I lost my fear to overcome mighty Nadal says Djokovic

NOVAK Djokovic enjoyed what he said was “the best day of my tennis career” yesterday, when he beat Rafael Nadal in four sets to win the Wimbledon title for the first time. The Serb, whose record for the year is now a scarcely credible played 48, won 47, raced to a two-set lead against the champion, then had to arrest a slump before claiming the title with a 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 victory.

At 24, Djokovic is now world No 1 for the first time this morning, and thus has a double cause for celebration. “I managed to achieve a lifetime goal and I managed to make my dream come true,” he said. “It’s just an incredible feeling that I’m never going to forget. This is the best day of my tennis career.

“For these kind of days, I was practising every day, being dedicated, being a tennis professional. Any athlete in the world dreams of being No 1 of the world. This is something that gives us a lot of motivation. So finally when you really do it and when you know that you’re the best, it’s just an amazing achievement.”

It is also an achievement which was considered impossible by many, who saw Nadal and six-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer as invincible. It was at the hands of Federer that Djokovic suffered his one loss of the year to date, in the semi-finals of the French Open, and in past years he has been on the receiving end of big defeats by both the Swiss player and the Spaniard. But he always had faith that he could get the better of them, and that faith has now been realised.

“Sometimes it did feel a little bit frustrating when you got to the later stages of a Grand Slam and then you have to meet them,” he said. “They always come up with their best tennis when it matters the most.

“But it’s a process of learning, a process of developing and improving as a tennis player, as a person, and just finding the way to mentally overcome those pressures and expectations and issues that you have. I always believed that I have the quality to beat those two guys. I always believed I have the quality to win majors. The mental approach has to be positive.”

The approach was positive yesterday, all right, as the No 2 seed proved able to be entertained by the tennis he and Nadal were producing. “I was really enjoying [it], you know. You have to enjoy the moment.

“I mean, winning in just over an hour two sets against the defending champion on the court that he hasn’t lost on for three years was incredible. I was just trying to enjoy the tennis that I play. Obviously, it was the best tennis match on grass courts that I’ve played ever, for sure. It came in the right moment.”

Djokovic has been one of the leading players on the planet for some time now, but it was leading Serbia to victory in the Davis Cup at the end of last year that turned him into the player he is today. “After the Davis Cup win I was full of life, full of energy, eager to come back to the tennis court, eager to play some more, win some other tournaments,” he said.

“In a sentence, I lost my fear. I believed in my abilities more than ever. Australia [at the start of the year] was one of the best tournaments I played in my life. After the Davis Cup I made 40-something wins in a row. Up to this moment, the Davis Cup win was the most special feeling that I had on the court.”

Yesterday’s win was so special that, to celebrate, this man who was once uncomfortable playing on grass demonstrated his love of the surface by taking hold of a handful of the stuff and eating it. “I felt like an animal,” he said, smiling. “I wanted to see how it tastes. It tastes good.

“It came spontaneously, really. I didn’t plan to do it. You know, I didn’t know what to do for my excitement and joy.”

Gracious in defeat to a player who has now got the better of him five times in 2011, Nadal accepted that Djokovic was playing at a level above the rest of the tour at present – but warned that such intensity could not be sustained for ever. “He played better than me – for that reason he is the champion here, so I can congratulate him,” the No 1 seed said. “He played very, very high level for moments, and I played a little bit lower than in the previous days.

“I lost because I am playing against the best player of the moment, the best player of the world tomorrow, and I am the second. And when you are playing against these players and they are playing unbelievable, the normal thing is [to] lose. That’s what happened last few times.

“My experience says this level is not forever. Even for me when I was last year winning three Grand Slams, my level is not forever. Probably the level of Novak of today is not forever. I’m going to be fighting all the time, waiting my moment.”