Novak Djokovic is the new world number one, and rightfully so, the Serb claiming his first Wimbledon crown on Day 13 with an emphatic win over Rafael Nadal.

Day 13 Recap

Despite the fact that Djokovic had won all 4 meetings between the pair this year, the second seed still trailed Nadal in career meetings and had never beaten the Spaniard in a Grand Slam. With Djokovic absolutely desperate to win the title at the All England Club, observers were divided as to whether his hunger would help or hinder his chances in the final.

Nadal started confidently, whipping a couple of forehand winners down the line to make his presence felt. Serving first in the opening set, Djokovic survived a couple of nervous moments to hold serve, and from there the next 8 games went with serve. After starting brightly, Nadal was having trouble finding his range on his groundstrokes, and Djokovic looked the sharper player during the long baseline exchanges. Serving to level the first set at 5-all, Nadal looked to be cruising at 30-0, but from there the Spaniard played an uncharacteristically sloppy game, some loose forehands costing him the first set.

Djokovic was pumped up after pinching the first set, and he rode the wave of momentum into the second set, breaking the serve of the 10-time Grand Slam champion early on, and guaranteeing himself the set with a second break. Nadal looked spooked, as the Serb was doing to him what he normally does to other players. Djokovic was chasing down everything Nadal threw at him, giving away no free points, and was outmuscling the Spaniard when they went toe-to-toe from the baseline.

Never one to throw in the towel, Nadal came roaring back in the third set, as he began to hit his forehand with more authority and started to find his length off both wings. The top seed finally broke the Djokovic serve, and added a second break for good measure, as the Serb’s serve and forehand started to waver. Before long, Nadal had a set in his pocket, and we were into a fourth set. When Nadal conjured up a break point in Djokovic’s opening service game of the fourth set, the crowd sensed it could be in for something special. But the Serb got out of trouble and held serve, before breaking Nadal’s serve in the next game.

The Spanish warrior wasn’t done with yet, as he broke back to level the score at 2-all. But Djokovic was playing like a man inspired on Centre Court, and he continued to have the better of the long rallies, frequently turning defence into attack in the way Nadal himself so often does. At 4-3 to Djokovic, a Nadal double fault was the beginning of another loose service game from the Spaniard, and a break to Djokovic had him standing at the edge of glory. The Serb duly served it out to complete what he later described as the best day of his life, the new world number one claiming victory, 6-4 6-1 1-6 6-3.

For Djokovic, the victory validates his position as world number one, and underlines the fact that he is now clearly the best player in the world. Having won 50 of his last 51 matches, Djokovic will be a hot favourite to continue his fairytale season at the US Open in New York.

For Nadal, it was a sorry day, the Spaniard playing his worst Grand Slam final in many years. It was a surprisingly error-riddled performance from the Spaniard, but that’s largely testament to the superb play of Djokovic. Nadal will no doubt be eager to turn things around in New York, which should make for a fascinating US Open.

That’s it for this year’s Wimbledon championships. I hope you’ve enjoyed the coverage. With the ATP and WTA Tours now moving towards the start of the North American hard-court season, I’ll be back to cover the US Open, which starts in late August.