Novak Djokovic crowned his rise to number one in the world in perfect fashion with a dramatic 6-4 6-1 1-6 6-3 victory over Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon final.
The Spaniard was looking to make it three titles in four years at the All England Club and win back-to-back French Open and Wimbledon titles for the third time, but it was the player in his first final in SW19 who held his nerve the best.
Having been sublime in the opening two sets, Djokovic, the Australian Open champion in January, dipped in the third but he was not to be denied.
The Serbian began to come out on top in the long, brutal rallies Nadal so loves, and two stunning forehand winners took him to 30-30 with his opponent serving to stay in the first set.
Rarely does Nadal crack, but this time he did, dumping a tame shot into the net to hand Djokovic the set point and then missing with his favourite forehand down the line.
Djokovic promptly created two more break points in the second game of the second set and he took the first with a beautiful dinked backhand off a Nadal drop-volley, celebrating as if he had won the match. Murray had let the Spaniard off the hook but Djokovic simply got better, breaking again in the sixth game and clinching the set with ease.
The question was whether the 24-year-old would be able to keep up his almost superhuman level, and the answer arrived in the second game of the third set when a forehand error was followed by a backhand one and Nadal had his first break from his first opening.
Djokovic saved two break points in game six but a third brought the first double fault of the match, and Nadal served out another emphatic set to love.
They traded breaks early in the fourth set and the crucial break then came in the eighth game. Nadal started ominously with a double fault, and two more errors made it 0-40.
He saved one break point with a stunning forehand but on the second the coolest man in sport showed his nerves and blasted a forehand long and a brave serve and volley gave Djokovic a first match point and this time Nadal had no answer, drilling a backhand long.
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