On July 6, 2014, at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer met on Centre Court for a Wimbledon Final widely regarded as one of the greatest in Grand Slam history. In a thrilling five-set match that lasted nearly four hours, the two masters of their craft produced tennis of extraordinary quality and drama. Federer won the opening set in a tiebreaker before Djokovic took the next two sets and built a commanding 5-2 lead in the fourth. He was on serve and ready to close it out when Federer saved match point and ran off five straight games to force a deciding fifth set – much to the delight of the Wimbledon crowd. At 32 years old, the Swiss maestro was already sitting atop the men’s throne with 17 Grand Slams, looking for his eighth Wimbledon title to surpass Pete Sampras.

What happened next was a defining moment for Djokovic’s legacy. Rather than collapse and give in to the pro-Federer cheers, the 27-year-old Serb regrouped, held his nerves, and fought off Roger in the fifth set to complete a 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 victory. It was Novak’s second Wimbledon title and seventh major overall, returning him to #1 in the world. Having lost three of his previous four Grand Slam finals, Djoker called it one of his most important wins, a championship that ignited the most dominant stretch of his career.

SCP Auctions is proud to present this Novak Djokovic match-used and autographed racquet which has been professionally photo-matched to the 2014 Wimbledon Final by Resolution Photomatching. This past January, we sold Novak’s 2012 Australian Open racquet from the longest Grand Slam final in history for $540,000 to set a record price for any tennis item. In that marathon, Djoker beat his other rival, Rafael Nadal. His triumph over the greatest grass-court player ever was equally impressive, making this racquet among the most important Djoker exemplars to come up for auction. It comes with direct acquisition provenance from the London resident who rented her home to Novak for the duration of the 2014 Wimbledon tournament.

Racquet Details

Since 2009, Djokovic has used HEAD Speed racquets on tour. In 2014, he played with a customized HEAD pro stock PT113B frame painted to resemble his endorsed retail model, the HEAD YouTek Graphene Speed Pro. It has an 18-by-20 (vertical by horizontal) string pattern with a frame painted black and white with orange and gray accents. “Novak” in white is labeled within the throat across from a manually affixed “SUN 27.5” white sticker corresponding to the day of the week the racquet was strung and its frame length. Adjacent is a smaller “E063101” serial number decal. The butt underneath the handle is properly sized at 4-3/8 inches in diameter.

Djokovic is very particular about his racquets, placing two gray strips of lead tape along the inner frame beam to achieve his desired weight on the head. His custom grip on the handle is double wrapped over calfskin leather, creating side bevels to make it more rectangular. In addition, he uses natural animal gut material (from sheep or cow intestines) for his vertical strings. His racquets are strung at such high tension that the vertical gut strings break on their own shortly after use.

The racquet displays outstanding evidence of on-court use with white chipping on the lower left side beam and dark scratch marks on the upper right rim. These ended up being the key points for ResMatch to make a conclusive photo-match. The alignment of the labels within the inner throat, including the “SUN 27.5 sticker, are in the correct locations as well. The image ResMatch used for the photo-match came at some point during the Final, but the exact moment, game or set is unknown.

The white grip has discolored to a pinkish tone from aged perspiration, and the rubber shock absorber is no longer present. Four of the vertical strings have naturally snapped from their grommet attachment points as animal gut is prone to do. All other elements remain as-issued and problem-free. Djokovic has autographed the handle in black marker, which remains strong and has not smudged on the grip like most signed examples.

Provenance & Authentication
Our consignor rented her London home to Novak Djokovic, his wife (pregnant with their first child), and his personal chef for the duration of the three-week 2014 Wimbledon Championships. As a gesture of gratitude for her hospitality, Djokovic personally gave her this racquet as well as the shirt he wore in the 2014 Wimbledon Final. He signed both items for her and included several other gifts including a 2014 Wimbledon towel. The racquet comes with a detailed letter of provenance from our consignor, full paperwork from Resolution Photomatching for the photo-match, and a letter of authenticity from PSA/DNA for the autograph.