PETE ZIEBRON
2011 Wimbledon Champion and new ATP #1 Novak Djokovic Charles Gabrean Photography
- "This is the biggest day of my life, of my career. I have been dreaming of winning this tournament. It makes my heart full, makes me believe that all the hard work for the last 20 years, it's paying off right now." - Novak Djokovic after defeating Rafael Nadal to win Wimbledon
On Friday, Novak Djokovic defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to become the #1 player in the world. However several critics still felt that he had to beat defending Wimbledon Champion Rafael Nadal to truly earn the top spot in the rankings. Djokovic beat Nadal handily 6-4 6-1 1-6 6-3 and concurrently silenced those who disagree with and do not wish to attempt to understand the cumulative 52 week ATP ranking system.
The victory marked the 5th time that Djokovic has beaten Nadal since March. He has beaten him on all surfaces and enjoys a lopsided 11-3 set differential advantage over Nadal in 2011.
Following the match, both players noted the fact that Djokovic won the previous 4 encounters this year, Nadal citing nervousness and Djokovic expounding on the fact that the victories gave him confidence:
- Nadal: "I played against probably the best player of the moment.....probably a little bit the mental part, losing those 4 matches previously, this affect me a little more than most affect me. Probably I was a little too nervous at 5-4 in the 1st set and at 4-3 in the last set, at that moment, match was there, I had chances to be there, to be playing the 5th set. I didn't play as aggressive as I had the last few days."
- Djokovic: "I think this year, the confidence level is high. I won against him 4 consecutive finals which I think brought me a little bit of the mental advantage. I think today, I could do it. Obviously it's a Grand Slam, it's totally different, it's best of 5........I'm more mature and mentally believed I can win."
During the final, Djokovic converted 5 of 6 break point opportunities. For the year, he is 21 of 46 in break point conversions against Nadal in their 5 meetings. Defending break points has always been a strength of Nadal, especially against Roger Federer. Today however, Nadal was not able to serve his way out of trouble and Djokovic pounced on nearly every break point to take control of the match.
To date, Novak Djokovic is 48-1 and concurrently owns a 111-16 set differential against the ATP field in 2011. He collected his 3rd major today and is halfway to a Career Grand Slam, already owning 2 Australian Open titles.
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