The River Of Dreams

Winning Wimbledon is not just a British obsession. Witness Novak Djokovic winning the title today and dropping to his knee's to literally taste the grass of SW19.

The post-match, on-court interviews really struck me this year. Usually, I do not care for the practise of immediately badgering a response out of an either elated or despondant sportsman; nothing interesting is ever said. Today, though, the candour with which both Djokovic and defeated Rafa Nadal spoke was genuinely uplifing. The Serb staded that Wimbledon had always been his dream, and that he thought he may still be asleep. So he sleepwalked his way through that final then?

Djokovic was often brilliant, sometimes inspired and always composed throughout the 4 sets. His play in the 2nd set in particular was the best tennis on display at this year's championships. He had tactics, targetting Nadal's backhand service returns and cross court game, and he executed them flawlessly. Combine that with his talented offensive game; something that has come on tremendously in the past half year. Before, I have stated that Andy Murray needed to get to Djokovic's level of consistency to have any chance of winning Grand Slam's. This view is now too harsh on Djokovic; his game is still consistency, but in a manner that nobody else in world tennis is now able to stand up to. He is now an overpowering force, as opposed to a reactionary one like Murray. His elevation to World Number 1 is undoubtedly deserved, and adds another interesting twist to the men's scene.

(Plus, his victory means that I predicted the winner correctly from Day 1. Which has literally never happened before.)

I give a great deal of praise to Nadal as well. I think that his foot injury was impeding him in the later stages more than he showed outwardly. However, without regard to any of this speculation, he was outplayed and beaten today. And he accepted it with the grace and humility of a real champion. We are truly fortunate to have tennis players and men of the calibre of Nadal, Federer and Djokovic. The crowd certainly knew this; the cheers for Nadal in defeat were if anything louder than for the victor. I was genuinely a little moved by his respectful behaviour and connection with the crowd. He will be back, and they will cheer him again.

GM