GOAT DEBATE SETTLES! Novak Djokovic Matches Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon Championships 2021

Two of the better players on grass at the moment on the ATP tour – Novak Djokovic and Matteo Berrettini met each other at the Wimbledon Finals this year.

While Djokovic was trying to catch up with his two arch rivals(Federer and Nadal) in terms of the number of grand slams won, Berrettini was aiming to become the first Italian men’s singles champion at SW19.

Tennis – Wimbledon – All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain – July 11, 2021 Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in action during his final match against Italy’s Matteo Berrettini Pool via REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

The head-to-head record between the two athletes favors the Serb as he won both their encounters on the ATP tour. However, the Italian proved at this year’s Wimbledon that he is the player to watch out for on grass.

Let’s see how the match progressed.

Just like Shapovalov in the semis, Matteo Berrettini gave in to the nerves during the championship match. With Djokovic on the other side, the young Italian lost his second service game of the first set and allowed the Serb to race ahead to a quick lead of 5-1.

In the first six games, both players didn’t look their absolute best. Once Berrettini started showing resilience and didn’t allow the Serb to close out the first set, center court fans began to show their verbal  involvement in the match.

The first set went to a tie-breaker and the seventh seed became a serve-bot to dismantle Djokovic’s rhythm. Even the world number one made several unforced errors, which was rare to see in a grand slam final played by the Serb.

Tennis – Wimbledon – All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain – July 11, 2021 Italy’s Matteo Berrettini in action during his final match against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic REUTERS/Paul Childs

As Berrettini ran away with the first set, the pressure began to mount on Djokovic to speed up his level in quick succession. While the Italian had the momentum going his way in the second, a minor lapse of concentration changed the prospects of the final.

Berrettini lost the first game in the second set and since then, the match was dictated by Novak’s racquet. Despite not playing his best tennis, the Serb was able to produce just enough tennis to outpower his opponent at crucial moments.

Not to say that the Italian didn’t have chances to break Djokovic’s serve. In both sets two and three, Berrettini was given a fair amount of opportunities by the Serb to consolidate the break. But, the Italian’s return game wasn’t just firing up at significant junctures .

As a result, Berrettini lost second and third sets 4-6,4-6.

The story of the fourth set went the same way as the previous two. Berrettini had a lot of half chances on Djokovic’s serve but failed to convert any of them. On the other hand, the Serb improved his gameplay and produced some of his best tennis to entertain the center court crowd.

The quality was much better in the fourth set from the two players but it was Novak Djokovic who proved that experience triumphs everything on a tennis court once again. The Serb broke Berrettini’s serve twice to clinch a record-equaling 20th grand slam title.

It was also Djokovic’s third consecutive Wimbledon title and his sixth, overall.

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