Multiple Wimbledon champion Boris Becker sat in the commentary box at the famous 2019 Wimbledon final between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. Like all of us, the German was privileged to see one of the best matches ever, as two great rivals pushed each other to the limit for almost five hours.
After all sorts of drama, Djokovic saved two match points and prevailed in the decisive tie-break with 12:12 in the fifth set, defended the title and wrote tennis history. Becker called it the most outstanding Wimbledon final of all time, with an outstanding level of shot quality throughout the match, nearly hitting the five-hour mark.
He thought Djokovic was the favorite but Federer acted like the better player on the pitch despite not crossing the finish line first. The Swiss won 14 more points, grabbed four more breaks, made 40 more winners than his rival, two match points and two break chances at 11-11 in the fifth set.
He gambled away all that and let Djokovic steal the crown in the longest Wimbledon final. The Serb did his best to stay in the running and fight against the rival who had the upper hand in the more important part of the match.
He fended off those two match points on the return 7-8 in the fifth set and showed nerves of steel in all three tiebreaks to clinch the 16th Major title. The overall numbers were on Federer’s side.
Djokovic did what he had to do in the crucial moments, buoyed by the incredible inner strength that helped him on his way to the fifth Wimbledon crown against Roger and the crowd. After two hours and 15 minutes, Novak led two sets to one despite zero break points!
In the tiebreak of the first set, Federer led 5-3 before dropping four points in a row to hand it to Djokovic. The Serb didn’t hit any winners or errors, allowing Roger to make mistakes and ruin everything he had built up in the last 55 minutes.
The Swiss quickly put that setback behind him and dominated Djokovic to win the second set 6-1 and emerged as the better player in the decider. Despite this, he missed a break chance that initiated the second tiebreak.
Djokovic saved match points against Federer in the 2019 Wimbledon final
Novak secured the tie-break 7-4 after Rogers’ six errors, four in an unforced area from the backhand side that cost him a slow start and a better finish.
After many exciting moments in the fifth set and surviving games 16 and 23, Novak went into the decisive tie-break as a favorite. With 7:3 he secured the title and thus one of his most extraordinary victories of all time.
Overall, Federer matched the last ball in 29 points out of 33 in all three tiebreaks, leaving Novak with three winners and one forced error! On the other hand, the eight-time champion counted six service winners.
He spoiled all of that with a massive 13 unforced errors and five that Novak forced. As in the rest of the match, there were tie breaks on Roger’s racquet but he failed to deliver his best tennis when it mattered most, making 17 more errors than the stable Serb and finding himself on the losing side.
“I had the honor of commentating on this match for five hours. When I went into that, I always thought Novak Djokovic was the defending champion and a few years younger than Roger Federer. It was a warm day and Roger already had a tough match against Rafa in the semifinals, so I thought Novak was the favourite.
Roger played great and was the better player but still ended on the losing side. These guys exchanged shots that I didn’t think was possible over such a long period of time and I would call it the best Wimbledon final,” said Boris Becker.
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