Djokovic beats Federer to win his fifth Wimbledon title

Novak Djokovic of Serbia holds the trophy after winning the men's singles final against Roger Federer of Switzerland at the 2019 Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Britain, on July 14, 2019. Novak Djokovic won 3-2 to claim the title. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

LONDON, July 14 (Xinhua) -- World number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer in a thrilling final to win the Wimbledon men's singles title for the fifth time on Centre Court here on Sunday.

The 32-year-old saved two championship points and won the epic marathon match 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 13-12 (3) in four hours and 57 minutes, which is the longest Wimbledon final.

Federer, a record eight-time winner, has lost all three Wimbledon final between them following his defeats in 2014 and 2015.

Djokovic has increased his Grand Slam titles to 16, which also includes seven from Australian Open, one from Roland Garros and three from U.S. Open.

The 37-year-old Federer, a 20-time Grand Slam champion, had two championship points at 8-7, but Djokovic, who had won two tie-breaks in the first and third sets, managed to save both and then break back, eventually taking it to the new tie-break at 12-12.

Djokovic, who sometimes was jeered by a partisan crowd, held his nerve and took the third tie-break 7-3.

"If this was not the most thrilling and exciting finals I was ever a part of, then definitely it's top two or three in my career against one of the greatest players of all time - Roger," Djokovic told the crowd.

"I respect him a lot. Unfortunately in these kind of matches, one of the players has to lose and, as Roger said, we both had our chances. It's quite unreal to be two match points down and to come back."

Federer, who won the title last time in 2017, said: "It was a great match, it was long, it had everything. Novak, congratulations, man, that was crazy."