A few weeks ago, Djokovic said he did not know if he would play the grasscourt season. But he took a wildcard into Queen's Club and reached the final, and kept up that momentum at Wimbledon.
Djokovic's coach, Marian Vajda, said even he was a little surprised.
"No I did not expect," said Vajda to TENNIS.com. "But he found it. It was a good thing he played Queen's. Was almost not ready for Wimbledon. I was doubting a little bit, five sets, a Grand Slam is different—stamina, fitness. But he started very good."
Djokovic won his first two rounds in straight sets, and dropped just two sets to reach the semifinal. His coach saw improvements in his game during the tournament.
"Serving, [and] especially returning," Vajda said. "Before he wasn't like this. We worked on it a lot and he found it."
Djokovic, who underwent elbow surgery following the Australian Open, described his win against Nadal as one of the best matches he has played.
"The key was to stay in the match," Vajda said. "It was a long time since he played against Rafa in five sets."
Djokovic was two sets to one up when play was stopped at 11 p.m., as required by local rules. The Serb then dropped the fourth set before coming back to take an extended fifth set.
"It was a disadvantage for Novak, he started of fpace," said Vajda, who spoke to Djokovic in the morning and advised him to stick with the previous day's tactics. "He was up and down in the fifth [but] mentally great."
But the players also began and resumed play under the roof, which Vajda said was an advantage for Djokovic.
"It doesn't look like it helped Novak, because Rafa was playing good. It helped Novak a little bit more," he said. "No wind, different conditions. Novak sometimes has problems [with] the wind."
Vadja was also pleased with Djokovic's shot selection and play. "Novak used the qualities of the surface," he said, noting also that ''Rafa adapted" very effectively to the grass.
Djokovic, the No. 12 seed at Wimbledon, then beat Anderson in a match that started off comfortably but changed in the third set. The Serb won the first two sets by 6-2 scores, then saved five set points in the third set before winning in a tiebreaker.
