Wimbledon triumph best day of my life: Djokovic
Novak Djokovic hailed his first Wimbledon triumph as the best day of his life as the Serb snatched the men's crown from Rafael Nadal with a 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 victory in the final on Sunday.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: July 03, 2011 09:54 PM IST
Novak Djokovic hailed his first Wimbledon triumph as the best day of his life as the Serb snatched the men's crown from Rafael Nadal with a 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 victory in the final on Sunday.
Djokovic produced some sensational play in the first two sets to take complete control against the defending champion and then held his nerve after dropping the third set to clinch his third Grand Slam title.
Although Djokovic has twice won the Australian Open and learnt earlier this week that he will take over from Nadal as world number one when the latest rankings are released on Monday, the 24-year-old had no doubts that winning Wimbledon was the greatest moment of all.
Djokovic, who fell in love with the sport while watching Wimbledon on television back at home in Serbia, told the BBC: "It is really hard to describe with any words apart from that this is the best day of my life. I always dreamt of winning Wimbledon."
The Serb has now beaten Nadal in five finals this year - the other four were Masters events at Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Rome - and he admitted he had to produce his very best to end Nadal's 20-match winning run at the All England Club.
"When you are playing the best player in the world, Rafa, who has won two of the last three Wimbledons and always beaten me in the Grand Slams, I had to be at the top of my game and I think I played my best game on the grass courts ever," he said.
Victory over Nadal was the perfect end to a dream three days for Djokovic after he went top of the rankings following his semi-final victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday.
"It's a couple of good days at the office," he said. "This is the most beautiful moment of my career."
While Djokovic has now won two of the three Grand Slams this year, Nadal will have to regroup after losing his grip on the Wimbledon title and also surrendering top spot in the rankings.
The Spaniard showed great dignity in defeat and congratulated Djokovic for his performance.
"First of all congratulations to Novak for victory today and his amazing season," Nadal said.
"Wimbledon is the most special tournament. I remember how I felt when I won it for the first time in 2008 and emotions were running high.
"I can imagine how Novak feels today. It is a very special day and I'd like to congratulate him."