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SPORTS Monday 16 July 2018
No doubt: Djokovic wins 4th Wimbledon, 1st Slam in 2 years

By HOWARD FENDRICH derson had 32.
LONDON (AP) — Novak When Anderson pushed a
Djokovic acknowledged forehand return into the net
that he was worried. His to end it, Djokovic exhaled.
coach was, too. After they shook hands,
Could Djokovic ever re- Djokovic performed his
turn to the top of tennis? personal ritual of bending
To the heights he'd al- down to grab a couple of
ready reached? Could he blades of grass and plop-
put aside the time lost to ping them in his mouth, sa-
a painful right elbow that voring the triumph.
required surgery and the He did the same after his
disappointment of poor- Wimbledon titles in 2011,
for-him results? Could he 2014 and 2015. One key
end a Grand Slam drought difference on this day was
that lasted more than two the presence of two spe-
years? cial guests: The doctor who
All of that fretting seemed performed the elbow sur-
misplaced Sunday night. gery and Djokovic's 3-year-
Back at his best, Djokov- old son, Stefan, who was
ic became Wimbledon's in the stands for the trophy
champion for the fourth presentation.
time, grabbing a lead right Later, they met in a hall-
away against a weary way, and Djokovic knelt
Kevin Anderson in the final down to hug his child.
and holding off a late chal- "It feels amazing," Djokovic
lenge to win 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (3). said, "because for the first
"There were several mo- time in my life, I have some-
ments where I was frustrat- one screaming 'Daddy!
ed and questioning wheth- Daddy!'"
er I can get back (to the) As much as Djokovic is
desired level or not. But known for his body-bend-
that makes this whole jour- ing defense and unerr-
ney even more special for Novak Djokovic returns the ball to Kevin Anderson, during the men's singles final match at the ing reads on opponents'
Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Sunday July 15, 2018.
me," Djokovic said. Associated Press serves, he's also someone
"It's easy to talk now and who fills his matches with
look back at it and be kind says now. "The first two sets," said An- "I didn't really find my form histrionics and exagger-
of grateful, but I really am In April, he reunited with derson, who played col- the way I wanted to," said ated reactions, whether
grateful to go through this Marian Vajda, the man lege tennis at the University Anderson, whose right el- violently smacking the side
kind of, so to say, mixed who had coached Djokov- of Illinois, "Novak beat up bow was massaged by a of his shoe with his racket —
emotions, turbulences as ic for years before Boris on me pretty bad." trainer after the first set. "Of as he did against Nadal in
well, mentally, moments of Becker and Andre Agassi Anderson could be ex- course, my body didn't feel their thrilling five-set semifi-
doubt and disappointment did. cused for exhaustion. His great." nal that began Friday and
and frustration, anger." "I always had doubt," Vaj- semifinal was the second- It was so lopsided for the ended Saturday — or tear-
It is Djokovic's 13th major da said. "I was thinking re- longest Grand Slam match first hour-plus that specta- ing off his shirt to celebrate
trophy, the fourth-highest ally negative." in history, lasting more than tors began pulling for An- a victory.
total in the history of men's They built "the new Novak," 6½ hours until he edged derson, likely in the hopes This day was no different.
tennis, trailing only Roger as Vajda explained it. John Isner 26-24 in the fifth of getting more tennis for Angered by fans mak-
Federer's 20, Rafael Nadal's Retooled his serve. Made set. And that followed an- their tickets, which carried ing noise during points, he
17 and his childhood idol adjustments to other other extended fifth set in a face value of 210 pounds told the chair umpire to
Pete Sampras' 14. strokes. his 13-11 upset of eight-time (about $275). tell them to shut up, throw-
But it's also Djokovic's first Still, Djokovic was so dispir- champion Federer in the Somehow, Anderson raised ing a colorful word into the
since he completed a ca- ited by his upset loss at the quarterfinals. his game late and nearly demand. He pointed to
reer Grand Slam at the French Open last month Anderson also blamed managed to extend the his ear after winning one
2016 French Open. that he vowed, in the heat some nerves. match, five times standing point, as if to say: "Who are
"It was a long journey," the of the moment, to skip the This was, after all, the just a point away from forc- you cheering for now?!"
31-year-old from Serbia grass-court circuit. 22nd Grand Slam final for ing a fourth set. He blew a kiss toward the
said. "I couldn't pick a bet- Good thing he didn't stick Djokovic, and the second Djokovic held steady on stands after another.
ter place, to be honest, in to that. for Anderson, the runner-up each one, then was as su- But when he broke Ander-
the tennis world to peak Because he fell out of the at last year's U.S. Open and perior in the tiebreaker as son for the second time
and to make a comeback." top 20 for the first time in aiming to become the first he was most of the after- in three service games at
A year ago at the All Eng- more than a decade, the South African man to win noon. the outset, Djokovic simply
land Club, Djokovic quit No. 21 Djokovic is the low- Wimbledon. "You can definitely see the shook a clenched fist while
during his quarterfinal be- est-ranked Wimbledon titlist He was so out of sorts, his improvements he's made calmly looking at his guest
cause of the elbow, then since Goran Ivanisevic in strokes so off-the-mark, that since coming back from in- box above the scoreboard.
took the rest of 2017 off. 2001. Djokovic gathered eight jury," Anderson said. The bright yellow digits on
After the operation in Feb- On Sunday, under a pale of the first 10 games even By the end, Djokovic's new there showed that Djokovic
ruary, Djokovic's results blue sky interrupted by only though he only conjured serve had saved all seven already led 4-1 after all of
were mediocre. He real- the occasional soft white up two winners. No need break points he faced. His 18 minutes.
ized later he tried to come puff of cloud, Djokovic for more, because Ander- groundstrokes were a big Might as well have de-
back too soon. looked far more like a guy son gifted him 15 unforced reason he only made 13 clared him the champion,
"I really was impatient," he who used to be No. 1. errors in that span. unforced errors, while An- right then and there.q