Novak Djokovic believes his historic Wimbledon final clash with Roger Federer was "the most exciting" he has experienced in his career to date.
The 32-year-old retained his title at SW19 after a five-hour, five-set victory over the Swiss legend on Centre Court, a final that will surely go down as one of the greatest of all-time.
In what is now officially recognised as the longest Grand Slam final in the Open era, Djokovic saved two match points at 7-8 in the final set before marching on to clinch the match in the newly-introduced final set tiebreak in an epic encounter.
There was no outburst of emotion or tears from Djokovic after sealing the win. Instead, he crouched down on court with a look of disbelief and relief in equal measure.
But in his on-court interview, Djokovic gushed as he reflected on a career-defining match, hailing Federer as "one of the greatest players of all-time".
"I think this was the most exciting final I've ever been a part of," he said. "If not, then the top two or three in my career against one of the greatest players of all-time, Roger, who I respect a lot.
"Unfortunately in these kinds of matches, one player has to lose. As Roger said, we both had our chances and it's quite unreal to be two match points down and come back. [It was] a bit strange to play a final set tiebreak at 12-12, but I was hoping to win a tiebreak anyway."
With his fifth success at Wimbledon, Djokovic equals Bjorn Borg's record and it means only Federer (eight) and Pete Sampras (seven) have more tournament wins.
But the Belgrade-born star appeared unmoved by achieving the feat, instead revealing how he realised his childhood dream simply by playing at Wimbledon.
"I know I said this before, but when I was a boy, four or five years old, my dream was to be a tennis player," he added.
"This always has been the tournament for me where I wanted to participate and win. I used to make the trophies out of materials just imagining one day I would be standing here."
