Wimbledon champion says Swiss rival is an inspiration and he hopes that he will still be competing at the age of 37
At the end of this seesawing and tempestous epic, which was not only the longest final in Wimbledon history but perhaps its most dramatic, Novak Djokovic pointed one finger to the sky in triumph. He might as well have been waving it in defiance at the Centre Court crowd, who had spent four hours and 57 minutes willing and baying Roger Federer to victory.
Afterwards the Serb explained that he had tricked his mind so that every time he heard “Roger” he felt that people were actually cheering for him. “If you have the majority of the crowd on your side, it helps, it gives you motivation, it gives you strength, it gives you energy,” he admitted. “When you don’t, then you have to find it within. I like to transmutate it in a way. So when the crowd is chanting ‘Roger’ I hear ‘Novak’. It sounds silly but it is like that. I try to convince myself that it’s like that.”
Written by Sean Ingle at Wimbledon
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jul/15/novak-djokovic-roger-federer-grand-slam-record under the title “Djokovic has time on his side as he eyes Federer’s grand slam haul”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
