Federer forces deciding set in Wimbledon final
Roger Federer of Switzerland shouts after winning a point during the men’s singles final against Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Sunday, July 6, 2014. AP PHOTO/PAVEL GOLOVKIN
LONDON—Roger Federer won the last five games of the fourth set and saved a match point to take it 7-5 and force a deciding set in his Wimbledon men’s singles final with Novak Djokovic on Sunday.
Federer won the opening set 7-6 (7) but Djokovic came back to win the next two 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Federer trailed 5-2 in the fourth set which featured five breaks of serve.
Djokovic thought he had won the match at 30-40 in the 10th game in the fourth set, but Federer challenged the call and the ball that was initially ruled out was on the line.
Federer went on to hold his serve to keep him in the match.
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.
Djokovic again called for the trainer after the third game of the final set to have his right calf worked on.
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.
