Novak Djokovic yesterday equalled Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer’s joint-record of 20 Grand Slam wins, after lifting the Wimbledon trophy for the sixth time.
But it wasn’t before 25-year-old Italian Matteo Berrettini eers behoorlik met die leeu se bal gespeel het nie, that Djokovic fought back to win the final 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.
Down 2-5 in the first set, the English crowd got behind the Italian – with the two nations fighting it out for the Euro 2020 crown later that evening – as he fought back to win it 7-6.
Serbia’s world No.1 didn’t take kindly to not being the crowd favourite in this encounter and the Djoker turned serious.
It meant trouble for Berrettini who then lost the second set 6-4, despite again having to fight back from 5-2 down.
Djokovic continued in the same vein in the third set, breaking in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. Berrettini also had two break points in the sixth game of the set, but failed to take his chances as Djoker won 6-4.
Djokovic, 34, then showed his class as he battled back from 0-30 down in the sixth game of the fourth set to prove to the crowd and Berrettini just how much equalling Nadal and Federer means to him.
He broke serve in the next game following a double fault by Berrettini to take complete control of the match at 4-3.
And just to put the icing on the cake, he again took the Italian’s serve in what would turn out to be the final game of the match to win the set 6-3.