London: Serbian tennis ace Novak Djokovic reiterated that winning at Wimbledon was "extra special" for him, given that this was the major that got him playing the sport as a kid in the first place.
Djokovic produced a tennis master-class on Sunday evening to defeat Australia's Nick Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3) for his seventh Wimbledon title, and fourth consecutive crown at the grass-court major. This is Djokovic's first major title of the season and his 21st Grand Slam overall.
"Obviously over the moon with joy and happiness of experiencing this moment once again. I've said it many times, this tournament is extra special for me because it has been the first tournament that I've ever watched as a kid that got me to start playing tennis," Djokovic was quoted as saying by atptour.com.
"I don't take any wins for granted, and particularly not (at) Wimbledon. In contrary, actually every time feels a bit different, special in its own way. Of course, having family and close people in my life here to share this victory with them, it was beautiful."
This time one year ago, the Serbian top seed here had earned his third major of the 2021 season and positioned himself for a run at the Grand Slam — winning all four major trophies in a calendar year. But this year, he was forced to miss the Australian Open due to his stance on taking the Covid-19 vaccine, and lost the French Open quarterfinal match to Rafael Nadal.
"Coming into Wimbledon, I felt good for my tennis because I've won three titles in a row here prior to this year. I always liked playing on grass. I felt like each year I've been improving my tennis on grass," Djokovic said.
"I came off from Paris (Roland Garros) from a tough and also emotional loss against Nadal that obviously was disappointing. But Rome, Paris, I was already playing the tennis that I want to play, that puts me in a position to compete for the greatest titles. "I liked my chance coming into Wimbledon. As I always am, I'm very inspired to play my best tennis in London," added Djokovic.
The tennis ace also thanked the Wimbledon crowd for supporting him in the final.
"I did definitely feel support and feel love from the crowd today, so I'm very grateful for that," Djokovic said.
"Obviously it's not (a) secret that any player would like to have people backing him during the match because in the end of the day this could make a quite big difference with how you feel mentally. Definitely easier to overcome certain obstacles and situations in the match when you have people supporting you and being there for you."
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