Wimbledon 2018: Novak Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal to reach first Grand Slam final since September 2016

There have been plenty of times in the last two years when we wondered whether we had seen the best of Novak Djokovic, but the former world No 1 produced the perfect response here on Saturday by reaching the Wimbledon final with a memorable victory over Rafael Nadal.

In a match full of nerve-tingling drama and stunning tennis spread over two days, Djokovic completed a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 10-8 win over Nadal to secure a place in his first Grand Slam final for nearly two years. He will be seeking his fourth Wimbledon title and his 13th Grand Slam trophy when he faces South Africa’s Kevin Anderson on Sunday.

Not much went right for Djokovic in the 18 months after his last appearance in a Grand Slam final at the 2016 US Open, but the world No 21 has fought back from elbow surgery, recovered from a crisis of confidence and put off-the-court problems behind him to climb back towards the pinnacle of a sport he dominated between 2011 and 2016.

“It’s hard to pick the words,” Djokovic said when asked to describe his feelings after beating Nadal for the first time in more than two years. “I’m just going through flashbacks, the last 15 months, everything I’ve been through to get to the final and to win against the best player in the world in one of the longest matches I’ve ever played over two days. I’m just overwhelmed.”

For the second day in a row Centre Court was treated to a semi-final remarkable for the durability of the players, all of whom, for the first time in Grand Slam semi-final history in the open era, were over the age of 30.

Anderson’s victory over John Isner lasted six hours and 36 minutes, making it the second longest singles match ever played here or at any Grand Slam tournament. Djokovic and Nadal were on court for five hours and 15 minutes, which until the previous day would have been the longest match ever played on Centre Court.

While Anderson-Isner had been all about who might falter first on serve, the second semi-final was a clash of athleticism, shot-making, tactical brilliance and mental strength. Aces and break points were the telling statistics in the first semi-final, but this time it was the winners and unforced errors that told their own story. Both men hit 73 winners and both made 42 unforced errors by the end of a match in which Djokovic won 195 points to Nadal’s 191.

While it was very difficult to separate the two men, it was hard not to conclude that Djokovic just about deserved his triumph. The 31-year-old Serb had 18 break points in the match, of which he converted just three, while 32-year-old Nadal converted four of his 11.

With Djokovic having won his last seven Grand Slam semi-finals and Nadal having won all five of his previous Wimbledon semi-finals, something had to give. The head-to-head record marginally favoured Djokovic, who had won 26 of their previous 51 matches, but Nadal had won their two previous meetings, having ended a seven-match losing run to the Serb last summer.

The first three sets had been played on Friday evening, with play called off for the day just after 11pm with Djokovic leading by two sets to one. The match had not started until 8pm because of the Anderson-Isner marathon earlier in the day.

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Because the first three sets had been played under the Centre Court roof, it remained closed on the resumption. It would have been opened only with the agreement of both players and it was understood that Djokovic wanted it to remain closed.

Nadal, who has never been at his best playing indoors, was asked after the match if it had made sense to keep the roof closed on the second day given the warm and sunny weather. “No, but I will not talk more about this,” the Spaniard replied at his post-match press conference. “If not, you’re going to write about this – and I don't want you to write about this today.”

The French Open champion added: “It was a great match. I think it was a fantastic level of tennis from both of us. I think it was a great show for the fans. Of course I’m not happy with the final result, but I’m happy to have been a part of this great match.”

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Friday’s first three sets had seen the players win 107 points each. In the opening game on the second day the contest was as close as ever. After 15 minutes and six deuces, Nadal, having successfully defended two break points, held serve when Djokovic netted a return.

Nadal was already punching the air to celebrate his winners in that first game and the Spaniard upped the ante in the second by breaking to 15. By the time he had held serve for 3-0 the world No 1 was flying, hitting spectacular winners from both flanks, only for Djokovic to respond by winning 12 of the next 14 points to level at 3-3.

When Djokovic served at 3-4, however, he was broken again. After netting a forehand on break point the Serb demonstrated his frustration by repeatedly thumping his racket into his shoes.

Djokovic is often at his best when angry and he promptly won the first three points of the next game as Nadal served for the set. However, the Spaniard saved all three break points, went to set point with a volleyed winner and converted it with only his third ace of the match.

The first break point of the deciding set did not come until the eighth game. Nadal, serving at 3-4 and 30-40, saved it with a big serve. On the next point, to a huge roar from the crowd, the Spaniard hit a brilliant forehand winner down the line from out wide and then held serve with another winning forehand.

In the next game it was Djokovic who had his back to the wall, but from 15-40 down he hit two unreturned serves and won the next two points to lead 5-4. By now the momentum was shifting with almost every game. Serving to stay in the match at 4-5, Nadal went 0-30 down before hitting four successive unreturned serves to stay in the match.

At 7-7 Djokovic, breathing heavily and looking tense, saved three break points in a game that lasted 13 minutes. In the next game the Serb had his first match point, which Nadal saved with a bold drop shot which caught the side line. Unreturned serves on the next two points saw Nadal hold, to another roar from the crowd.

With Nadal serving at 8-9 Djokovic delivered the killer blows. Nadal went 0-15 down when he missed a forehand, 0-30 down when Djokovic chased down a drop shot and 0-40 down after falling over when chasing a ball out wide. Djokovic needed only one more point to claim his victory, which he secured when Nadal missed a forehand.

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“It really could have gone either way,” Djokovic said afterwards. “It was very clear that very few things separated the two players. Until the last shot I didn’t know I was going to win. I believed it, but I knew that he was very, very close and had some chances.”

Anderson won his first meeting with Djokovic in 2008, but the Serb has won all five of their subsequent encounters, two of which were at Wimbledon, in 2011 and 2015.

“Hopefully we can both play first of all and get out on the court,” Djokovic said with a smile as he considered the physical state both finalists might be in on Sunday. “It’s been a roller-coaster ride for him in the last couple of rounds, but he’s had a day off, which means a lot. I wish I could have one, but it is what it is. I’m in the final at Wimbledon and that’s an incredible achievement for me after what I’ve been through.”