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Wimbledon 2018: Men's Final Winner, Score and Twitter Reaction
July 15, 2018
The drought is over.
Novak Djokovic defeated Kevin Anderson at Wimbledon on Sunday, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3), winning his first Grand Slam title since the 2016 French Open. It was Djokovic's fourth Wimbledon triumph and the 13th Grand Slam title of his career.
The tournament remains the domain of the elite, and Djokovic kept himself in that company on Sunday:
Outside of Anderson's surge in the third set, Djokovic largely dominated. He won 76 percent of his first-serve points, was perfect on break points (4-of-4), hit 20 winners and had just 13 unforced errors, per Wimbledon.com. While Anderson's power was on display—he hit 10 aces and 26 winners—he also struggled with consistency, totaling 32 unforced errors.
Anderson can perhaps be forgiven for not quite being crisp on Sunday. He battled through a tender right elbow, per Kevin Mitchell of the Guardian, and was also coming off a semifinal marathon against John Isner that lasted six and a half hours.
Djokovic, meanwhile, has had his own battles, though perhaps of a different nature. The former World No. 1 had fallen to No. 21 in the rankings before the match, though the victory will propel him back into the top 10. But there were questions as to whether his best days were behind him, questions he perhaps answered on Sunday.
And Djokovic's path to the final was no cakewalk. While the draw was largely favorable for the Djoker, he needed a grueling five-set, two-day, instant-classic victory over Rafael Nadal in the semifinals to even reach Sunday. It was the match of the tournament, a clash of titans, and the men's draw at Wimbledon 2018 will surely be remembered for its semifinals.
Sunday's final was far more anticlimactic. Djokovic ensured that with a dominant performance in the first two sets. Anderson deserves credit for fighting back in the third, but Djokovic was simply too good.
Roger Federer has proven that a superstar can still perform at the highest level in the final act of his career. Djokovic showed on Sunday that he has no plans of becoming irrelevant anytime soon, either.