Epic Wimbledon final tie-break saw Roger Federer stun Novak Djokovic and earn huge Centre Court standing ovation
Novak Djokovic is bidding to win a joint-record eighth Wimbledon title as he looks to defend his crown for a fourth consecutive time.
The Serbian star, who holds the Grand Slam record with 23 victories after his French Open triumph, is already into the second round.
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He breezed past Argentina's Pedro Cachin in straight sets on Monday to make it 29 straight wins at the All England Club.
Djokovic has lifted the famous trophy every year since 2018, with the exception of 2020 as the event was not held due to the coronavirus pandemic.
And he now has Federer's record of eight Wimbledon championships in his sights - a rival he enjoyed many epic battles with on grass.
Federer beat Djokovic in the latter's first Grand Slam final at the US Open in 2007, before losing in their next four final meetings.
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Three of those final defeats Djokovic inflicted on Federer came at Wimbledon (2014, 2015 and 2019).
While a historic fifth set tie-break settled their 2019 affair, it was in 2015 that one of the greatest tie-breaks in Wimbledon final history occurred.
Matched only by John McEnroe's fourth set [18-16] win over Bjorn Borg in 1980, Federer defied the odds to beat Djokovic 12-10 in the second set.
The previous set ended in a tie-break win for Djokovic, who eased to 7-1 victory to get the upper hand at the start of the final.
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And it looked like Djokovic, who had a set point prior to the tie-break, would wrap up the second set in similar fashion after going 6-3 up.
That is despite the 20-time Grand Slam champ breaking Djokovic at the start, before then losing his next two serving points.
After trailing by three points, Federer clawed the score back to 6-6 - the first three of six set points he would save in the tie-break that lasted for over 15 minutes.
Federer saved another set point to tie the game at 8-8, before wasting his first set point after failing to return a Djokovic serve.
Djokovic was visibly getting more and more agitated after failing to take his chances.
This culminated in the 36-year-old hitting a routine shot down the singles sideline into the net as Federer scrambled across the court.
And after presenting Federer with a second set point opportunity, the retired Swiss legend took it with open arms.
A second serve added to the tension inside Centre Court, before a backhand volley brought an end to the mammoth tie-break, earning the now-retired star a huge standing ovation.
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Sadly for Federer, he couldn't capitalise on the momentum as Djokovic would win the third and fourth sets 6-4, 6-3 to secure his then-third Wimbledon title.
Speaking after the epic encounter, Federer declared that he was 'lucky' that he went unpunished in the second set.
He said: "I had my chances in the first set. I got lucky to win the second, had chances in the third.
"But he was better on the bigger points. He was rock solid, I didn't play badly myself. That's how it goes."
It is now eight years since that enthralling battle, but for those that watched the gargantuan tie-break, it will live long in the memory.
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