Federer won the Wimbledon crowd – but Djokovic won the day

As a student of sporting history, Roger Federer knows about the improbable late renaissance of Muhammad Ali. How the greatest boxer successfully chased one last triumph against George Foreman when even fervent supporters implored him to protect his legacy and bow out with dignity.

Federer, also in the twilight of greatness, set out to make that same mark, hoping to outwit the new world number one, Novak Djokovic. He didn’t miss by much, losing a five-set thriller. But he almost did it, he almost reclaimed the Wimbledon title and confounded those who can’t understand why he chases the holy grail of another grand slam.

It would have been an eighth Wimbledon – his 18th grand slam, and he would have become the oldest singles champion at Wimbledon in the open era of tennis.

Now ranked number four, aged 32, and the father of two sets of twins, the Swiss master doesn’t move as fluidly as he did. His drives don’t always have the last word. His aura of invincibility – which required the rest to battle the man and his legend – left him some time ago. He chases with the pack he once led indisputably.

But he still has a sparkling array of shots, and he still has the most remarkable tennis brain. He has honed what already was a forensic serve, he cuts down on the number of long rallies. He seeks to curtail the attrition with a serve-and-volley game that conjures images of an era past. He has a bigger racquet engendering more power and fewer errors. He can only rue the passage of time and its consequences. But he has been willing to tinker, as he can and as he must, with everything else.

Against anyone but Djokovic, the 27-year-old Serb with almost mythical powers of resolve and recovery, it would probably have been enough. Federer began the match turbo-charged, pressuring Djokovic at the baseline and galloping to the net to cut off his returns. Djokovic seemed marginally stronger, but Federer took the set on a tie-break. Djokovic upped his game to take the second set 6-4 and then the third on a tie-break.

Djokovic powered his way to 5-2 in the fourth, and his victory appeared to be a formality. He moved to match point at 5-4. Federer blew it away with a 120-mile-per-hour ace. The older man flicked the switch to win four games in a row and won the set 7-5.