Novak Djokovic epic Wimbledon victory over Roger Federer was the most mentally demanding match of his career.

It was the longest men's singles final in Wimbledon history and brought Djokovic his fifth title, now just three behind Federer.

The Serbian and defending champion saved two match points in the fifth set before winning the first deciding tie-break played in singles at the All England Club for a 7-6 (5) 1-6 7-6 (4) 4-6 13-12 (3) victory after four hours and 57 minutes.

In retaining the trophy Djokovic took his grand-slam tally to 16, two short of Rafael Nadal and four off the Swiss great.

"These kind of matches, you work for, you live for," said Djokovic.

"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.

"It was a huge relief in the end, honestly.

"It was probably the mentally most demanding match I was ever part of. I had the most physically demanding match against Nadal in the finals of Australia that went almost six hours. But mentally this was a different level, because of everything.

"I'm just obviously thrilled and overjoyed with emotions to be sitting here in front of you as a winner.

"It was one shot away from losing the match.

"This match had everything.

"It could have gone easily his way.

"In these kind of moments, I just try to never lose self-belief, just stay calm, just focus on trying to get the ball back, return, which wasn't serving me very well today. But, in the most important moments, all three tie-breaks I guess, I found my best game."

Surrey Comet:

In a game that had more plot-twists than a feature length thriller, it was Federer who seemed to be under more pressure in the fifth set.

It was the 37-year-old however who broke serve to lead 8-7 and at 40-15 he held two match points.

The 8-time Champion couldn't convert his chance and Djokovic produced a stunning cross court winner to tie the game at deuce and silence the pro-Federer crowd.

Surrey Comet:

Djokovic who was visibly surprised by the support his semi-final opponent Roberto Bautista Agut had in the final kept his emotions intact, even using the Federer fans as motivation.

"When the crowd is chanting 'Roger' I hear 'Novak'," he said. "It sounds silly, but it is like that. I try to convince myself."

Djokovic went on to claim victory in the Champions tie-break, leaving Federer knowing it was an opportunity missed.