Novak Djokovic hopes to be fighting for Grand Slam titles for “many more years” after moving to eighth on the all-time list with a third Wimbledon victory.
The Serb, ranked number one,
beat Roger Federer
7-6 (7-1) 6-7 (10-12) 6-4 6-3 on Centre Court to retain his title.
Djokovic, 28, moves above the likes of Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and Andre Agassi on nine Grand Slam wins.
“I’m going to keep going. I feel good. I don’t feel old. I have hopefully many more years in front of me,” he said.
“I’m going to try to push my own limits and see how far I can go really with titles and with myself playing on this high level.”
Djokovic now stands one major title behind American Bill Tilden and two behind Sweden’s Bjorn Borg and Australian Rod Laver.
“To be on that list and mentioned with such an elite group of players is a privilege,” he added.
The Serb had to recover from
losing the French Open final
last month, and so failing to complete his set of major titles, but just five weeks later he was holding the Wimbledon trophy.
“This sport makes you recover very fast,” said Djokovic.
“Within a couple of weeks you really need to get your things together and motivate yourself to be able to play on a high level in another Grand Slam.
“You can’t think about what happened in French Open or what happened a few weeks before. You just need to look forward.
“If we don’t have Wimbledon a few weeks after French Open, maybe it would be a different situation. But it is the way it is. It’s actually pretty good for me.”
Djokovic has matched the achievement of his coach, Boris Becker, in winning Wimbledon three times, and paid tribute to the influence of the German.
“Right now whenever you’re winning, obviously everybody feels happy and it’s easy to say positive things,” he said.
“But in the tough times, Boris was there, as was the entire team. They were encouraging me to keep going, supporting me.
“That’s a unity that keeps us together and allows us to experience these beautiful moments.”
Grand Slam titles (Open Era)
|
|
|---|---|
|
Roger Federer
|
17
|
|
Pete Sampras, Rafael Nadal
|
14
|
|
Bjorn Borg
|
11
|
|
Novak Djokovic
|
9
|
Djokovic also thanked his wife, Jelena, on the first anniversary of their wedding.
“One year ago I won the trophy, and on this day, we got married in the church, started a new life together,” he said.
“It’s really an amazing chapter of my life that I’m trying to enjoy as much as I can.
“Ever since I got married and became a father, I haven’t lost many matches, I won many tournaments. I suggest that to every player: Get married, have kids, let’s enjoy this.”
