The 2019 Wimbledon men’s singles final will go down in history as one of the best tennis matches ever played. Novak Djokovic narrowly edged out Roger Federer in the summit clash to clinch the title. With the match going right to the distance, the Serb won the final set 13-12 (7-3) in the tiebreaker to win his fifth title there. Five years after this nightmare, Federer opened up on the brutal atrocities of the sport.

Yesterday, the Swiss maestro received a massive honor for his philanthropic work done all across the globe. Dartmouth bestowed upon him an honorary degree, the Doctor of Humane Letters. After receiving this degree, Federer remembered some notable moments in his career and the 2019 Wimbledon final was one such moment despite his heartbreaking loss.

The Swiss legend revealed, “It’s only a point, let me explain. You can work harder than you thought possible and still lose. I have many times. Tennis is brutal. There’s no getting around the fact that every tournament ends the same way.”

In any game, there’s only going to be one winner holding the trophy. The person across the net is going to take the plane home, wondering where they went wrong. As Federer’s career is proof, despite being no. 1 and remaining in the top echelons of the game, the brutality and the beauty of sports, and life, is that sometimes you’re the winner, sometimes the loser.

Interestingly, the 2019 Wimbledon final was also Federer’s last major final of his career. He suffered numerous injury setbacks subsequently and he eventually retired in 2022. That loss against Djokovic affected Federer emotionally as he shed actual tears after the defeat, and made this startling admission during an interview once.

Roger Federer suffered an emotional breakdown after the toughest loss of his career

One of the best players the tournament has seen, Federer couldn’t cross the finish line against Djokovic in that match. To lose on grass was nothing new. Rafa had beat him in the iconic 2008 final when the Swiss was gunning for his 6th consecutive title at Wimbledon. But just like that year, 2019 was a terrible loss.

As a result, emotions got the better of him after losing a close contest against his rival. During an interview once, Federer was asked when was the last time he cried.

Federer replied by saying, “The last time I cried? Two months ago at Wimbledon. In the field and also at the awards ceremony I held back the tears that were there on the border. Then as soon as I got down to the locker room, on the first comment ‘what bad luck, you were close,’ I collapsed and a few tears escaped.”

One can only imagine how tough a loss that might have been to digest. The match could’ve gone either way but Djokovic held his nerves to win the final set tiebreaker and clinch the trophy. Despite that defeat, Federer still remains the best player on the grass courts of Wimbledon.