Novak Djokovic has given a detailed account of how he overcame Roger Federer in their iconic 2019 Wimbledon final.

With the Centre Court crowd firmly backing the veteran Federer as he aimed to defy the odds and beat all-conquering Djokovic, the Swiss maestro had two match points in a compelling fifth set. He had a chance to finish off Djokovic as he approached the net with a forehand on the second of the match points, but failed to apply enough pace on the ball and gave his great rival a chance to pass him.

Djokovic took that opportunity, broke Federer’s serve and went on to win a decisive ten-point tie-break after the final set reached 12-12. Of all the matches Djokovic and Federer contested, this may be the most talked about and that is why Novak’s comments in an emotional interview with La Nacion made for compelling viewing. In his comments on that match, Djokovic revealed a mindset that suggests he always believes he will find a way to win, but that confidence wavered as Federer served for a ninth Wimbledon title.

“Given the circumstances, it was one of the most important moments I experienced,” he reflected. “I was two match points down and if you look at the match statistics, he played better than me. He won more points. I don’t think I ever broke his serve, except for that moment at the end of the fifth set. “It was the first year that the tie-break was used when the fifth set was 12-12. It was incredible. The atmosphere was unique throughout the match. It was on grass, which was certainly his best surface, but I’m not that bad on grass either.

“I knew that if I managed to hold serve and stick to some important basic things, in the long run, I was physically ready to play ten hours and I would end up winning. I always believed in that until he broke my serve in the fifth set. “When he served in the next game was like, ‘Uh, this is going badly’, but I kept calm, which is not always the case, believe me. “People who know me know that I am not always calm on the court, but that time I had to be because it was Federer, it was the final and the stadium was on his side.

“I said to myself; ‘Well, if he hits me an ace, he hits me an ace. He’s very good. But if I hit the ball, I’m going to make him play, I’m going to do everything to put him in a position where he has to think that he has to do something special’. “I think that’s when he started making mistakes and I hit a very good passing shot on the second match point. And that’s when the match turned around.”

The details Djokovic recalls from his matches that are more than a decade old made for intriguing viewing, as they highlighted the thought processes he goes through on big points. “I remember that in the last part of the match the sun was setting, half of the court was in the shade, the other half was in the sun and I was coming back from one side where the sun was hitting my face,” he added of the 2019 Wimbledon Final. “I got into that zone of mental concentration and self-control and I wasn’t paying attention to the noise or anything else that was going on.

“I was shielded: that was the mentality. Like when I saved some match points against him at the US Open (in 2011), he was also 40-15. He served wide, I read his serve, I anticipated it and I came out with a winner. “But at Wimbledon, he was 40-15. He served to the T and I thought, ‘He’s going to go there’. So I did a split step and I was leaning a little bit to my right to cover the wide serve.

“I see him serve to the T and the ball hits the net and it went out, but if it had just gone this far over the net, it was an ace and that was it, it was over. “Sometimes that’s what makes the difference. A margin that narrow can change the history of the sport. Haven’t we seen it a lot in football, with offsides and things like that? Goals in the last minute. Or in basketball, a three-pointer in the final seconds.

“These are some of the most memorable moments in the history of the sport, which people talk about and remember for years. I am proud to have been part of those games.”