Novak Djokovic says his epic Wimbledon final victory over Roger Federer was his most "mentally demanding" match - and he even had to tell himself the partisan crowd was cheering for him.

Djokovic, 32, retained his title with a 7-6 (7-5) 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 13-12 (7-3) win over the eight-time champion, 37.

Lasting four hours 57 minutes, it was the longest Wimbledon singles final.

"When the crowd is chanting 'Roger' I hear 'Novak'," said the Serb. "It sounds silly, but it is like that."

Djokovic - now a five-time Wimbledon champion - added: "Mentally this was different level.

"It was probably the most demanding, mentally most demanding, match I was ever part of.

"It was a huge relief in the end. You work for, you live for these kind of matches.

"They give sense and they give value to every minute you spend on the court training and working to get yourself in this position and play the match with one of your greatest rivals of all time."

'I always try to imagine myself as a winner' - blocking out the noise

Djokovic saved two match points on his way to beating Federer in the first 12-12 final-set singles tie-break used at the All England Club.

He credited mental training and visualisation in helping him through the epic that unfolded on Centre Court, adding it was more difficult for him than the physical toll on his body.

"I always try to imagine myself as a winner. I think there is a power to that," he said.

"Also there has to be, next to the willpower, strength that comes not just from your physical self, but from your mental and emotional self.

"For me, at least, it's a constant battle within, more than what happens outside.

"It's really not the situations that you experience that are affecting you, but how you internally experience those situations, how you accept them, how you live through them."

Federer fever was rife throughout the grounds of SW19 and on Centre Court itself, with the majority of the 15,000 in the stands supporting the Swiss.

That is a situation Djokovic has faced on numerous occasions and something he has been known to react negatively to, cupping his ear in response to chants supporting opponent Roberto Bautista Agut in the semi-finals.

In the final, many of the 52 unforced errors and nine double faults Djokovic made were cheered, and he was booed when he questioned a Hawk-Eye decision that had ruled in Federer's favour.

His celebrations after winning the title were somewhat muted.

Asked if he was aware of the favouritism towards Federer, Djokovic said: "It's hard to not be aware.

"You have that kind of electric atmosphere, that kind of noise, especially in some decisive moments where we're quite even. It's one way or another. The crowd gets into it.

"If you have the majority of the crowd on your side, it helps. It gives you motivation, it gives you strength, it gives you energy. When you don't, then you have to find it within."

'I don't have any obligation to play'

With 16 Grand Slam titles to his name, Djokovic closed the gap to Federer (20) and Rafael Nadal (18) on the all-time records list.

Djokovic is five years Federer's junior and one year younger than Nadal, and he says they are "one of the biggest reasons" he continues to compete.

"The fact they made history motivates me. It inspires me to try to do what they have done, what they've achieved, and even more," he said.

"Whether I'm going to be able to do it or not, I don't know. I'm not really looking at age as a restriction of any kind for me at least.

Djokovic refuses to set himself the target of catching - or surpassing - their records, because he has bigger priorities in his life.

"It depends not only on myself, it depends on circumstances in life," he said. "I'm not just a tennis player, I'm a father and a husband.

"I don't have any obligation to play. I really don't have any commitment to play tennis. I play it because I really love it and I have support of the closest people in my life."

How the tennis world reacted

Six-time Wimbledon singles champion Billie Jean King: An epic men's final. Congratulations to Novak Djokovic on his fifth singles title at Wimbledon. Roger Federer and Novak are two world-class players who left it all on the court.

Four-time Wimbledon singles champion Rod Laver: An incredible finale. Congratulations Novak Djokovic on your fifth Wimbledon title. You and Roger Federer reached the highest level. A thrilling match between two incomparable grasscourt champions. Thank you for the good fight, played fairly and ferociously.

Former Wimbledon champion Martina Hingis: STANDING OVATION for both players in this Wimbledon final! What a joy and privilege to watch.

2018 Wimbledon runner-up Kevin Anderson: I have such huge respect for both Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. What a match... wouldn't have minded to see it go on a little longer. Congrats Novak on another Wimbledon.

MONTEREY, Calif. – Chaz Davies led from start to finish to capture his first World Superbike win of the season during Sunday’s conclusion to the GEICO U.S. Round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Davies took command from the moment the lights went out and never gave it up en route to the checkered flag, winning for the factory Ducati team as his teammate – Alvaro Bautista – crashed during the Superpole race earlier in the day.

The Welshman took the advantage at turn one and held it through turn two, while racing into third place behind was Toprak Razgatlioglu, who made a brisk start.

Saturday winner Jonathan Rea tried once to get ahead of Davies on lap two at the entrance to turn five, but ran wide and allowed Davies to take the lead back.

It would stay like that for the entire distance thereafter, with Rea unable to match Davies, who was in a class of his own at the head of the field.

Razgatlioglu ultimately hung on for the final podium spot behind Rea, with Alex Lowes finishing fourth and Tom Sykes completing the top five.

Sixth through 10th were Leon Haslam, Loris Baz, Jordi Torres, Marco Melandri and Michael Ruben Rinaldi.

Bautista, who injured his shoulder in the Superpole crash, saw his luckless weekend come to a premature end when he retired following the second lap of the race.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Michael Hurczyn won Sunday’s abbreviated TC America TCR/TCA race at Portland Int’l Raceway, part of the 59th Annual Rose Cup Races presented by Fastlife.TV.

Bryan Putt won for the second straight day in the TCR Cup division, while Mark Pombo won in TCA.

At the green, polesitter Hurczyn led the pack to the line and led through the first lap over teammate Nate Vincent. In TCR Cup, polesitter Putt grabbed the lead over Stephen Vajda and in TCA, polesitter Nick Wittmer held the lead over Chris Haldeman and Mark Pombo.

By lap three, Hurczyn had a 1.2 second lead over Vincent, while Putt held a 2.5 second lead over Vajda. Haldeman would pass Wittmer on the same lap, and then Pombo also moved past into second on lap four.

While the TCR and TCR Cup leaders held their positions through lap five, Wittmer reclaimed second from Pombo to pursue Haldeman.

Race Control then issued a full-course yellow on lap seven, as Robert Crocker went off into the tire wall between turns two and three. Crocker was not injured, but there was a considerable amount of repair required to the tire wall and a red flag was issued.

After the repairs were completed, the green flag flew for a five-minute shootout to the checkered. Hurczyn once again led the pack to the green ahead of Vincent and Filippi. In TCR Cup, Putt led Vajda and Cole, with Cole moving past Vajda for second.

With the leaders in TCR and TCR Cup slotted, the action focused on a heated scrap among the top four in TCA.

Haldeman led Wittmer, Maxson and Pombo on the restart. Maxson would move past Wittmer into second through turn 10. Then on the white flag lap, Maxson and Haldeman went side by side through turn seven, contacting slightly and slowing Wittmer, allowing Pombo to move up alongside Haldeman down the backstraight into turns eight and nine.

Pombo would carry the momentum through turns 10, 11 and 12 to take the lead on the front straight. At the checkered it was Pombo over Haldeman, Maxson and Wittmer.

Hurczyn, Vincent, Filippi completed the overall top three in TCR, with Putt, Cole and Vajda as the top three in TCR Cup.

“Got out front early, it’s really hard to pass here,” said Hurczyn in victory circle. “I was able to stay in front of Nate (Vincent). Nate had a great battle with Mason (Filippi) behind us. We are both going to need new bumpers after the race! After the restart it was hit your marks, keep it clean and bring it home to the finish … which is what we did.”

TORONTO – French driver Simon Pagenaud of Team Penske showed the NTT IndyCar Series how to celebrate Bastille Day.

Pagenaud capped a near-perfect weekend in Canada by dominating the Honda Indy Toronto, scoring his third victory of the season – and the 14th of his career – on France’s national day.

The pole sitter led 80 of the 85 laps at Exhibition Place and held back five-time series champion Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing in the late stages to score his first victory on the 11-turn, 1.786-mile temporary street circuit.

“I’m very proud to fly the French flag here in a cousin country, which is Canada,” said Pagenaud, the winner of this year’s Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. “I guess (countryman Julian Alaphilippe) is leading the Tour de France today on the bike. I felt like I had to do the same.”

Pagenaud was only threatened a couple of times, the first being in the opening-lap dash to turn one. Dixon challenged him but couldn’t execute the pass. From there, Pagenaud began building a lead, which became eight seconds before he incurred traffic in the final laps.

“We took off and the car handled really well,” Pagenaud said. “We definitely had an advantage on the tire wear. I knew we had a really good race car. We were able to match the Honda power (of Dixon) pretty well; (it) helped us to perform even better, so thanks to Chevy.”

Added Dixon, “(Pagenaud’s) straight-line speed was ridiculous today, to be honest.”

Dixon’s No. 9 PNC Bank Honda was also hampered by wall contact early in the race. He drove the rest of the way with the steering wheel misaligned.

“I made a mistake, a pretty big mistake, probably around lap 12 or 15 where I hit the inside wall on (turn) 9,” he said. “Bent the suspension pretty bad. I thought I had a (tire) puncture.”

Alexander Rossi of Andretti Autosport finished third, one position ahead of series points leader Josef Newgarden of Team Penske. The first four finishers are the top four drivers in the standings heading to Saturday night’s Iowa 300, a short-oval race at Iowa Speedway.

With Rossi, Dixon and Rossi finishing ahead of Newgarden, the championship race tightened. Rossi drew to four points with six races remaining. Pagenaud, who scored the maximum number of points in this race, is 39 points of the lead with Dixon 86 back.

Ontario native James Hinchcliffe of Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports finished sixth in his home race. He was the driver who advanced the highest number of positions (eight) among the entire field.

Another Toronto-area native – driver Robert Wickens, who finished third at Toronto last year – gave the race an inspirational start by driving a specially prepared Acura NSX.

Wickens, who is rehabilitating the use of his legs following a racing accident 11 months ago at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, used hand controls developed by Arrow Electronics to drive around the track, as well as gave the command to start the race.

Wickens’ fiancé, Karli Woods, rode with him during the two laps around the track.

The results:

1. (1) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 85, Running
2. (2) Scott Dixon, Honda, 85, Running
3. (4) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 85, Running
4. (5) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 85, Running
5. (3) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 85, Running
6. (14) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 85, Running
7. (16) Colton Herta, Honda, 85, Running
8. (8) Sebastien Bourdais, Honda, 85, Running
9. (12) Graham Rahal, Honda, 85, Running
10. (7) Marco Andretti, Honda, 85, Running
11. (17) Santino Ferrucci, Honda, 85, Running
12. (6) Ed Jones, Chevrolet, 84, Running
13. (18) Zach Veach, Honda, 84, Running
14. (13) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 84, Running
15. (9) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 84, Running
16. (11) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 84, Running
17. (22) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 84, Running
18. (15) Will Power, Chevrolet, 83, Contact
19. (19) Matheus Leist, Chevrolet, 83, Running
20. (20) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 81, Running
21. (21) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 79, Running
22. (10) Takuma Sato, Honda, 67, Mechanical