Novak Djokovic won his one-set shoot-out against Kevin Anderson here, but the tension of the occasion clearly got to the world No 1. Before completing his 6-7, 6-7, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 victory, Djokovic screamed in the general direction of his entourage and also appeared to upset a ballgirl by shouting at her when demanding his towel.
“It was a very, very intense fifth set,” Djokovic said. “I just took out everything I had, not on anybody but me. I was looking at the box, but I was talking to myself. Emotions are present, always going through ups and downs.”
The ballgirl incident recalled an episode in Miami three months ago when Djokovic apologised to a ballboy after startling him with an on-court outburst. Asked if he would make similar amends to the ballgirl here, Djokovic said: “I’m sorry. There was nothing towards her. Maybe she was just afraid of my screaming there. I was pretty close to her. I’m definitely going to try to apologise to her if I did something wrong.”
Wimbledon 2015 - in pictures
Wimbledon 2015 - in pictures
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1/74 Day 13
Novak Djokovic celebrates with the Wimbledon title alongside beaten finalist Roger Federer
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2/74 Day 13
As per usual, Djokovic eats a bit of the SW19 grass in celebration
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3/74 Day 13
Novak Djokovic celebrates winning Wimbledon
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4/74 Day 13
Novak Djokovic wins a point
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5/74 Day 13
A downbeat Roger Federer reacts in the final
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6/74 Day 13
Novak Djokovic plays a strong return
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7/74 Day 12
Williams and Muguruza show off their respective winner and runner-up trophies
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8/74 Day 12
Serena Williams with the Wimbledon title
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9/74 Day 12
Muguruza and Williams embrace after their Wimbledon final
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10/74 Day 12
Serena Williams celebrates winning a point against Garbine Muguruza in the Wimbledon final
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11/74 Day 12
Serena Williams celebrates winning a point against Garbine Muguruza in the Wimbledon final
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12/74 Day 11
Roger Federer rolled back the years to produce a brilliant display to set up a final against Novak Djokovic
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13/74 Day 11
Andy Murray reacts after losing a point to Roger Federer
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14/74 Day 11
Novak Djokovic celebrates after easing into the final with a win over Richard Gasquet
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15/74 Day 11
Richard Gasquet rarely troubled Djokovic in a straight sets defeat
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16/74 Day 10
Serena Williams celebrates victory over Maria Sharapova in the semi-finals
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17/74 Day 10
Garbine Muguruza clinches semi-final victory
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18/74 Day 9
Roger Federer celebrates his win over Gilles Simon
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19/74 Day 9
The players embrace after the match
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20/74 Day 9
Andy Murray celebrates his win over Vasek Pospisil
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21/74 Day 9
The Dutchess and Duke of Cambridge look on
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22/74 Day 9
David Beckham and son Romeo watch Andy Murray
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23/74 Day 9
The roof over Centre Court closes during Murray's quarter-final match
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24/74 Day 8
Jamie Murray on his way to the men's doubles semi-finals
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25/74 Day 8
Madison Keys pictured in her defeat to Agnieszka Radwanska
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26/74 Day 8
Maria Sharapova celebrates after coming through her tough quarter-final match against Coco Vandeweghe
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27/74 Day 8
Garbine Muguruza celebrates her quarter-final victory
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28/74 Day 8
Novak Djokovic on his way to victory against Kevin Anderson after their fourth round match resumed
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29/74 Day 7
Roger Federer was in complete control throughout his three-set victory over Bautista Agut
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30/74 Day 7
Caroline Wozniacki on her way to defeat against Garbine Muguruza
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31/74 Day 7
Andy Murray in action against Ivo Karlovic
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32/74 Day 7
Ivo Karlovic in action against Murray
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33/74 Day 7
Murray in action in his fourth round tie on Centre Court
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34/74 Day 7
Andy Murray in action against Ivo Karlovic
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35/74 Day 7
Nick Kyrgios clashes with the umpire during his defeat to Gasquet
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36/74 Day 7
Maria Sharapova during her fourth round win
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37/74 Day 7
Serena is congratulated by sister Venus after their fourth round contest
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38/74 Day Six
Andy Murray was in real trouble for a short time against Andreas Seppi and needed a medical timeout to work on his shoulder
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39/74 Day Six
But the Scot rallied and won six games in a row to march into the fourth round
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40/74 Day Six
James Ward is cheered off by the home support after losing an epic battle with Vasek Pospisil
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41/74 Day Six
Defending champion Petra Kvitova leaves the court in tears after shock defeat to Jelena Jankovic
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42/74 Day Six
Angelique Kerber was upset by Garbine Muguruza, who was seeded 10 places below the German
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43/74 Day Six
No 5 seed Caroline Wozniacki made quick work of Camila Giorgi
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44/74 Day Six
Marin Cilic needed five sets and a 12-10 tie-break to beat American John Isner
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45/74 Day Six
Roger Federer Eased to a win over Sam Groth
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46/74 Day Six
Wimbledon darling Dustin Brown packs up after defeat to Viktor Troicki
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47/74 Day Five
Serena Williams celebrates her triumph over Heather Watson
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48/74 Day Five
Heather Watson wins a point in the third set
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49/74 Day Five
Serena Williams reacts to losing a point
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50/74 Day Five
Grigor Dimitrov was knocked out after losing to Richard Gasquet
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51/74 Day Five
Maria Sharapova celebrates her win over Irina-Camelia Begu
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52/74 Day Four
Tennis world number 102 Dustin Brown has shaken Wimbledon by knocking out two-time champion Rafael Nadal
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53/74 Day Four
Roger Federer plays a cheeky shot during his second round win over Sam Querrey
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54/74 Day Four
Petra Kvitova celebrates her second round win
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55/74 Day Four
The Duchess of Cornwall meets Rafa Nadal
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56/74 Day Four
Adam Lallana of Liverpool at Wimbledon with Game of Thrones star Kit Harington
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57/74 Day Four
Andy Murray in second round action where he beat Robin Haase in straight sets
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58/74 Day Four
Wimbledon fans feel the heat
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59/74 Day Three
Milos Raonic of Canada serves to Tommy Haas of Germany during their singles match
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60/74 Day Three
Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria reaches for the ball trying to return to Steve Johnson
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61/74 Day Three
Heather Watson impressed to beat Daniela Hanutchova in straight sets
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62/74 Day Three
Novak Djokovic eased into the third round with a win against Jarkko Nieminen, who played his last game at the tournament
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63/74 Day Two
Defending champion Petra Kvitova made light work of Kiki Bertens, dropping just one set
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64/74 Day Two
Heather Watson booked her place in the second round but upsetting No 32 seed Caroline Garcia
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65/74 Day Two
Laura Robson played her first Grand Slam match in 17 months but lost to Evgeniya Rodina
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66/74 Day Two
No 10 seed Rafa Nadal was given some problems by Tomaz Bellucci but prevailed
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67/74 Day Two
Roger Federer was excellent as he beat Damir Dzumhur in straight sets
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68/74 Day Two
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69/74 Day One
A blue tit stole the show early on the first day of the tournament
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70/74 Day One
Serena Williams made hard work over her victory over Margarita Gasparyan
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71/74 Day One
Novak Djokovic boked his place in the second round with a 6-4 6-4 6-4 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber
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72/74 Day One
Liam Broady produced a brilliant fightback from two sets down to beat Marinko Matosevic - a man ranked 43 places above him
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73/74 Day One
Maria Sharapova was impressive in beating Britain's Johanna Konta
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74/74 Day One
Kei Nishikori reacts after the No 5 seed struggled to a five-set win
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Anderson’s big serve has helped him to enjoy the best grass-court season of his career, but just when the South African needed it most, his greatest weapon misfired. Two successive double-faults by the world No 14 enabled Djokovic to make the crucial break of serve in the final set.
The match resumed at the start of the fifth set after play had been called off the previous evening because of bad light. Anderson was holding his serve without too much difficulty, but everything changed at 5-5. From 15-15, Anderson served two double-faults before Djokovic hit a brilliant return to break serve, then served out for the match to reach his 25th Grand Slam quarter-final in succession. He faces Marin Cilic, the US Open champion.