A childhood dream was accomplished at the 2011 Wimbledon Championship when Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal over four sets in the grand final.
“The most special day of my life,” a delighted Djokovic said afterwards. “This is my favorite tournament, the tournament I always dreamed of winning, the first tournament I ever watched in my life. I think I’m still sleeping.”
Djokovic’s mother Dijana echoed her son’s delight on how much it meant for him to win: “Getting a trophy at Wimbledon – that’s why he started to play tennis.”
The contest marked the first time Nadal has tasted defeat in a Grand Slam final by someone other than Roger Federer. But more significantly, it is the Serbian right-hander’s first taste of victory in a Grand Slam match over the Spaniard after five previous failed attempts.
Moreover, it’s yet another chapter in an amazing year for Djokovic, who now has a record reading 48 wins and just one defeat in 2011 – his only blemish being the semi-final defeat to Roger Federer at the French Open in Roland Garros last month, which brought an end to a 43-match winning streak that began with the Davis Cup last year.
This magnificent run of victories has brought his tally of Grand Slam titles to three. At the end of January he won the Australian Open in style, dropping just one set along the way before defeating Andy Murray in straight sets in a one-sided final.
The Serbian ace won his maiden Grand Slam title three years ago, winning through to the final without dropping a set before beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in a four -set battle. It was also the first time in three years that neither Federer nor Nadal contested a Grand Slam final.
The Belgrade-born star, who now resides in Monte Carlo, has this month become the number-one tennis player in the world for the first time in his career – an honour already achieved before his final shoot-out with Nadal when the Spaniard beat Tsonga in the semi-final.
Getting to the top of the tennis ladder was like the cream on the strawberries after a wonderful fortnight for Djokovic, who can now look confidently at the future.
After the Wimbledon final, he said: “I have achieved the two biggest things in my life in the last three days, but I will definitely not stop here. I want to be a tennis champion. This is what I am born for.”
The 24-year-old’s next challenge is also the final Grand Slam event of the year, the US Open at Flushing Meadows in August and September, where he’s been twice a finalist.
Nadal went over Djokovic in the final last year, but having beaten Rafa in their last five meetings – all in finals – the new king of SW19 will hold no fear of another encounter with the now world number two.
