Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
BREAK and the title!!! Berrettini sent a forehand long to give Djokovic a match point at 30-40 but then saved it with a lovely volley and make it deuce. Then, another match point and the Italian saved it with a big forehand down the line. But it was a case of being third time lucky for Djokovic. The Serb finally clinched the match to win his sixth Wimbledon title and his 20th Grand Slam title overall, to catch Federer and Nadal at the top of the table for most men’s Grand Slam title wins.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 5-3
Djokovic keeps winning the big points. It was 30-30, he got in the first serves and closed it out. Berrettini will serve to stay in the match now.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 4-3
BREAK! A double fault gives Djokovic the break! Some brilliant tennis by the Serb gave him a breakpoint but then the pressure got to Berrettini and he served out a double fault. The world no 1 is tuned in now and the title is within reach. Big, big break.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 3-3
Berrettini chased down a drop shot to make it 0-30 but then sent a backhand long to give Djokovic a lifeline. And then we have a point that was probably the point of the match. Incredible defence and court coverage by Djokovic to chase down everything Berretini threw at him and then finally get to a drop volley. He finally dug himself out of the hole to take the game and let loose a loud scream.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 2-3
The Italian holds. Steady stuff. He edges ahead and he needs to stay there. So far, no real chances in this set for either player.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 2-2
No drama, easy hold. Djokovic staying in the moment – just what his camp would want him to do.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 1-2
Another solid hold for the Italian. These holds will help him build some momentum and belief.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 1-1
Game Djokovic but he looks a little disturbed. Not quite in it fully. An opportunity for the Italian if he can take it... it won’t be there for long.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 0-1
Good hold for Berrettini to start the fourth set. He needs to stay ahead. Djokovic won’t make it easy but that is what the Italian has to do.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4
Two forehand errors from Berrettini gave Djokovic a 30-0 lead. Then an error by Djokovic made it 30-15. Before the Serb made a brilliant volley to give himself two set points. He converted the second as the Italian ran around a forehand and then sent it wide. As he walked back to the chair, he made a clenched fist towards the crowd.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4, 5-4
Berrettini holds. And the crowd cheer him on as he gets back to his seat. Djokovic walks back to his seat slowly. He will have to serve out the set.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4, 5-3
Another solid service game for Djokovic. Some big serves from the Serb and some unforced errors from Berrettini. 39 minutes in, the Italian will serve to stay in the set.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4, 4-3
Berrettini needs to leave nothing in the tank here. He needs to attack and just go at Djokovic with everything he’s got this. This set is crucial. He gets the solid hold. Back to Djokovic now.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4, 4-2
Djokovic was in trouble on his serve as Berrettini got two breakpoints. But he fought back to make it deuce even as the crowd cheered madly for the Italian. And then he sealed it with an ace.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4, 3-2
Fine hold for Berrettini, who needs to build up a head of steam here. He hasn’t truly managed to make his forehand hurt Djokovic enough. Not yet.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4, 3-1
An unfortunate bounce helped Berrettini make it 30-40 and then a huge forehand made it deuce. But then Djokovic responded and closed out the game to consolidate the break. The Serbian looking very calm and focussed on the job at hand.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4, 2-1
BREAK! Djokovic points to his head after getting the break. He is playing smart tennis and quite frankly, Berrettini is struggling to keep up. A lovely backhand while sliding helped him earn the BP which he duly converted. This is when things will start getting difficult for the Italian.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4, 1-1
No drama. Solid hold for Djokovic as the crowd starts chanting Matteo’s name.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4, 0-1
Berrettini starts the third set off with a fine love-hold. It will help settle his nerves even more. He doesn’t want to fall behind in the early going.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 6-4
Three first serves, three straight points and three set points. And the four point gave him the set. The Serb is back.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 5-4
Djokovic quickly worked his way to 40-0 on the Berrettini serve. The Italian saved all three! This is not a regular occurrence. And then two big serves got him the game. Five straight points. Phew. Djokovic will have to earn the set in the tough way – he will have to serve it out.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 5-3
BREAK! Berrettini had two break points and he converted the second one to get one of the breaks back. Strange to see Djokovic struggling to close out the set again. Djokovic is starting the sets better, Berrettini seems to be finishing them better. The Serb still has the advantage here though.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 5-2
The Italian holds with a classic point. Djokovic lobbed over the Italian, who came back with a tweener to force the error. Djokovic will need to serve the set out next. This is where he faltered in the first set.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 5-1
Djokovic holds. Some errors from him but an easy hold in the end.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 4-1
Finally, a hold for the Italian. Will this get him going again? So should he preserve his energy or keep going for it? Is the set lost?

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 4-0
A love-hold. The service game lasted just a minute and 8 seconds.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 3-0
Wow. What has just happened here! Berrettini saved the first two break points but then sent a forehand into the net to hand Djokovic his second break of the set. Never count Djokovic out. Stunning reply after losing the first set in the tiebreak.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 2-0
Nice and easy hold for Djokovic to consolidate the break. Quick change of momentum. Berrettini seems to have got side-tracked a little now.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4), 1-0
BREAK! The Serbian isn’t going to just fall away though. He never does. What is the best way to come back into the match after losing a set? To break the opponent and that is exactly what Djokovic did. He was 30-0 down but just fought back to take the game.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-7(4)
Tiebreak

1-0: Minibreak. Berrettini moves ahead.
2-0: Error from Djokovic, backhand goes wide. The Italian opens up a 2-0 lead.
3-0: Big second serve, return went wide. Berrettini goes 3-0 up.
3-1: Finally, Djokovic gets one.
3-2: Djokovic makes it 3-2 but the Italian still has the mini-break.
3-3: Djokovic gets the mine-break back as a Berretini forehand goes into the tape over the high part of the net.
4-3: Berretini’s forehand helps him win the second point on his serve.
5-3: Mini-break. Another big forehand from the Italian. He is feeling it.
5-4: Berretini sends a forehand wide but he has two serves to close out the set.
6-4: Djokovic tried a drop shot but Berrettini was up to the challenge and got to it quickly. Set points!
7-4: Ace down the T to take the first set. Berrettini has done it.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-6
Berrettini’s backhand slice is doing the trick for him and it helped him get a game point. But Djokovic won a long rally to make it deuce again. Pressure. But then a forehand down the line and a big forehand that Djokovic couldn’t return gave him the game. We are into the tie-break.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 6-5
A love-hold for Djokovic and he will go back to the chair wondering why he couldn’t have done this in his last service game.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 5-5
And we are all level again. The Italian got his serve firing and that is all it took. Djokovic still not at his best but Berrettini has found a slightly better rhythm now.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 5-4
BREAK! Berrettini started the game with more fire. He seemed to tell himself, he just had to go for his shots. The forehand earned him the first point and one could immediately see that he was determined to break the shackles. The attitude earned him a breakpoint, one that Djokovic saved but the Italian converted the next one with some exquisite play from the baseline. With the set on the line, the Italian has broken back. Wow. We are back on serve.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 5-3
30-30. Berrettini making the kind of errors we haven’t seen from him in a while. As Becker said on air, ‘the final does strange things to your mind’. Another error from the Italian makes it deuce. Very tight. It took eight deuces before he finally managed to hold. Berrettini needed this. The match needed this. Djokovic was not able to close it out and that will worry him a bit.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 5-2
Djokovic with another easy hold. Just 28 minutes into the match, Djokovic in command already. He started off with three doubles faults in the first three games but is motoring along now.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 4-2
Berrettini with the hold but he hasn’t been moving as well as we have seen earlier in the tournament. No drama. The Italian needed that.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 4-1
Djokovic consolidates the break with his easiest hold of the match. Berrettini’s mind doesn’t seem to completely be in the match but he will have to get stuck in very quickly.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 3-1
BREAK! With the score of 15-30, Berrettini needed a big serve to make it 30-30. And he got that. Down the T and big. 30-30. But then Djokovic got a return back and worked his way through a rally to earn his first breakpoint opportunity. Another big serve from the Italian made it deuce. Tight game. The serve not firing yet and Djokovic putting pressure on the second serve to earn another BP. This time he made it count with a deep backhand that Berrettini couldn’t handle. Berrettini has only hit 43% of his first serve so far and he has won only 29% of the points on his second serve.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 2-1
Djokovic seems to have started slowly – a missed drop shot to begin the game and then a double fault. Nerves? But then Berrettini hit a backhand into the net, with an opportunity to pass Djokovic, to make it 15-30 and then he then sent a forehand long to make it 30-30. An ace made it 40-30 and another unreturnable serve gave him the game. Still on serve.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 1-1
The serve is a huge weapon for Berrettini and we already saw why. Big serves to start the game off but then Djokovic levelled it off at 30-30 after another forehand error. The Italian got it together to win the next two points and make it one-game all.

Djokovic vs Berrettini, 1-0
Not the smoothest of starts for both players. Unforced errors from both but then a Djokovic double fault gave the Italian a break point. The BP was saved with an unreturnable serve and then the Serb had a game point but another unforced error made it deuce again. A forehand UR from Berrettini finally gave Djokovic the game; a scrappy game but he is on the board now.

And the wait is over. We are a go. Djokovic to start things off.

6.29 pm: Berrettini has some heavy strapping on his left thigh already – might be just a precaution. The players are walking onto the court now.

6.22 pm: By the time Djokovic won his first Grand Slam title in 2008, at the Australian Open, Federer already had 12 to his name and Nadal three. Today, it might become 20-20-20.

Hello and welcome to our coverage of the men’s final of Wimbledon 2021, a match that could see Novak Djokovic capture a sixth Wimbledon title and record-equalling 20th Grand Slam but he will have to overcome Matteo Berrettini, the Italian slugger with the build of a heavyweight boxer.

Djokovic will move level with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on career majors with victory and also go three-quarters of the way to the first calendar Slam in more than half a century.

The 34-year-old is in his seventh Wimbledon final and 30th at the Slams.

Only Federer, with 31, has appeared in more championship matches at the majors but the fading Swiss star is more than five years older.

Djokovic can also win an 85th career title on Sunday while his on-court earnings break through the $150 million mark.

Berrettini, the 25-year-old world number nine, is the first Italian ever to make a singles final at Wimbledon.

Victory will make him Italy’s first male Slam champion since Adriano Panatta at the 1976 French Open.

He has lost both his previous encounters with Djokovic, including the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last month. But he is on a run of 11-0 this season on grass having won the Queen’s Club event on the eve of Wimbledon.

At the All England Club, he has blasted his way to the final on the back of a tournament-leading 101 aces.

Berrettini also boasts the second fastest serve so far, 223.7kmh in his first round win over Guido Pella of Argentina.

Weighing in at 95kg – the same as a heavyweight boxer – Berrettini has also unleashed 254 winners so far to Djokovic’s 190.

However, his unforced error count is 167 compared to the Serb’s 126.

The two men have only dropped serve five times each.

Paths to the final

Djokovic

1st rd: bt Jack Draper (GBR) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2

2nd rd: bt Kevin Anderson (RSA) 6-3, 6-3, 6-3

3rd rd: bt Denis Kudla (USA) 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7)

4th rd: bt Cristian Garin (CHI x17) 6-4, 6-2, 6-2

QF: bt Marton Fucsovics (HUN) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4

SF: bt Denis Shapovalov (CAN x10) 7-6 (7/3), 7-5, 7-5

Berrettini

1st rd: bt Guido Pella (ARG) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0

2nd rd: bt Botic van de Zandschulp (NED) 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4)

3rd rd: bt Aljaz Bedene (SLO) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4

4th rd: bt Ilya Ivashka (BLR) 6-4, 6-3, 6-1

QF: bt Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN x16) 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3

SF: bt Hubert Hurkacz (POL x14) 6-3, 6-0, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4