Novak Djokovic’s son inspires revival at Wimbledon after wilderness years

When Novak Djokovic was a young boy in Serbia he spent hours smacking a tennis balls against a dilapidated wall until they became bald. At Wimbledon yesterday, however, he became that wall: blocking, dinking and blunting everything that Kevin Anderson threw at him.

The South African had hit 172 aces in six matches going into the Wimbledon men’s final. But almost every time his Gatling Gun of a serve whirred into action and spat out a 130mph bullet, Djokovic caught it on his racket and caressed it back into court.

With each successful return the battle moved on to the Serb’s territory. He won the first two first sets at a canter, while the third was an almighty struggle sealed only after five set points were saved. But when victory was sealed, Djokovic first adopted the power pose beloved of Conservative leadership wannabes before pumping his fists to the sky in sheer unadulterated joy. You could hardly blame him given what he had been through.

READ MORE: Djokovic’s grass-court U-turn pays ultimate dividends with Wimbledon title

READ MORE: Anderson would have played another 21 hours to reach Wimbledon final

READ MORE: Dominant Djokovic beats Anderson to regain Wimbledon title

“The last couple of years haven’t been easy,” he admitted. “I had elbow surgery and was absent from the tour for six months. But there was no better place to make my comeback. This is a sacred place for tennis. I always dreamed of holding this trophy when I was a young boy. I even used to make a lot of improvised Wimbledon trophies from different materials.”

This was Djokovic’s fourth Wimbledon title and his 13th grand slam overall – putting him fourth in the pantheon behind Pete Sampras on 14, Rafael Nadal on 17 and Roger Federer on 20. And, he admitted, one of the toughest because of all the problems since hurting his elbow at Wimbledon two years ago.

“There were several moments where I was frustrated and questioning whether I could get back on [the] desired level or not,” he said. “There were turbulences – as well as moments of doubt, disappointment, frustration and anger. But it’s usually in a struggle that you get to know yourself. And get to have an opportunity to rise like a phoenix and evolve and get better.”

From 2011 to the middle of 2016 Djokovic had consistently been the world’s best player. Then came the wilderness years leaving him fretting over whether he would ever be tennis’s iron man again. You wouldn’t have known he had been away, judging by his play against Anderson. He was faster, more accurate and more intelligent throughout.

Tellingly, he used his backhand slice to force Anderson’s 6ft 8in frame to perform dozens of mini-squats – exactly what the South African didn’t want having endured a six-hour marathon against John Isner on Friday. Afterwards Djokovic credited a combination of surgery, returning to his old coach, Marian Vajda, and visualising his three-year-old son Stefan seeing him win a grand slam as making the difference.

“It feels amazing because for the first time in my life I have someone screaming ‘daddy, daddy’ and it’s a little boy right there,” he added. “I didn’t talk about it, but it was one of – if not the biggest – motivation I’ve had for this Wimbledon this year.

“I was visualising, imagining this moment of him coming to the stands, cherishing this moment with my wife and me and everyone. It’s hard to describe. It is a moment that I will carry inside of my heart forever.”

READ MORE: Djokovic delighted to crown ‘comeback’ with Wimbledon glory

READ MORE: Anderson laments Wimbledon final nerves

This, however, was not a Wimbledon final that will linger in the memory. The great shame was that it took Anderson two sets to get going. Before then he was too stiff and mechanical, like a robot who has forgotten to apply WD-40 to their joints. And while he gave it his all in an exciting third set, Djokovic’s nerve held when it mattered.

“I didn’t really find my form the way I wanted to,” Anderson conceded. “Of course, my body didn’t feel great. It’s not going to when you’ve played so much tennis. Honestly, Saturday was pretty tough. There was a lot of thoughts going through my mind. Was I going to be ready to play another three-out-of-five-set match against somebody like Novak?

“What separates the top guys with the guys further down, is not necessarily just their raw abilities, but it’s their ability to play their best tennis in these sort of matches,” he added. “I wasn’t able to do that in the beginning. He was. I definitely had more opportunities than he did in the third set. I didn’t face any breakpoints. I had five set points. With a couple of them ... I was almost starting to celebrate, but they [Djokovic’s returns] managed to land in.”

Djokovic had spent five hours fewer on court this Wimbledon, and it showed. But he also possessed the greater composure, making just 13 unforced errors all match. With this victory he propels him back into the world’s top 10.

And, given his extraordinary play throughout this Wimbledon, it is now entirely reasonable to ask how long before he returns to the highest seat in tennis’s game of thrones?