dread to think what Federer might have eaten.

His progress to the final had been uncommonly serene — just one service game lost in six matches; Djokovic, in contrast, had often been edgy and was forced to stare into the abyss when two sets down to the South African Kevin Anderson. And in the opening manoeuvres of the final the champ was slow to get into his rhythm while his opponent was strutting like a turkey cock. And in a sense Federer made the weather throughout: 58 outright winners against 46. But he also made more mistakes: 33 unforced errors v 16.

Some of his strokes — oh, those wondrous whipped forehands! — were absolutely beautiful, as ever. But promising looking rallies would end with a groan and a tepid tap into the net. Djokovic’s crucial break in the third set was decided when Federer, the least likely human in history to blow such a moment, missed the easiest of kills.

You might say the errors were forced psychologically if not technically. Djokovic kept working the ball on to Federer’s (slightly) weaker backhand, kept him at the back at the court, and kept the rallies going long enough for what seemed like mental tiredness to set in. This is what Andy Murray completely failed to do in the semi-final.

The joy of men’s tennis over the past few years has been the combat between the big four — these two, Murray and Rafael Nadal. Now, with Federer 34 next month, Nadal’s body rebelling and Murray’s mental strengths not quite compensating for his technical weaknesses, we may be looking at The Big One, the 28 year-old SuperSerb. Only Paris remains unconquered.

There is something about the unflashiness of the tennis that makes him easy to underestimate. But he has become the undisputed master not just of the backhand and the service return, but also of the mysterious art of winning the crucial point. He collected this trophy with a cross-court backhand and a few primal screams.

Ever since Nadal first overcame him here in 2008, we have been talking about the twilight of the great tennis god Federer. The sun has gone down infinitely slowly in a blaze of gold, even though this time he had to settle for a silver salver.