THE thought of his son Stefan coming to watch him win back the Wimbledon title provided the powerful motivation Novak Djokovic needed to complete his remarkable recovery from the elbow injuries of the last two years, writes Stewart Fisher. The Serb’s fourth SW19 singles title here, a win which seemed unthinkable just a few short months ago, was a family affair. Once again, he was the daddy of them all.
“Actually, I didn’t talk about it, but it was one of, if not THE biggest, motivation I’ve had for this Wimbledon this year,” said Djokovic. “I was visualising, imagining this moment of him coming to the stands, cherishing this moment with my wife and me and everyone. He was not there till the very moment when I was walking to get an interview. It was a moment I will carry inside my heart forever.”
Considering the nature of the win, the 31-year-old put it up there with his first singles triumph at this venue in 2011. Considering his feelings towards this place when he was a child, he couldn’t have picked “a better place in the tennis world to peak and make a comeback”. “I always dreamed of winning here when I was a seven-year-old boy,” he said. “I made a lot of improvised Wimbledon trophies from different materials.”
Djokovic’s extended family yesterday included his long-time coach Marian Vajda and physio Gebhard Phil Gritsch – with whom he was re-united prior to the clay court season after previously dispensing with his services – and the surgeon who did such an excellent job with his elbow surgery. “He was here today,” said Djokovic. “I saw him on Saturday and today before the match. Of course, I’m very thankful to him and to his team for doing a great job. And obviously I’m so grateful to Marian, to GG [his fitness coach] Phil Gerhard-Gribtch as well, for coming back. After a year of not working with them, them continuing with their lives, doing different things, leaving that aside and coming to join me again, help me to get to where I am at the moment, it’s really nice of them.”
It was only understandable if minds were starting to race ahead last night. Could we see a return of the dominant Djokovic who had all four of the Grand Slams in his possession when he defeated Andy Murray to win the French Open title in 2016. “Well, I understand that people are questioning whether I can consistently play on this level,” he said. “Trust me, I am, too. At the same time I can’t look too far on the road because I have to embrace and cherish this kind of accomplishment. As I said, if you asked me a month and a half ago whether I think I can win Wimbledon, part of me yes, I hope, but maybe I wasn’t that sure at that time of my level of tennis.
“Playing against Nadal in the semi-finals here was the biggest test that I could have specifically for that, just to see whether I can prevail. That’s why I spent a lot of energy and I put a lot of effort to win that match because I knew on a short run and long run how much that will mean to me and how much it means to me, to my confidence. This is going to be a huge confidence boost and springboard for whatever is coming up. I really can’t see the future. But I like to play on hard courts and the US Open was always successful tournament for me. I’m looking forward to also go out there and play my best and see where it takes me.”
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