Novak Djokovic won the Wimbledon men's singles title for the fourth time on Sunday, defeating South African's Kevin Anderson.

It wasn't a short championship for either competitor – on Friday in the semi-finals Kevin Anderson and John Isner played a remarkable six and a half hour match. That marathon match, in turn, forced Djokovic to play Rafael Nadal over the course of two days, and delayed the women's finals.

Anderson spent a total of 21 hours on the court prior to Sunday's finals, and said in a post-match interview he would have given "another 21 hours" to have the opportunity to play.

In his post-match interview, Djokovic said this championship was special because his son was in the stands.

"For the first time in my life I have someone screaming, 'Daddy, daddy,'" the champion said, as the camera zoomed in on his son and wife clapping in the crowd.

As ESPN reports, Djokovic hadn't won a major since the 2016 French Open, and became so frustrated with his performance in the intervening years that he "spoke about skipping the grass-court circuit."

"I had many moments of doubt, and didn't know really if I could come back to the level to compete," Djokovic said after the final. "There's no better place in the world to really make a comeback. This is a sacred place for the world of tennis, I always dreamed of holding this trophy."

This is Djokovic's 13th major title.

Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

300x250 Ad

300x250 Ad

Support quality journalism, like the story above, with your gift right now.

Donate