Djokovic's 20th stroke: Wimbledon victory over Berrettini

Djokovic had to fight hard on the big sports Sunday in London before the 6:7 (4:7), 6:4, 6:4, 6:3 against the Italian final debutant Matteo Berrettini was perfect. The Serb is only two steps away from a feat that is unique in the men's field. If the 34-year-old wins Olympic gold in Tokyo in three weeks and then wins the US Open trophy, he would have achieved the Golden Slam.

Only Steffi Graf has achieved this in 1988. The last time the Australian Rod Laver achieved the so-called Grand Slam - winning the four most important tournaments in one season - was in 1969. Margaret holds the all-time record with 24 Grand Slam titles. Both with starting difficulties Djokovic initially seemed unusually nervous in his 30th Grand Slam final. This year's outstanding player emphasized after his semi-final how much the record of his rivals Federer and Nadal meant to him. The world number one made several double errors, but Berrettini left them unpunished. By finishing ninth in the world rankings, Italy was represented in a singles final at Wimbledon for the first time; the last men's Grand Slam title was 45 years ago. It seemed as if the 1,96 meter long outsider would also have to deal with himself in his biggest match to date.

Novak Djokovic as he lives and breathes. © APA/afp / ADRIAN DENNIS

Djokovic had a set point at 5:2. But he missed that as well as the chance to take the set at 5:3 with his own serve. Now Berrettini had also reached the final and actually won the tiebreak with an ace. But the number one continued to play unmoved after the first deficit since the opening match, and his opponent made the mistakes from the start. It was 5:1 for Djokovic, then he wobbled again, missed three set points at 5:3 and finally equalized. Djokovic is turning up the heat A month after his success in the quarter-final duel against Berrettini at the French Open, the Belgrade player made the first break again in sun and clouds in front of 15 fans on Center Court. Djokovic maintained this lead because he now served strongly, defended well as usual and attacked when possible.

Djokovic celebrated a crazy rally before the 3:3 in the fourth set with an outstretched index finger and gestures inviting applause to the audience. This sparked shouts of “Matteo, Matteo” for the shaky outsider, who gave Djokovic the break to make it 4-3 with a double fault. Then shouts of “Nole, Nole” echoed across the court – the nickname of Novak Djovkovic, who used this advantage to decide.

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Djokovic's 20th stroke: Wimbledon victory over Berrettini

The longed-for record now also belongs to Novak Djokovic, the path to becoming the best tennis player in history is not far away. With his sixth Wimbledon victory, the world number one, like his long-time rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, now has an incredible 20 Grand Slam titles to his name.

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