— When Novak Djokovic realized he was the Wimbledon champion, he fell to the ground and covered the grass like a blanket. It was a fitting celebration for a man whose court coverage was the biggest reason he was able to defeat defending champion Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 in Sunday’s final.
Djokovic, who was already guaranteed to take over the No. 1 ranking from the Spaniard on Monday, won his first Wimbledon title and extended his mastery over Nadal this season with a fifth straight head-to-head victory. After shaking hands with Nadal at the net, Djokovic walked back out on court and crouched down. He pulled a blade or two of grass out of the manicured lawn and put it in his mouth. “It’s really hard to describe this with any words except the best day of my life, most special day of my life,” said Djokovic, who tossed three of his rackets into the crowd before accepting the championship trophy. “This is my favorite tournament, the tournament I always dreamed of winning. The first tennis tournament I ever watched in my life.”
Djokovic assured himself of the top ranking just by reaching the final. He opened the season with 41 straight wins, including the Australian Open title, but his 43-match winning streak came to an end against Roger Federer in the French Open semifinals. The victory over Nadal improved Djokovic’s record in 2011 to 48-1, with five of the wins coming against the Spaniard in finals — two on hard courts, two on clay and now one on grass. Sunday’s win was the first grass-court title of his career.
Serbian President Boris Tadic was in the Royal Box along with several former champions to watch the match on Centre Court, and when Nadal sent a backhand long on match point, Djokovic turned to face them and dropped to the turf, lying on his back with his arms spread wide. “When you’re playing the best player in the world, Rafael Nadal, who has won two out of the last three Wimbledons, and he’s always been winning the big matches against me in the Grand Slams, I had to be on the top of my game. I had to play my best and I think I played, really, probably my best match on the grass courts ever,” Djokovic said. “I want to congratulate him again for having a great tournament.”
