England, July 15 -- Roger Federer won more points than Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final.

Federer was the first of the pair to come within a point of taking the championship Sunday, too. Had two such chances in the fifth set, even.

Indeed, Federer dominated the historic match in nearly every statistical way. More than twice as many aces. More than twice as many breaks of serve. Nearly twice as many total winners.

And yet, in the only category that matters, the final score, Federer barely came up on the short end, losing 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 13-12 (3) to defending champion Djokovic.

By ceding all three sets that went to a tiebreaker, including - for the first time at Wimbledon - the fifth, Federer was denied a ninth title at...