Wimbledon 2019: Roger Federer and his match point jinx

It was almost the perfect storyline, 'Federer clinches ninth Wimbledon title in epic battle with Djokovic.' In the final against the Serb, Federer was the better player for large swathes of the match and in multiple facets like more points won (218-204), more aces (26-10), more winners (94-54), better first serve % (65-61), better first serve winning % (79-74), better second serve winning % (51-47), more receiving points won (79-64), more net points won (51-24) and more breaks of the opponent's serve (7-3).

Match Stats of the 2019 Wimbledon Men's Singles Final

Federer couldn't have played better grass-court tennis on the day and not won. But tennis is a queer sport. As cruel as it may sound, it's the player who is mightier on the big points and not necessarily with the superior match stats, emerges triumphant. Djokovic was clutch on the points which mattered most while Federer got tight.

Let's not take anything away from Djokovic but one cannot help jettison the lingering feeling that it was the perfect match for Federer with the imperfect ending. The match was on Federer's serve. Two consecutive aces from the Swiss brought up 40-15 and two championship points.

A ninth Wimbledon title and a record-extending 21st Grand Slam was in Federer's grasp. One more swing of the racquet (read 'ace') from the Swiss and the partisan Centre Court crowd would have erupted in delirium.

But Federer incredibly tightened up and was broken back as Centre Court descended into a stunned anguish. So what went wrong for the genial Swiss?

Federer landed three out of four first serves at 40-15. On the first championship point, he inexplicably abandoned his attacking template and stayed back instead of going for the serve and volley. A rally ensued and a forehand from the Swiss floated wide.

At 40-30 another there was a second championship point for Federer. This time he did venture to the net behind his serve, but Djokovic blazed a rasping cross-court pass just beyond the outstretched racquet of Federer.

It was deuce but the game was not over yet. Perhaps stung by the Djokovic pass in the previous point when Federer ventured to the net, the Swiss chose to stay back, fatally. Two more errors leaked from the Federer racquet as he was broken back and an incredible opportunity had come and gone which he later reminisced ruefully.

In that game while serving for the Championship, Federer descended from superhuman stature into an ordinary mortal, going for 'safe' low percentage serves away from the lines, hoping for Djokovic to falter and nudge Federer over the line. He was just not ruthless enough on those points, as a Djokovic or a Nadal would have been.

The enormity of the occasion, facing two championship points on the opponent's serve, would have been too overwhelming for a lesser player who has rolled over and buckled. But Djokovic is regarded as one of the best returners in the history of the game and never knows when he is beaten, even when he is match points or championship points down on his opponent's serve.

On the day Djokovic indeed had the lesser match stats than his opponent but the Serb was ruthless in the three tiebreaks, including the historic deciding set tiebreak at 12 games all in the fifth, which mattered enormously in the eventual scheme of things.

As Federer pondered what might have been, the Serb became the first player aged 30 and above to defend his Wimbledon title. Djokovic ushered in Grand Slam title #16 and joined the trio of Laver, Federer and Nadal to have won four Slams after celebrating his 30th birthday.

It was an incredible 22nd time overall, 3rd time this season, 3rd time against Djokovic, 6th time in a Grand Slam and for the second consecutive year at Wimbledon (Anderson in the 2018 quarter final, Djokovic in the 2019 Final) that Federer squandered match points en route to a defeat.

In contrast, Djokovic has squandered match points in a defeat on only 3 occasions and Nadal has done it on 8. None of those instances for either player came at a Grand Slam, and has occurred only once in a tournament final for both players. Nadal couldn't convert match points (read 'championship point') against Davydenko in the 2010 Doha final while Djokovic faltered in the 2018 Queen's title match against Cilic.

Here's a list of all the occasions where the Swiss faltered when up a match point, with the number of match points (MP) saved and Grand Slam event highlighted in bold.

1) 2000 Vienna Semifinal against Henman 6–2, 6–7(4), 3–6 (2 MP)

2) 2001 Halle Quarterfinal against Rafter 6–4, 6–7(6), 6–7(4) (1 MP)

3) 2002 Australian Open Round of 16 against Haas 6–7(3), 6–4, 6–3, 4–6, 6–8 (1 MP)

4) 2003 Miami Quarterfinal against Costa 6–7(4), 6–4, 6–7(7) (3 MP)

5) 2005 Australian Open Semifinal against Safin 7–5, 4–6, 7–5, 6–7(6), 7–9 (1 MP)

6) 2005 Monte Carlo Quarterfinal against Gasquet 7–6(1), 2–6, 6–7(8) (3 MP)

7) 2006 Rome Masters Final against Nadal 7–6(0), 6–7(5), 4–6, 6–2, 6–7(5) (2 MP)

8) 2010 Indian Wells Round of 32 against Baghdatis 7–5, 5–7, 6–7(4) (3 MP)

9) 2010 Miami Round of 16 against Berdych 4–6, 7–6(3), 6–7(6) (1 MP)

10) 2010 US Open Semifinal against Djokovic 7–5, 1–6, 7–5, 2–6, 5–7 (2 MP)

11) 2010 Paris Masters Semifinal against Monfils 6–7(7), 7–6(1), 6–7(4) (5 MP)

12) 2011 US Open Semifinal against Djokovic 7–6(7), 6–4, 3–6, 2–6, 5–7 (2 MP)

13) 2013 Dubai Semifinal against Berdych 6–3, 6–7(8), 4–6 (3 MP)

14) 2014 Rome Round of 32 against Chardy 6–1, 3–6, 6–7(6) (1 MP)

15) 2015 Madrid Round of 32 against Kyrgios 7–6(2), 6–7(5), 6–7(12) (2 MP)

16) 2016 Stuttgart Semifinal against Thiem 6–3, 6–7(7), 4–6 (2 MP)

17) 2017 Dubai Round of 16 against Donskoy 6–3, 6–7(7), 6–7(5) (3 MP)

18) 2017 Stuttgart Round of 16 against Haas 6–2, 6–7(8), 4–6 (1 MP)

19) 2018 Indian Wells Final against Del Potro 4–6, 7–6(8), 6–7(2) (3 MP)

20) 2018 Wimbledon Quarterfinal against Anderson 6–2, 7–6(5), 5–7, 4–6, 11–13 (1 MP)

21) 2019 Madrid QF against Thiem 6–3, 6–7(11), 4–6 (2 MP)

22) 2019 Wimbledon Final against Djokovic 6–7(5), 6–1, 6–7(4), 6–4, 12–13(3) (2 MP).

To his credit though, Federer has saved match points on 21 victorious occasions overall, once this season (against Monfils in Madrid Round of 16) and 3 times in a major (2016 Wimbledon QF against Cilic, 2014 US Open QF against Monfils and 2000 US Open against Wessels) but that is a discussion for another day.