Wimbledon 2018: The Wrap-Up

On 2 July, the world’s most revered tennis tournament began once again. Wimbledon this year, as was to be expected, saw some incredible tennis along with many famous faces and, of course, lots of strawberries and cream. The competition at the All England Club was exceptionally sunny, with players battling right in the midst of the country’s heat wave. Crowds settled with glasses of Pimm’s on court and many watched on their TV’s at home, as new talents emerged, history was rewritten and winners were crowned on the famous grass courts.

The Winners

In the women’s singles, 30-year-old Angelique Kerber was this year’s winner at the All England Club. The German 11th seed beat 23-time Grand Slam champion, Serena Williams, handily in two sets. This was a first Wimbledon win for Kerber, a title which she now adds to her 2016 Australian Open and US Open crowns. Williams was the favourite going into the final, but Kerber then broke her serve in the opening game. The German showed great tactics throughout the game, forcing the American to come to the net to exploit her lessened mobility around the court. Serena did retain her powerful serve though, with speeds of 125 mph during the match, the fastest in the ladies competition. Kerber said after the match that she was nervous before the match but her experience in grand slam finals helped her, while Williams, who gave birth only ten months ago, said of her time at the tournament this year: “I just feel like I’m taking the steps in the right direction. I took a giant step at Wimbledon. But my journey has just begun.”

Novak Djokovic came out on top in the men’s singles final, beating South African Kevin Anderson 6-2 6-2 7-6 (7-3). The 31-year-old 12th seed quickly took control of the match winning the opening set in 29 minutes and breaking twice more in the second set. The match only became close in the third set when the Serbian was forced to fend off five set points to make it to the tie-break from which he would eventually emerge as the champion. The win puts Djokovic in fourth place on the all-time list of Grand Slam men’s singles titles, moving above Roy Emerson and behind only Roger Federer (20), Rafael Nadal (17) and Pete Sampras (14). After a tough two years, in which the Serbian alluded to difficulties in his personal life and injury, it appears Djokovic is ready to become a major grand slam competitor once again.

In the doubles tournaments, American duo Mike Bryan and Jack Sock came out on top in the men’s category whilst Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, a pair from the Czech Republic, won the women’s doubles. Victoria Azarenka and Britain’s own Jamie Murray were beaten in straight sets in the mixed doubles final by Austria’s Alexander Peya and American Nicole Melichar.

Elsewhere, Britain’s Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett won a third successive Wimbledon wheelchair doubles title, beating Germany’s Joachim Gerard and Swede Stefan Olsson. Reid, 26, and Hewett, 20, dominated from the outset, racing through the first set as the second seeds won 6-1 6-4. The win marked an eighth Grand Slam doubles title for Reid and a fourth for Hewett. Cheered on by the crowd on court three, it appears that the pair’s dominance won’t be slowing down any time soon.

New talent

A promising new British talent emerged this year in the boys’ category in the form of 16-year-old Jack Draper. Surrey-born Draper made it all the way to the final, hoping to become the first British boys’ champion since 1962, but was beaten by this year’s junior French Open winner, Taiwanese top seed Tseng Chun-hsin. Draper made an impressive come back to win the second set but increasing flashes of temper while playing on Court One in the final set caused a high number of unforced errors. Nevertheless, he is certainly one to watch for the future.

Debate

Notable from the men’s singles competition was undoubtedly the semi-final match between Kevin Anderson and John Isner. This match, the ‘battle of the giants’, lasted six hours and 35 minutes, making it the second longest match ever seen at SW19. Anderson eventually triumphed 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (5-7) 6-7 (9-11) 6-4 26-24 over the American to make it to this years final.

Aside from being a match where both players produced a slew of incredible aces, it reopens the debate about whether the rules of the game should be changed so there is a final set tie-break, which only takes place at one of the four major grand slams, the US open. When Anderson was interviewed after his victory he seemed far from overjoyed to have won and instead just exhausted: “I hope we look at this because you don’t feel great…I hope this is a sign for grand slams to change.” Three-time Wimbledon champion, John McEnroe, echoed his thoughts saying, “I hope this magnificent effort by these two experienced and very fit professionals allows the powers-that-be to make a change.”

Best tennis moments

As always, many memorable moments of tennis were produced this year at the grass tournament. The entire men’s semi-final match between Nadal and Djokovic was exceptional and the match itself felt very much like a grand slam final. Similarly, the quarter-final match involving Nadal and Argentinian Juan Martin Del Potro showcased some amazing tennis, with a particular highlight in the final set where Del Potro dived towards the ball, slipping it past the Spaniard and igniting a standing ovation from the crowd. A particularly good moment from the women’s singles came in the quarter-final match between champion Kerber and Daria Kasatkina. After a tense 25 shot rally, Kerber was able to gently slip the ball past Kasatkina to win herself a sixth match point.

Shock exits

There were also many surprises at this year’s tournament though, particularly in the women’s singles as none of the top ten seeds progressed to week two of the contest, marking the first time in the history of the Open era where no top-10 seed player made it to a Grand Slam quarterfinal. Top seed Simona Halep’s shock exit came as a result of defeat to Hsieh Su-Wei whilst this year’s Australian Open champ, Caroline Wozniacki was also eliminated early in the running. Last year’s victor at SW19, Garbine Muguruza, was beaten by the world number 47, Alison Van Uytvanck.

One of the shocks from the men’s tournament was Federer’s defeat to Anderson in the quarter-finals. The eight-time Wimbledon champion seemed well on his way to the semi-final, winning the first two sets and even having match point in the third set. His exit meant that a repeat of the 2008 Wimbledon final, widely regarded as one of the best matches of tennis ever, between the Swiss great and Rafa Nadal that many hoped for was not to be this year.