Wolf energy is what Novak Djokovic called his ability to fight incredible odds and win after his third-round match at Wimbledon 2021. “Als...
Wolf energy is what Novak Djokovic called his ability to fight incredible odds and win after his third-round match at Wimbledon 2021.
“Also my upbringing in the mountains I spent a lot of time with wolves – this is wolf energy. I’m not kidding.”
The match was against world No 104 Denis Kudla and Djokovic won in straight sets, but the phrase stood out. It felt like a perfect description of the Serb’s unparalleled resilience that has taken him to the summit of the sport.
The 34-year-old reached a massive milestone when he won Wimbledon, equalling Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s record for most men’s singles Grand Slams. The top seed beat Matteo Berrettini 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in one of the least surprising Major final results in recent history. The defending champion was always expected to win against the first-time finalist, the only question was the number of sets. But it was not the outcome of the final that mattered, but the impact of it.
The moment @DjokerNole became #Wimbledon champion for the sixth time pic.twitter.com/5xN8ogWYYT
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 11, 2021
As historic as the achievement is, the fact that Djokovic made reaching it look expected, even inevitable, is perhaps more momentous.
When he won the French Open after overcoming Nadal...
