Federer and Djokovic on court at Wimbledon

World number 1 Novak Djokovic has been crowned the Wimbledon Champion after he defeated Roger Federer in 4 sets: 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.

But despite Federer’s majestic triumph over Andy Murray in the semi-finals, which suggested he was not ready for the retirement home just yet, Sunday’s reality check looks certain to leave the Swiss thwarted in his quest to add to his record 17 Grand Slam title collection.

“Novak played not only great today”, said Federer, who turns 34 on August 8 and was the oldest Wimbledon finalist since 1974, “but the whole two weeks, plus the whole year, plus last year, plus the year before that”.

Federer was unable to respond as Djokovic opened up a match point in the very next game and after a booming forehand sealed victory, he crouched down for his traditional eating of the Wimbledon grass.

In the first set, the two men traded games, including a mid-set break by each, but Djokovic cruised in the tiebreak 7-1 to take the set, winning on a double fault by Federer.

“It tasted very, very good this year”, Djokovic said.

Federer’s transcendental status beyond tennis also sees him net more from endorsement deals with Nike, Mercedes, Rolex, Credit Suisse and others pumping over $50m into his bank account according to Forbes figures.

Djokovic’s incredible range gave him the first point. With Djokovic up 3-2, the match had a 20-minute rain delay, but neither player was affected. This time, Federer won the first point with a perfectly placed deep return that Djokovic misjudged.

The first set of the Wimbledon final is headed to a tiebreaker.

The clinical Serb was 6-3 ahead and seemed to have the final in his pocket, but Federer showed incredible fight to stay in the final and provoked an explosion of noise heard halfway across London when he cut off a backhand volley to eventually take the breaker 12-10. This set up another intense match-up between Roger and Novak.

At Wimbledon in 2014, Federer held serve in 88 of 89 games through the semifinals, then got broken four times by Djokovic during the five-set final.

Djokovic dominated the tie break winning 7-1.

When Djokovic worked his way to a set point for a two-set lead, he appeared to be closing in on victory, but the top seed sent a forehand long and a breathtaking half hour of tennis followed. Djokovic’s next set point ended with Djokovic sprawled on the grass, as a Federer forehand nailed the corner.

While Federer had more winners (58) than Djokovic (46), the Serb finished with only 16 unforced errors, compared to 35 for the Swiss player.

“I have to say it’s a big challenge playing against Roger”, he said.

A visibly deflated Djokovic squandered two break points in the first game of the third, missing a routine – for him – backhand passing shot.

Ahead of their 40th career meeting, which is set to be played in a relatively cool 18 degrees Celsius (64F), Federer and defending champion Djokovic are equally-matched.

Novak Djokovic broke Roger Federer’s serve early in the third set of the Wimbledon final to take a 2-1 lead.