Yes, Novak Djokovic is, currently, No 1 in the world, and the reigning Australian Open champion. But, but, he had an extraordinarily difficult semi-final against Juan del Potro, (the longest in Wimbledon history, clocking in at over five and a half hours of incredibly intense and competitive tennis, and a match regarded by the cognoscenti - as well as former champions - as a timeless classic); despite his extraordinary levels of fitness, it was going to take him longer than a day to recover from such a draining (if exhilarating) ordeal.
And secondly, re And Murray: Bear in mind that Andy Murray is currently ranked No 2 in the world; he is the reigning Olympic Champion and the current holder of the US Open. Moreover, he had decided not to compete in the French Open - I suspect (the official excuse was the need to recover form an injury) - in order to give himself the time he needed in order to prepare fully for Wimbledon, a decision that has clearly been vindicated by today's result. In any case, I think the key change for Andy Murray came when he decided to appoint (or ask,) the extraordinary Ivan Lendl to become his coach over 18 months ago.
Besides, here, location was important, as Andy Murray was competing in Wimbledon, where, since his tears after the Wimbledon Final last year, (immediately after his defeat by Roger Federer), and, also, his subsequent victory in the Olympic Final (over the same opponent a month later) in the same venue, Wimbledon, making him the Olympic Gold medallist, (and reigning Champion) meant that the Wimbledon crowd were now going to be completely behind him. As both Roger Federer (last year's champion) and Rafa Nadal (the victor of the French Open) had been knocked out in earlier rounds, Andy Murray's path to the final was probably less draining than was Novak Djokavic's.
Actually, I think that the lesson of this year's games and matches (long and testing, and very demanding physically, mentally and psychologically), is that - given the ferocious fitness, endurance, athleticism and mental strength required of top ranked tennis players to win at the highest level - is that the days when the world's number one could credibly expect to hold several Grand Slam titles simultaneously may well be coming to a close.
While Novak Djokavic holds the Australian Open, it seems that both the French Open and Wimbledon were beyond him. Rafa Nadal (having won the French Open) was clearly in no fit condition to mount a serious challenge for Wimbledon. Juan del Potro (who had won the US Open in the recent past) was a terrifying and fantastic opponent in the semi-final, (against Novak Djokovic) and fought a ferocious semi-final last year, too.
In other words, the effort and energy expended to win a Grand Slam final may well make it difficult to sustain that effort over the year. The truth is that there is actually very little to differentiate between the top players - nobody bestrides the tennis world like a colossus the way Roger Federer used to in recent years; all of them are ferociously fit, dedicated, and utterly committed, but - even allowing for that - there are limits to what they can ask of their bodies on a daily basis. Thus, I suspect that it will not be possible to devote the same degree of attention and preparation to each Grand Slam in the way that used to be done.
