Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a return to Roger Federer of Switzerland during their men’s singles final at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Sunday July 6, 2014. AP PHOTO/PAVEL GOLOVKIN
LONDON—Novak Djokovic won the third set 7-6 (4) to take a two sets to one lead over Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final Sunday.
Federer won the first set 7-6 (7) while Djokovic leveled with a 6-4 win in the second set.
There has been only one service break through the first three sets—by Djokovic in the second set, only the second time Federer has had his service broken this tournament.
Both players were serving strongly and there were very few unforced errors in the high-quality match.
A victory by Djokovic would return him to the No. 1 ranking for the first time since September of last year, taking over from Rafael Nadal. Djokovic first rose to No. 1 when he won his only Wimbledon title in 2011, although he was already guaranteed of securing the top ranking even before beating Nadal in that final.
It was only the second time Federer and Djokovic have met in a Grand Slam final—Federer won in straight sets at the 2007 US Open.
Djokovic fell awkwardly in the first game of the second set and called for a trainer immediately after he broke Federer’s serve to take a 2-1 lead. The trainer worked on Djokovic’s left ankle.
The Serbian player consolidated the only break after taking a 40-love lead that eventually went to deuce three times. Djokovic faced a break point—his first of the match—while serving for the second set but clinched it with an overhead smash.
Federer led 3-0 in the first-set tiebreaker but later had three unforced backhand errors to let Djokovic back into the decider. An ace and service winner later helped create set point, when Djokovic hit a backhand into the net.
Djokovic started serving strongly, losing only two points in his first four service games, and one of those came on a double-fault.
Watching Sunday’s final from the Royal Box were Prince William and his wife Kate, David Beckham and actors Bradley Cooper, Samuel L. Jackson and Chris Hemsworth.