It may seem a strange thing to say but, for me, Kyle Edmund holds the key to Novak Djokovic’s Wimbledon success.

Before playing the British No1, Novak was playing from memory, but in the four third-round sets against Kyle he rediscovered his mojo, which had been missing for a long time.

He got himself fired up and he needed to bring his A-game to beat Kyle. In that match, he effectively said, ‘Okay, I’m back’ and then came that semi-final against Rafa Nadal, in which his level of tennis was off the charts. He didn’t need to replicate that in the final but, from that match against Kyle onwards, he was playing in the here and now.

With Novak, it only seemed like it needed one moment to light him back up again. There were glimpses of the Novak of old at the French Open but you could still sense he wasn’t feeling it.

Here, the intensity in his eyes and body language were back. Confidence is a very fragile thing, but the doubts were erased and he fully believes in himself again.

Novak is a truly great champion. He gets a hard time sometimes from the crowd because he’s not like the two Mr Perfects in Roger Federer and Rafa but what he does on court, it’s nothing really. He was brought up to be brutally honest, as I was, and it turns out a lot of people don’t necessarily like that but, to me, that’s a breath of fresh air.

If you could define Novak in one shot, a shot that highlights when he’s on form, it’s that outside foot on the backhand where he slides across.

For everyone else in the men’s game, that results in a slice, but Novak gets himself in position to be able to get back a two-handed backhand with purpose. It’s the single shot in his repertoire that makes him stand out above everyone else and, when he plays it, his balance is such that he can immediately shift his weight and get back to the middle of the court for the next ball.

When you’re playing him — and I’m sure Kevin Anderson will agree — he’s just a wall. Everything you hit at him, it comes back at you even harder. You saw it in the final: Kevin just didn’t have an opportunity, the ball just kept on coming back.

In Pictures | Wimbledon 2018 208 show all In Pictures | Wimbledon 2018 1/208 AP 2/208 AFP/Getty Images 3/208 AFP/Getty Images 4/208 REUTERS 5/208 REUTERS 6/208 PA 7/208 PA 8/208 PA 9/208 PA 10/208 REUTERS 11/208 EPA 12/208 EPA 13/208 AFP/Getty Images 14/208 EPA 15/208 AP 16/208 REUTERS 17/208 REUTERS 18/208 AP 19/208 EPA 20/208 AP 21/208 AP 22/208 REUTERS 23/208 REUTERS 24/208 AP 25/208 EPA 26/208 AFP/Getty Images 27/208 REUTERS 28/208 PA 29/208 AP 30/208 AP 31/208 EPA 32/208 EPA 33/208 REUTERS 34/208 REUTERS 35/208 EPA 36/208 AFP/Getty Images 37/208 AFP/Getty Images 38/208 AFP/Getty Images 39/208 AFP/Getty Images 40/208 PA 41/208 REUTERS 42/208 AFP/Getty Images 43/208 AFP/Getty Images 44/208 AP 45/208 PA 46/208 PA 47/208 PA 48/208 PA 49/208 EPA 50/208 AP 51/208 AFP/Getty Images 52/208 REUTERS 53/208 EPA 54/208 AFP/Getty Images 55/208 AFP/Getty Images 56/208 AP 57/208 REUTERS 58/208 AFP/Getty Images 59/208 EPA 60/208 AP 61/208 REUTERS 62/208 EPA 63/208 Rafael Nadal congratulates Novak Djokovic on his win AFP/Getty Images 64/208 Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attends day twelve of the Wimbledon on July 14 Getty Images 65/208 Novak Djokovic celebrates his win against Rafael Nadal Getty Images 66/208 Rafael Nadal versus Novak Djokovic AFP/Getty Images 67/208 Serbia's Novak Djokovic against Rafael Nadal AFP/Getty Images 68/208 Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, (R) and Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex take their seats in the Royal box on Centre Court before watching Serbia's Novak Djokovic play ve Spain's Rafael Nadal AFP/Getty Images 69/208 Serbia's Novak Djokovic against Rafael Nadal AFP/Getty Images 70/208 Rafael Nadal versus Novak Djokovic Getty Images 71/208 Rafael Nadal versus Novak Djokovic Getty Images 72/208 Britain's Alfie Hewett (L) and Britain's Gordon Reid celebrate after winning against Belgium's Joachim Gerard and Sweden's Stefan Olsson during their mens' wheelchair doubles final AFP/Getty Images 73/208 EPA 74/208 AP 75/208 PA 76/208 AP 77/208 AP 78/208 Reuters 79/208 Reuters 80/208 Reuters 81/208 REUTERS 82/208 PA 83/208 PA 84/208 PA 85/208 Reuters 86/208 REUTERS 87/208 AP 88/208 AFP/Getty Images 89/208 PA 90/208 Getty Images 91/208 PA 92/208 PA 93/208 PA 94/208 PA 95/208 PA 96/208 AFP/Getty Images 97/208 Getty Images 98/208 REUTERS 99/208 Reuters 100/208 PA 101/208 Reuters 102/208 PA 103/208 EPA 104/208 EPA 105/208 AP 106/208 AP 107/208 PA 108/208 EPA 109/208 PA 110/208 Roger Federer during a practice session on court 14 PA 111/208 PA 112/208 PA 113/208 PA 114/208 Reuters 115/208 Roger Federer fans show their support at the start of day seven of the Wimbledon Championships PA 116/208 Chris Fava dressed as the Wimbledon trophy PA 117/208 Kyle Edmund celebrates winning a point against Novak Djokovic. Reuters 118/208 Novak Djokovic in action against Kyle Edmund. AP 119/208 Rafael Nadal in action during his straight sets victory over Alex De Minaur. PA 120/208 Alexander Zverev in action PA 121/208 Novak Djokovic during practice on day five of the Wimbledon Championships PA 122/208 US player Taylor Fritz returns against Germany's Alexander Zverev AFP/Getty Images 123/208 Madison Keys of the U.S. plays a shot during her third round match against Russia's Evgeniya Rodina Reuters 124/208 Gael Monfils in action on day five of the Wimbledon Championships PA 125/208 Kyle Edmund during a practice session on day five of the Wimbledon Championships PA 126/208 Kyle Edmund reacts during the second round match against Bradley Klahn of the U.S Reuters 127/208 Johanna Konta reacts during the second round match against Slovakia's Dominika Reuters 128/208 Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro plays a return shot through his legs against Spain's Feliciano Lopez during their men's singles second round match on the fourth day of the 2018 Wimbledon Championships AFP/Getty Images 129/208 Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova celebrates defeating Britain's Johanna Konta in their women's singles match, on the fourth day of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships AP 130/208 Spain's Garbine Muguruza shields her eyes from setting sunlight during her women's singles match against Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium AP 131/208 Serbia's Novak Djokovic in action during the second round match against Argentina's Horacio Zeballos Reuters 132/208 Simona Halep of Romania returns the ball to Zheng Saisai of China during their women's singles match AP 133/208 Rafael Nadal in action on day four of the Wimbledon Championships PA 134/208 Spain's Rafael Nadal in action during the second round match against Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin Reuters 135/208 Katie Boulter on day four of the Wimbledon Championships Getty Images 136/208 Katie Boulter walks past spectators dressed up as the Teletubbies on court two on day four of the Wimbledon Championship PA 137/208 Bethanie Mattek-Sands in action on day four of the Wimbledon Championships PA 138/208 Pippa Middleton arrives arrives at the Wimbledon Alex Lentati 139/208 Katie Boulter on day four of the Wimbledon Championships PA 140/208 Katie Boulter arrives at the practice courts wwearing an England football shirt Alex Lentati 141/208 Eugenie Bouchard of Canada returns a shot to Ashleigh Barty of Australia Getty Images 142/208 Germany's Angelique Kerber in action during the second round match against Claire Liu of the U.S Reuters 143/208 Serena Williams AFP/Getty Images 144/208 Roger Federer Getty Images 145/208 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark shakes her head to avoid the flying insects AP 146/208 AFP/Getty Images 147/208 Katie Boulter of Great Britain and Katie Swan of Great Britain talk during a break in play in their Ladies' Doubles second round match against Lucie Hradecka of Czech Republic and Su-Wei Hsieh of Taiwan Getty Images 148/208 Serena Williams Getty Images 149/208 Ground staff remove the rain covers from Centre court so play can resume between Croatia's Marin Cilic and Argentina's Guido Pella AFP/Getty Images 150/208 Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka returns against Italy's Thomas Fabbiano AFP/Getty Images 151/208 Croatia's Marin Cilic falls while playing Argentina's Guido Pella 152/208 Katie Swan in action against on day three of the Wimbledon Championships PA 153/208 Roger Federer during a practice session on court 4 on day three of the Wimbledon Championships PA 154/208 Venus Williams Reuters 155/208 Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns against US Player Tennys Sandgren AFP/Getty Images 156/208 Gael Monfils of France returns to Paolo Lorenzi EPA 157/208 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, returns the ball to Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova AP 158/208 Milos Raonic of Canada returns the ball to John Millman of Australia AP 159/208 Lucas Pouille of France reacts during his second round match against Dennis Novak of Austria. Reuters 160/208 Romania's Simona Halep returns to Japan's Kurumi Nara AFP/Getty Images 161/208 Vitalia Diatchenko celebrates after winning against Maria Sharapova PA 162/208 Russia's Maria Sharapova AFP/Getty Images 163/208 Italy's Fabio Fognini returns against Japan's Taro Daniel AFP/Getty Images 164/208 Great Britain's Kyle Edmund Reuters 165/208 Tess Daly and Vernon Kay sit on Centre Court Reuters 166/208 Joanna Konta of Great Britain returns to Natalia Vikhlyantseva of Russia EPA 167/208 Great Britain's Gabriella Taylor serves against Canada's Eugenie Bouchard AFP/Getty Images 168/208 Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova returns against Belarus' Aliaksandra Sasnovich AFP/Getty Images 169/208 Garbine Muguruza on day two of the Wimbledon Championships PA 170/208 Great Britain's Jay Clarke PA 171/208 Australia's Nick Kyrgios in action Reuters 172/208 A ball girl reacts with with Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin after she was hit by a serve from Australia's Nick Kyrgios during the first round match Reuters 173/208 Johanna Konta slips during her match PA 174/208 France's Alize Cornet in action Reuters 175/208 Daria Gavrilova of Australia returns against Caroline Dolehide of The United States Getty Images 176/208 Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova in action during the first round match against France's Alize Cornet Reuters 177/208 Kei Nishikori of Japan returns to Christian Harrison of USA EPA 178/208 Spectators on day one of the Wimbledon Championships PA 179/208 Switzerland's Roger Federer in action vs Serbia's Dusan Lajovic AFP/Getty Images 180/208 Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka wins his first round match against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria Reuters 181/208 Serena Williams slips AFP/Getty Images 182/208 Gael Monfils of France gives a thumbs up after falling to the floor during his Men's Singles first round match against Richard Gasquet of France on day one of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships Getty Images 183/208 Camila Giorgi of Italy returns the ball to Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia AP 184/208 Milos Raonic of Canada returns to Liam Broady of Great Britain Getty Images 185/208 Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki reacts during her first round match against Varvara Lepchenko Reuters 186/208 Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands (R) shakes hands with Barbora Stefkova of Czech Republic Getty Images 187/208 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece returns against Gregoire Barrere of France during their Men's Singles first round match on day one of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships Getty Images 188/208 Katie Swan of Great Britain returns against Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania Getty Images 189/208 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria AP 190/208 Venus Williams in action Johanna Larsson PA 191/208 Croatia's Donna Vekic Getty Images 192/208 Sam Querrey of the United States celebrates winning his Men's Singles first round match against Jordan Thompson of Australia on day one of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships Getty Images 193/208 Sloane Stephens AFP/Getty Images 194/208 A young Roger Federer fan holds up a sign asking kindly for his headband AP 195/208 The elated young fan smiles as her wish comes true AP 196/208 Marin Cilic celebrates his win against Yoshihito Nishioka PA 197/208 Spectators watch the action at the All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon AFP/Getty Images 198/208 Great Britain's Harriet Dart Reuters 199/208 Czech Republic's Kristyna Pliskova Getty Images 200/208 Ellie Goulding Getty Images 201/208 Roger Federer fans PA 202/208 Members of the public queue for tickets outside The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon AFP/Getty Images 203/208 Spectators sit in the sun on day One of the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon PA 204/208 Rafael Nadal AP 205/208 Andy Murray's name is removed from the order of play following his withdrawal from Wimbledon PA 206/208 Novak Djokovicduring an interview with former tennis champion Boris Becker AP 207/208 Spectators arrive Reuters 208/208 Darius Platt-Vowles from Gloucestershire is first in the queue PA 1/208 AP 2/208 AFP/Getty Images 3/208 AFP/Getty Images 4/208 REUTERS 5/208 REUTERS 6/208 PA 7/208 PA 8/208 PA 9/208 PA 10/208 REUTERS 11/208 EPA 12/208 EPA 13/208 AFP/Getty Images 14/208 EPA 15/208 AP 16/208 REUTERS 17/208 REUTERS 18/208 AP 19/208 EPA 20/208 AP 21/208 AP 22/208 REUTERS 23/208 REUTERS 24/208 AP 25/208 EPA 26/208 AFP/Getty Images 27/208 REUTERS 28/208 PA 29/208 AP 30/208 AP 31/208 EPA 32/208 EPA 33/208 REUTERS 34/208 REUTERS 35/208 EPA 36/208 AFP/Getty Images 37/208 AFP/Getty Images 38/208 AFP/Getty Images 39/208 AFP/Getty Images 40/208 PA 41/208 REUTERS 42/208 AFP/Getty Images 43/208 AFP/Getty Images 44/208 AP 45/208 PA 46/208 PA 47/208 PA 48/208 PA 49/208 EPA 50/208 AP 51/208 AFP/Getty Images 52/208 REUTERS 53/208 EPA 54/208 AFP/Getty Images 55/208 AFP/Getty Images 56/208 AP 57/208 REUTERS 58/208 AFP/Getty Images 59/208 EPA 60/208 AP 61/208 REUTERS 62/208 EPA 63/208 Rafael Nadal congratulates Novak Djokovic on his win AFP/Getty Images 64/208 Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attends day twelve of the Wimbledon on July 14 Getty Images 65/208 Novak Djokovic celebrates his win against Rafael Nadal Getty Images 66/208 Rafael Nadal versus Novak Djokovic AFP/Getty Images 67/208 Serbia's Novak Djokovic against Rafael Nadal AFP/Getty Images 68/208 Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, (R) and Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex take their seats in the Royal box on Centre Court before watching Serbia's Novak Djokovic play ve Spain's Rafael Nadal AFP/Getty Images 69/208 Serbia's Novak Djokovic against Rafael Nadal AFP/Getty Images 70/208 Rafael Nadal versus Novak Djokovic Getty Images 71/208 Rafael Nadal versus Novak Djokovic Getty Images 72/208 Britain's Alfie Hewett (L) and Britain's Gordon Reid celebrate after winning against Belgium's Joachim Gerard and Sweden's Stefan Olsson during their mens' wheelchair doubles final AFP/Getty Images 73/208 EPA 74/208 AP 75/208 PA 76/208 AP 77/208 AP 78/208 Reuters 79/208 Reuters 80/208 Reuters 81/208 REUTERS 82/208 PA 83/208 PA 84/208 PA 85/208 Reuters 86/208 REUTERS 87/208 AP 88/208 AFP/Getty Images 89/208 PA 90/208 Getty Images 91/208 PA 92/208 PA 93/208 PA 94/208 PA 95/208 PA 96/208 AFP/Getty Images 97/208 Getty Images 98/208 REUTERS 99/208 Reuters 100/208 PA 101/208 Reuters 102/208 PA 103/208 EPA 104/208 EPA 105/208 AP 106/208 AP 107/208 PA 108/208 EPA 109/208 PA 110/208 Roger Federer during a practice session on court 14 PA 111/208 PA 112/208 PA 113/208 PA 114/208 Reuters 115/208 Roger Federer fans show their support at the start of day seven of the Wimbledon Championships PA 116/208 Chris Fava dressed as the Wimbledon trophy PA 117/208 Kyle Edmund celebrates winning a point against Novak Djokovic. Reuters 118/208 Novak Djokovic in action against Kyle Edmund. AP 119/208 Rafael Nadal in action during his straight sets victory over Alex De Minaur. PA 120/208 Alexander Zverev in action PA 121/208 Novak Djokovic during practice on day five of the Wimbledon Championships PA 122/208 US player Taylor Fritz returns against Germany's Alexander Zverev AFP/Getty Images 123/208 Madison Keys of the U.S. plays a shot during her third round match against Russia's Evgeniya Rodina Reuters 124/208 Gael Monfils in action on day five of the Wimbledon Championships PA 125/208 Kyle Edmund during a practice session on day five of the Wimbledon Championships PA 126/208 Kyle Edmund reacts during the second round match against Bradley Klahn of the U.S Reuters 127/208 Johanna Konta reacts during the second round match against Slovakia's Dominika Reuters 128/208 Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro plays a return shot through his legs against Spain's Feliciano Lopez during their men's singles second round match on the fourth day of the 2018 Wimbledon Championships AFP/Getty Images 129/208 Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova celebrates defeating Britain's Johanna Konta in their women's singles match, on the fourth day of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships AP 130/208 Spain's Garbine Muguruza shields her eyes from setting sunlight during her women's singles match against Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium AP 131/208 Serbia's Novak Djokovic in action during the second round match against Argentina's Horacio Zeballos Reuters 132/208 Simona Halep of Romania returns the ball to Zheng Saisai of China during their women's singles match AP 133/208 Rafael Nadal in action on day four of the Wimbledon Championships PA 134/208 Spain's Rafael Nadal in action during the second round match against Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin Reuters 135/208 Katie Boulter on day four of the Wimbledon Championships Getty Images 136/208 Katie Boulter walks past spectators dressed up as the Teletubbies on court two on day four of the Wimbledon Championship PA 137/208 Bethanie Mattek-Sands in action on day four of the Wimbledon Championships PA 138/208 Pippa Middleton arrives arrives at the Wimbledon Alex Lentati 139/208 Katie Boulter on day four of the Wimbledon Championships PA 140/208 Katie Boulter arrives at the practice courts wwearing an England football shirt Alex Lentati 141/208 Eugenie Bouchard of Canada returns a shot to Ashleigh Barty of Australia Getty Images 142/208 Germany's Angelique Kerber in action during the second round match against Claire Liu of the U.S Reuters 143/208 Serena Williams AFP/Getty Images 144/208 Roger Federer Getty Images 145/208 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark shakes her head to avoid the flying insects AP 146/208 AFP/Getty Images 147/208 Katie Boulter of Great Britain and Katie Swan of Great Britain talk during a break in play in their Ladies' Doubles second round match against Lucie Hradecka of Czech Republic and Su-Wei Hsieh of Taiwan Getty Images 148/208 Serena Williams Getty Images 149/208 Ground staff remove the rain covers from Centre court so play can resume between Croatia's Marin Cilic and Argentina's Guido Pella AFP/Getty Images 150/208 Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka returns against Italy's Thomas Fabbiano AFP/Getty Images 151/208 Croatia's Marin Cilic falls while playing Argentina's Guido Pella 152/208 Katie Swan in action against on day three of the Wimbledon Championships PA 153/208 Roger Federer during a practice session on court 4 on day three of the Wimbledon Championships PA 154/208 Venus Williams Reuters 155/208 Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns against US Player Tennys Sandgren AFP/Getty Images 156/208 Gael Monfils of France returns to Paolo Lorenzi EPA 157/208 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, returns the ball to Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova AP 158/208 Milos Raonic of Canada returns the ball to John Millman of Australia AP 159/208 Lucas Pouille of France reacts during his second round match against Dennis Novak of Austria. Reuters 160/208 Romania's Simona Halep returns to Japan's Kurumi Nara AFP/Getty Images 161/208 Vitalia Diatchenko celebrates after winning against Maria Sharapova PA 162/208 Russia's Maria Sharapova AFP/Getty Images 163/208 Italy's Fabio Fognini returns against Japan's Taro Daniel AFP/Getty Images 164/208 Great Britain's Kyle Edmund Reuters 165/208 Tess Daly and Vernon Kay sit on Centre Court Reuters 166/208 Joanna Konta of Great Britain returns to Natalia Vikhlyantseva of Russia EPA 167/208 Great Britain's Gabriella Taylor serves against Canada's Eugenie Bouchard AFP/Getty Images 168/208 Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova returns against Belarus' Aliaksandra Sasnovich AFP/Getty Images 169/208 Garbine Muguruza on day two of the Wimbledon Championships PA 170/208 Great Britain's Jay Clarke PA 171/208 Australia's Nick Kyrgios in action Reuters 172/208 A ball girl reacts with with Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin after she was hit by a serve from Australia's Nick Kyrgios during the first round match Reuters 173/208 Johanna Konta slips during her match PA 174/208 France's Alize Cornet in action Reuters 175/208 Daria Gavrilova of Australia returns against Caroline Dolehide of The United States Getty Images 176/208 Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova in action during the first round match against France's Alize Cornet Reuters 177/208 Kei Nishikori of Japan returns to Christian Harrison of USA EPA 178/208 Spectators on day one of the Wimbledon Championships PA 179/208 Switzerland's Roger Federer in action vs Serbia's Dusan Lajovic AFP/Getty Images 180/208 Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka wins his first round match against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria Reuters 181/208 Serena Williams slips AFP/Getty Images 182/208 Gael Monfils of France gives a thumbs up after falling to the floor during his Men's Singles first round match against Richard Gasquet of France on day one of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships Getty Images 183/208 Camila Giorgi of Italy returns the ball to Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia AP 184/208 Milos Raonic of Canada returns to Liam Broady of Great Britain Getty Images 185/208 Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki reacts during her first round match against Varvara Lepchenko Reuters 186/208 Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands (R) shakes hands with Barbora Stefkova of Czech Republic Getty Images 187/208 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece returns against Gregoire Barrere of France during their Men's Singles first round match on day one of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships Getty Images 188/208 Katie Swan of Great Britain returns against Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania Getty Images 189/208 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria AP 190/208 Venus Williams in action Johanna Larsson PA 191/208 Croatia's Donna Vekic Getty Images 192/208 Sam Querrey of the United States celebrates winning his Men's Singles first round match against Jordan Thompson of Australia on day one of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships Getty Images 193/208 Sloane Stephens AFP/Getty Images 194/208 A young Roger Federer fan holds up a sign asking kindly for his headband AP 195/208 The elated young fan smiles as her wish comes true AP 196/208 Marin Cilic celebrates his win against Yoshihito Nishioka PA 197/208 Spectators watch the action at the All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon AFP/Getty Images 198/208 Great Britain's Harriet Dart Reuters 199/208 Czech Republic's Kristyna Pliskova Getty Images 200/208 Ellie Goulding Getty Images 201/208 Roger Federer fans PA 202/208 Members of the public queue for tickets outside The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon AFP/Getty Images 203/208 Spectators sit in the sun on day One of the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon PA 204/208 Rafael Nadal AP 205/208 Andy Murray's name is removed from the order of play following his withdrawal from Wimbledon PA 206/208 Novak Djokovicduring an interview with former tennis champion Boris Becker AP 207/208 Spectators arrive Reuters 208/208 Darius Platt-Vowles from Gloucestershire is first in the queue PA

This might be the moment for another great Novak run. You can’t say he has a bad surface so, with his health, game and confidence back, what’s to stop him anywhere now? Okay, on clay he’s probably second favourite behind Rafa, but not many would bet against him at the US Open.

There’s a big part of me bothered by the ‘what if’ with the final: what if Anderson had been properly fit and rested after that marathon match against John Isner? You could see he was hurting from the outset. The odd thing about a match like that is that the next day you often feel okay; it’s the following day that you stiffen up. In the final, you saw his legs didn’t loosen until the third set and, had he converted one of the set points, things might have been different. He turned things around against Roger Federer, didn’t he?

I’ve been saying for a long time there should be a fifth-set tiebreak. The US Open introduced it and I remember being on the receiving end of some tiebreak defeats, but it’s the way to go.

A lot of people say a marathon fifth set creates so much drama, but I don’t agree: the players become more conservative with their energy so, actually, the games become more predictable.

The International Tennis Federation has to address it. With that change, we might have had a different final. But it’s great to have Novak back at the top of the game. The sport’s missed him.

Look out world... Serena will return even stronger

My advice for the WTA Tour players with regards to Serena Williams is: watch out world.

Okay, there wasn’t a fairytale ending in Saturday’s final but, if anything, that defeat will make her even more determined in the weeks and months ahead. Serena rarely fails and, if she does (I wouldn’t call getting to a Wimbledon final 10 months after her daughter’s birth a failure), it doesn’t last long. She will be fired up for the US Open and I’d say it’s her against the rest of the world right now. Serena arrived at Wimbledon with very few matches under her belt; by Flushing Meadows there will be a lot more. If I were choosing her schedule, I’d get her playing two tournaments before New York and it doesn’t matter how she does. She showed here she doesn’t need a great build-up to do well.

She’s won the US Open six times and, as good as Angelique Kerber’s playing, you’d have to say Serena will be the clear favourite. As I said before, watch out world.