Roger Federer Says He’s Fine With Wimbledon Championships 2019 Fifth Set Tiebreaker Rule

Published 07/15/2019, 8:48 AM EDT

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Sunday’s final outlasted the final showdown at Wimbledon 2008 between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal by nine minutes, and Wimbledon Championships 2019 final becomes the longest match in Wimbledon’s history.

At this year’s Wimbledon, the fifth set regulations were amended, as the organizing committee wanted to put an end to their marathon matches which were pretty much prevalent in last year’s Wimbledon. The changed rule came into application in yesterday’s final (it was the very first time the rule was applied) and it had a catastrophic outcome for Roger Federer.

However, he respects the amendment in their rules and considers everything to be part of the game. The tennis followers sounded unconvincing, upon learning Federer’s loss, but the Swiss World Number three was persuaded with the fifth set tiebreaker rule. “It is what it is,” Roger Federer said. “I respect whatever the rule is. You play with it. I don’t know if I was looking forward to it or not. I was feeling good about either scenario.”

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Novak Djokovic’s histrionics peaked in all the three tiebreakers and allowed Federer to win just five, four and three points in each of them. Whereas his level of tennis was deteriorating in between the tiebreakers. After the first tiebreaker, Djokovic lost in next set under 25 minutes.

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In the final set which stretched out for two hours and even the chair umpire had lost track of the scoreline. It seemed unfair to declare the outcome of the seesawing match on the basis of the tiebreaker at 12-12. The Swiss outnumbered the Wimbledon 2019 champion in every possible stat, but Djokovic’s 3-0 tally in the tiebreaker bolstered his path to the title.

He slammed 40 winners and 16 aces more than Djokovic, Federer showed up more frequently on the net than Djokovic did and he won almost 80 percent of them. Federer had an upper hand on break point conversion rate and he won 14 points more than Djokovic what did in the entire five-set thriller. 

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Federer’s 21st Grand Slam title was on the verge of his Wilson wand, but Novak Djokovic’s forehand passing shot denied Federer from tasting victory. Exactly ten years ago on the manicured lawns of SW19, Roger Federer surpassed Pete Sampras’ all-time record of Wimbledon titles by defeating Andy Roddick who lost just one service game in the championship match, and the fifth set inculcated a 16-14 scoreline. 

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Mahalakshmi Murali

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Mahalakshmi Murali joined EssentiallySports in 2018 as a tennis author and has gone on to pen more than 1800 engaging articles, probing into various aspects of the sport and its illustrious players. With her expertise on the sport, Mahalakshmi has interviewed stalwarts from the sport such as Serena WIlliams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou and Kevin Anderson’s physio, Carlos Costa. Equipped with her vast experience and a keen understanding of the sport, Mahalakshmi now co-heads the tennis department.
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