2019 Wimbledon final

Novak Djokovic d. Roger Federer
7–6(5) 1–6 7–6(4) 4–6 13–12(3)
14 July 20194 h 57 minFirst 12–12 final-set tiebreak
How it unfolded
  1. First-set tiebreak

    Federer led 5–3, then made four forehand errors. Djokovic won all three tiebreaks in the match: 7–5, 7–4 and 7–3.

    ATP
  2. Fourth set, 5–2

    The longest rally of the match, 35 shots, ended with a Federer backhand winner that saved a break point.

    ATP; Match Charting Project log
  3. Fifth set, 8–7

    Federer served for the title at 40–15. He missed a forehand off his second serve on the first championship point, and Djokovic passed him with a cross-court forehand on the second, then broke.

    ATP; Sky Sports
  4. Fifth set, 12–12

    The first final-set tiebreak at 12–12 in a men's Wimbledon final. Djokovic won it 7–3.

    Sky Sports

The stat sheet

DjokovicFederer
Aces1025
Winners5494
Unforced errors5261
Break points won3/87/13
Net points won24/3851/65
Total points won204218
Sky Sports stat box; total points from db4tennis

The match in numbers

  • Federer won the short points in the charting, 136 to 109. Djokovic won the rallies of seven to nine shots, 28 to 12.

    Match Charting Project
  • Djokovic's dominance ratio was 0.87, extremely low for a winner. Of 167 charted men's major finals, this was the first won by the player with the lower leverage-adjusted ratio.

    Jeff Sackmann, Tennis Abstract
  • Federer hit 188 backhand slices in the charting, Djokovic 42.

    Match Charting Project

Point by point: the Match Charting Project log

What a club player can take from it
  • In the tiebreaks, 20 of the 33 points were baseline rallies and Djokovic won 16 of them. Federer came in only twice, after winning most of his approaches all match. In big moments, steer points into your best pattern. (O'Shannessy was on Djokovic's coaching team.)

    Craig O'Shannessy, ATP Brain Game (republished)
  • The first serve at the body jammed Federer's forward-moving return: a target most servers forget.

    Craig O'Shannessy

Questions

How long was the 2019 Wimbledon final?

4 hours 57 minutes by most sources (ATP gives 4:55), the longest men's Wimbledon final. The fifth set alone took about two hours.

Did Federer have match points in 2019?

Two, at 8–7, 40–15 in the fifth set, on his own serve. Djokovic saved both and broke back.

How did Djokovic win with fewer points?

He won all three tiebreaks and the fifth-set breaker. Federer won 218 points to 204 overall.

What we don't claim

  • Duration is 4:57 in most sources and 4:55 in ATP's. Counts of Djokovic's body serves differ between O'Shannessy and the charting, so we don't give one.
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