Wimbledon: Novak Djokovic v Matteo Berrettini, men’s singles final – live!

12.28pm EDT 12:28

*Djokovic (4)6-7 6-4 6-4 5-3 Berrettini This is the thing with Djokovic: he’s just got that ability to play a little better not only than his opponent is but than his opponent can, especially at key moments. But he’s not home yet, and Berrettini forces a backhand winner down the line for 0-15. He’s really going for it now, putting all he’s got into his groundstrokes, and it’s just not enough, Djokovic clouting a backhand winner inside-out then following it with an ace. I’ve never seen a matchplayer like him in my life in any sport, it’s just an absolute outrage to human decency, but two errors and Berrettini has 30-all – Djokovic isn’t impervious to nerves, he just manages them – I guess it helps when you know you’re the best – and a first serve-whipped forehand combo raise game point. Another big forehand comes next, Berrettini can only net, and Djoovic is a game away!

12.23pm EDT 12:23

Djokovic (4)6-7 6-4 6-4 4-3 Berrettini* It’s getting physical out there and you’ve got to favour Djokovic when that happens … and as I write that at 15-all, he runs around his backhand to hammer to the corner then arrives at the net for the delicate backhand putaway! Is this the championship here? Oh my days it might be! At 30-all, Djokovic somehow manufactures a forehand angle from the middle of the court that sends the ball over the net for a winner that bounces just level with the service box and leaps beyond the sideline! That’s break point, and ach! Berrettini responds with a double, and Djokovic is two holds away from his third major of the year!

12.18pm EDT 12:18

*Djokovic (4)6-7 6-4 6-4 3-3 Berrettini Berrettini makes 0-15 and has a second serve to go at … AND HAVE A LOOK! When Djokovic plays a drop he dashes to the net, backhand side, and guides a gorgeous winner across the face of it! 0-30! So Djokovic settles down to serve, someone or some people shout some things, and and he stands up again, the interruption and situation getting to him. Yeah, just. He makes 15-30, then Berrettini starts banging forehands, and WHAT IS THIS! Djokovic is out of the point, but a backhand on the stretch forces Berrettini to play an extra shot, it’s a drop … and he elasticates in to flicks a backhand winner! That is disgusting! So Djokovic raises an arm, then beckons the crowd on – good for him! – and quickly closes out! This is a serious piece of match now, pressure and momentum fluctuating back and forth.

12.12pm EDT 12:12

Djokovic (4)6-7 6-4 6-4 2-3 Berrettini* This is great from Berrettini, huge serving taking him to 30-0 before Djokovic’s slice forces the forehand error. That’s been such an important shot in this match though we’ve not actually seen it that much, but Berrettini retaliates with a drop for 40-15 … then Djokovic makes 40-30 with a big forehand. So Berrettini looks into his toolbox removes therein … a ludicrously terrifying serve, another ace ensues and he stays in front in the set. Will the scoreboard pressure get to Djokovic (don’t laugh)?

12.08pm EDT 12:08

*Djokovic (4)6-7 6-4 6-4 2-2 Berrettini Who’s going to flinch first? Whatever happens here, you’ve got to admire Berrettini, who started nervously, still won the first set, and is refusing to fade. Djokovic holds to 15, and every service game is now an occasion, potentially the end of things or the start of them.

Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images

Updated at 12.17pm EDT

12.06pm EDT 12:06

Djokovic (4)6-7 6-4 6-4 1-2 Berrettini* Aaaarrrgggghh! Berretttini bangs a serve out wide … and Djokovic carts a forehand winner cross court! That’s unusual for this match – most passes have been down the line – but it doesn’t matter much because Berrettini soon makes 40-15, his serve-forehand double-act absolute MONEY. An ace follows, and this is very tense now because both men are absolutely having at it; how good it is to see someone hurling themselves at Djokovic in their first major final, behaviour that was beyond players as brilliant as Medvedev and Tsistsipas earlier this year.

Updated at 12.06pm EDT

12.02pm EDT 12:02

*Djokovic (4)6-7 6-4 6-4 1-1 Berrettini Lovely from Djokovic, serve-volleying on the first point of the game and putting away a low volley like Edberg in his prime. But when Berrettini makes 15-all he mule-kicks the turf – complaining about the dust, perhaps, but also inciting the crowd – and at 30-all, he’ll know the reaction if he can’t win the two points he needs. Except he also knows he will, and a big first serve then another slice battle do the trick.

11.57am EDT 11:57

Djokovic (4)6-7 6-4 6-4 0-1 Berrettini* Right then, eyes down. As I mentioned earlier, Djokovic has only lost one five-set final – at Flushing Meadow in 2012, against Murray – which is to say that Berrettini is in trouble. This is a huge game for him here, to establish himself in the fourth, but at 40-30 he wafts a peculiar and unnecessary drop into the net and you can see what might come next … but no! Djokovic whumps a forehand wide and this won’t be given to him – he’ll have to take it.

11.52am EDT 11:52

Djokovic wins the third set against Berrettini 6-4 to lead 2-1!

Djokovic (4)6-7 6-4 6-4 Berrettini With a nondescript ball arriving onto his forehand, Berrettini’s eyes light up … but he goes long, then into the net with another! This is disappointing, though as Boris notes, Djokovic is slowing the pace which means he has to generate it himself. And Djokovic then nets for 30-15 … but what a volley he find for 40-15, right down by his tootsies and guided with the spin so Berrettini nets. Djokovic, though, goes long for 40-30 then misses with his first serve – this is a chance – but Berrettini can’t do anything with his backhand return, setting up a rally in which neither are middling anything, then swipes a forehand wide! Three errors in the game with his best shot, and that is the difference!

11.47am EDT 11:47

Djokovic (4)6-7 6-4 5-4 Berrettini* Berrettini is serving beautifully now, and holds to 15. In 90 seconds, Djokovic will serve for set two, and if I’m Berrettini – for avoidance of doubt I’m not – I’m chucking everything at this.

“I’m from New York (though now I live in Switzerland)“ returns Jonathan Wallach, “and I have been to both the US Open and Wimbledon finals. The British fans have the least class of any I’ve ever experienced. Treating a champion of Djokovic’s stature this way borders on revolting.”

Treating him how? Honestly, I think he’s getting plenty of support – not as much as Berrettini but plenty – and the crowd want to see an upset, or at least a longer match, and that’s before we get into his corona behaviour, or the position he took on equal pay.

11.43am EDT 11:43

*Djokovic (4)6-7 6-4 5-3 Berrettini Berrettini gets 0-15, but what a forehand Djokovic produces, leaping back and across to hammer a winner from centre to forehand side. A service winner comes next, then another battle of the slices – Berrettini cannot afford to get involved in those and he duly nets – but a viciously topspinning forehand gives him a sniff at 40-30. A very faint sniff, another big serve down the T seeing Djokovic home and putting him within a game of 2-1.

11.39am EDT 11:39

Djokovic (4)6-7 6-4 4-3 Berrettini* Berrettini is really confident now, leaping into a forehand winner that gives him 40-0, then he runs around his back to hammer another down the line that Djokovic applauds. This is now a terrific contest, and I can’t wait to see what happens next … in the match, not Tom Cruise waving to everyone.

11.36am EDT 11:36

*Djokovic (4)6-7 6-4 4-2 Berrettini Berrettini gets ahead in the game, so Djokovic punishes a service winner … but Berrettini nails a forehand return then leaps into another, a winner! 15-30! Here – we – go! And Djokovic, able to see Berrettini winding up for another, hooks wide one of his own, and here come two break-back points! What do you have, Matteo? A wide forehand for one – that was a chance, with Djokovic at the net – but when he comes in again, his approach is much better, and Berrettini can only net! Deuce! Meantime, the crowd are extremely lively, getting right behind Berrettini and a hector having to settle a few of its members down, then when Djokovic gets advantage, he pastes an ace down the middle and is two holds away from the set!

11.29am EDT 11:29

Djokovic (4)6-7 6-4 3-2 Berrettini* “MA-TAY-OH! MA-TAY-OH!” chant the crowd before Berrettini rushes to love 40 … at which point Djokovic unleashes another backhand winner down the line. So Berrettini unloads an ace down the T, and he’s sticking at it well even if it’s still hard to see him winning from here.

11.26am EDT 11:26

*Djokovic (4)6-7 6-4 3-1 Berrettini At 0-15, Berrettini nets a forehand down the line that was there for him, then Djokovic clouts an ace down the T. At game point, Berrettini should get after a second serve – the ability to do that is a big difference between the players – but he lands a forehand onto the line which doesn’t bounce, and a forehand winner then gives him deuce. So Djokovic quickly mops up, and looks to have just a bit much for Berrettini, able to do whatever he needs to do to stay in front.

Djokovic is doing just enough in this third set. Photograph: REX/Shutterstock

Updated at 11.56am EDT

11.21am EDT 11:21

Djokovic (4)6-7 6-4 2-1 Berrettini* The crowd start cheering for the players before quietening as Berrettini serves … a double. I often wonder if tennis would be better with noise during the points – on the one hand, there’s something dramatic about silence, but on the other, noise adds a different variable, especially given the proximity of fans to players. Anyhow, Djokovic quickly makes 0-30 but then sticks a backhand down the line just long – you’d have bet on him making that and can only bunt back a big serve, allowing Berrettini to – eventually – finish the point with an overhead. AND HAVE A LOOK! Berrettini hammers a forehand approach to the backhand side but on the slide and splits, Djokovic sends a riposte dipping into the laces that Berrettini can only net! That is unbelievable behaviour, it really is! And following a second serve, Berrettini finds himself exchanging backhand slices – a place in which he does not want to be – he nets and that’s the break! Djokovic points to his head, and feels he’s competing as he needs to now. Good luck dealing with that, Matteo old mate.

Updated at 11.21am EDT

11.15am EDT 11:15

*Djokovic (4)6-7 6-4 1-1 Berrettini We’ve not yet had a passage during which both players play well, but perhaps we’re getting there: Djokovic holds to love.

11.12am EDT 11:12

Djokovic (4)6-7 6-4 0-1 Berrettini* Berrettini would probably have taken 1-1 after two, but will know that Djokovic has several more levels to find; does he? Well, he opens set three with an ace, then another, and at 40-0 punishes down a third. That was definitive, and tells Djokovic that he’s not going anywhere,

Photograph: Steven Paston/PA

Updated at 11.15am EDT

11.08am EDT 11:08

The players have nipped off for a break and, presumably, a sly Woodbine.

11.07am EDT 11:07

“An alternative yarn,” says Matt Dony. “See also: Brazil vs Scotland in the 1982 World Cup. David Narey celebrating wildly with some teammates, while the other half of the team trudge disconsolately back to the halfway line. You can see the sense of ‘What have we done?’ in their eyes. And of course, what they had done was anger the best team in the world. I don’t like Djokovic, but he is the best player in the world. And I can’t see many outcomes here other than Djokovic rattling a metaphorical 4 goals past Berrettini.”

One of the great toe-bungers. This is another example of the same – they don’t score first, and West Ham get away with 2 or 3-0 here.

11.05am EDT 11:05

Djokovic wins the second set against Berrettini 6-4 to level the match at 1-1!

*Djokovic (4)6-7 6-4 Berrettini Yeah, time’s up. A serve out wide followed by a clean-up backhand puts Djokovic in front and two more first serves follow to earn 40-0. Another big one provokes a poor backhand, and that’s one set all!

11.02am EDT 11:02

Djokovic (4)6-7 5-4 Berrettini* Djokovic gets to 0-30, whereupon they engage in a thrilling exchange of slices close to the net! This is brilliant, each one zoning and spinning over the net until Berrettini misses! That’a three set points, the first saved via ace and the second when Djokovic hares in only to hump long! He is not quite at it today, and when a forehand goes wide Berrettini has deuce! An ace down the middle follows – Berrettini is mentally bang at it now – then a service winner out wide makes it five straight points, and Djokovic will now serve for the set a second time! It feels a bit like he’s rushing things here, maybe to limit Berrettini’s chances to hit that forehand, but he’s losing points and games he should win. This next game is humungous; brace, brace.

Photograph: John Walton/PA

Updated at 11.03am EDT

10.57am EDT 10:57

*Djokovic (4)6-7 5-3 Berrettini A mistake from Djokovic hands Berrettini 15-30 – he’s playing well enough – well for anyone else – but not well for him, and when he slips, Berrettini has the entire court to aim at for to break points. So Djokovic tries a drop from well behind the baseline, getting away with it when Berrettini nets, and a tremendous serve looks to have earned him deuce. But a decent return makes him play another shot, he’s too close to the net to do much apart from get is back, and Berrettini lanks in to hit a winner! This is getting nervy, and will be nervier still if Berrettini can hold here to make Djokovic serve for the set a second time!

Updated at 10.58am EDT

10.53am EDT 10:53

Djokovic (4)6-7 5-2 Berrettini* It’s hard to see how Berrettini plays well enough for long enough to get this done, but where there’s that serve there’s hope. He holds to 15, and on the game’s final point, he chases a lob to play a tweener lob – do not adjust your sets, he really did – and Djokovic nets his back flick, facing away from the court.

“Andrew Castle seems obsessed with the fact that to beat Djokovic you have to at least try and forget that he’s won 19 slams, tweets @Mysteron_Voice, “and is just another player, but there’s a reason why he’s won those 19 slams in the first place…”

There is, but that information is contained in every ball he hits, and Castle’s saying focus on them not on the achievements of the man who hit them (I think).

19 slams. Nineteen. Photograph: Paul Childs/Reuters

Updated at 10.57am EDT

10.49am EDT 10:49

*Djokovic (4)6-7 5-1 Berrettini I remember once, I was on the 29 bus – London’s greatest – having a ruck with a mate who was also the hardest kid in our year and something of a loose cannon. Somehow, I wound up getting him in a headlock, which left me in something of a quandary because I knew that the second I let go, the clumps were coming my way. I relate that fascinating yarn not simply for its own sake but because that was where Berrettini found himself at the start of set two, and he must now serve to stay in it because Djokovic holds to 30.

10.45am EDT 10:45

Djokovic (4)6-7 4-1 Berrettini* Eeeesh! Berrettini controls the first rally of the game, hammering a forehand to the backhand corner, so Djokovic hammers straight back at him for a clean winner! That is a rrrridiculous shot … quickly neutralised with an ace … and we wind up at 30-all – nothing is coming easily for Berrettini now, whose level hasn’t dropped. Or at least we’ve not really seen if his level has dropped because Djokovic is playing so well and when that happens what can anyone do? But Berrettini takes the game with an ace on advantage, and he’s on the board in set two.

10.41am EDT 10:41

*Djokovic (4)6-7 4-0 Berrettini Djokovic is cruising now, hooking a backhand onto the baseline to complete a 68-second love-hold. Berrettini needs to make sure he’s seeing and hitting it well for when set three starts.

Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Updated at 10.45am EDT

10.38am EDT 10:38

Djokovic (4)6-7 3-0 Berrettini* A double hands Djokovic 30-all, then Berrettini drills a forehand into the tape; that one-set advantage for which he flogged himself is disappearing faster than you can say “strange shell-effect baseball hat”. He makes deuce though, and when facing a further break point extends a go go gadget arm to volley a winner from low by the net. But a careless slice – maybe one with pineapple on – hands Djokovic a third go at the game, and this time a netted forehand seals the deal. Djokovic is back, of course he is.

Why? Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

10.32am EDT 10:32

*Djokovic (4)6-7 2-0 Berrettini Ooh yeah, we got ourselves a ball-game alright. Djokovic rushes to 40-15, then tries a lob that Berrettini slam-dunks, Sampras-style; Djokovic isn’t arsed, a service winner giving him his consolidation.

Updated at 10.34am EDT

10.29am EDT 10:29

Djokovic (4)6-7 1-0 Berrettini* Berrettini needs to stamp on the gas while the going’s good, because he’s seeing it and Djokovic has dropped, neither of which will be permanently so. But from 40-15 he winds up at deuce, Djokovic’s forehand easing into groove, and within seconds, Djokovic is out-thinking him at the net to secure a break that is equal parts unlikely and likely.

10.24am EDT 10:24

“We’ve had Novak serving proverbial pies, three double faults and all Berrettini can do is net it,” emails Ladka Lal. “I get he’s in his first final but no spring chicken and with this level of opposition, Djokovic at 50% can win another ten slams.”

Yup, he’s playing well enough to keep doing what he’s doing for a while longer yet and I’m sure most of us would still back him to get it done today. But Berrettini is on a roll.

10.23am EDT 10:23

Berrettini wins the first set against Djokovic 7-6(4)!

A thunderbolt from high detonates down the T, and somehow, after a dreadfully nervous start, Berrettini is not only in the match but leading it! Djokovic was the better player and had set points, but couldn’t convert and we are cooking!

Berrettini celebrates winning the first set. It’s on. Photograph: John Walton/PA

Updated at 10.28am EDT

10.21am EDT 10:21

Djokovic 6-6 (4-6) Berrettini* A strange drop from Djokovic – he’s behind the baseline – allows Berrettini to galumph in and snap a forehand into the corner!

10.20am EDT 10:20

Djokovic 6-6 (4-5) Berrettini* Two quick service points ensconce Djokovic in the breaker, and when Berrettini pounds a forehand into the tape it’s 3-3. This is so tense now, because both players know that if Djokovic prevails, he’ll be almost impossible to stop. But have a look! A booming inside-out forehand – Berrettini steps into it with minimum fuss and maximum prejudice – makes 5-3, before another flies wide! That gives him two serves to close out the set…

Updated at 10.20am EDT

10.15am EDT 10:15

Djokovic 6-6 (0-3) Berrettini* Ordinarily you’d favour the bigger server in a breaker and Berrettini takes the first mini-break when Djokovic nets! He’s looking much better than at the start, when he was missing first serves and forehands, and as I type that Djokovic sends a backhand wide? That was going to be an exclamation mark, but given his course of dealing a question mark works better and a poor forehand return gives Berrettini 3-0!

10.12am EDT 10:12

Djokovic 6-6 Berrettini* At 15-0, Berrettini goes wide with a forehand that crystallises his problematic: he needs short points, but how do you hit winners against someone with such impeccable length? Berrettini then goes long on the forehand, making 30-all with his first serve-volley of the tournament – inadvertently, and only because Djokovic made a return beyond anyone else that needed putting away. But we wins up at deuce, whereupon Berrettini plants a forehand onto the very final fibre of the sideline then cracks another which ultimately secures him the breaker! We’re getting warm, people!

Updated at 10.13am EDT

10.07am EDT 10:07

*Djokovic 6-5 Berrettini The love-hold that Djokovic needed. Berrettini will now serve for a breaker.

“I don’t believe anybody will ever play as well against Djokovic at Wimbledon as Federer did in the 2019 final,” reckons Jonathan Wallach. “What did Federer have that day? Five bad points the whole match? The serve was untouchable and his backhand slice was practically unplayable. Djokovic only loses if he has a terrible day. That is possible too.”

I’d be staggered if he had a terrible day – Berrettini will have to serve brilliantly and win some breakers, which is possible even if he plays well.

10.04am EDT 10:04

Djokovic 5-5 Berrettini* Let’s be real, Djokovic breaking again here would be no kind of shock, but it might just be that Berrettini holding through all those deuces has got him going – when Djokovic goes long for 15-0, he does a little step-jig, and a netted forehand has him fist pumping like it’s t-shirt time. This might just be developing into the match we’ve been hoping for, and Berrettini bulls through a hold to 15, making it three games on the spin.

Updated at 10.05am EDT

10.01am EDT 10:01

*Djokovic 5-4 Berrettini Now then! A colossal inside-out forehand sets Berrettini for the clean-up, which he mass-murders into the corner for 0-15 … only for a hopeful drop to hit the net. He just can’t be wasting opportunities like that, when he’s in the rally, but a wild forehand puts Djokovic two points away from the set.Then another forehand, at the end of a long rally, flies wide … but Berrettini challenges and it caught the outside of the line! Here we go, 30-all, and have a look! Djokovic sends a backhand wide, just his seventh unforced error in eight games, and out of nowhere Berrettini has break-back point – good luck with that, old mate. Yes indeed, Djokovic hits lines service and forehand for deuce, only to err on the forehand again and hand Berrettini another shy! Berrrettini takes control of the rally with a ringing forehand, Djokovic immediately sticks one of his own on the baseline, and when invited to the net plays a clever pat across the face of it … but Berrettini runs in and flicks a winner down the line and into the corner! Berrettini breaks, and who saw that coming? Do we got ourselves a ball-game?

Game on. Photograph: Steven Paston/PA

Updated at 10.08am EDT

9.53am EDT 09:53

Djokovic 5-3 Berrettini* Is Djokovic the greatest big-match player in the history of sport? There’s just never any doubt what’s going to happen when he reaches a final: he may lose, but he probably won’t and whoever beats him needs to play like God’s dad. He’s only been beaten once in a five-set final, by Murray in the 2012 US Open, and Berrettini is really struggling with him, netting an overhead then a forehand. His serve yanks him back into the game, but when another forehand hits the net we wind up on deuce. Berrettini does really well to find two big first serves, but cleaning up the second he clatters his forehand long – I can’t prove it, but believe against any other player he makes that in his kip – and a similarly weak wide backhand raises set point! Berrettini, though, finds another huge serve to save it, but he just can’t close out – we go backwards and forwards between advantage and deuce, the seventh one raises when Djokovic wallops a return directly onto line and laces. Even if Berrettini loses the set, winning this game would give him a fillip, and to arrange his latest game-point he slings down a 122mph second serve – that looks to be his only viable tactic, because he doesn’t have the placement or spins to rely on it against this opponent. And it works out into a hold that sends the crowd wild. But what does – what can – Berrettini do now?

Updated at 9.54am EDT