By Simon Wright – Follow
me on Twitter @Siwri88
Wimbledon
2014 (logo pictured below) will always be remembered as the time when the new generation of tennis
superstars came of age. The heavyweights of the game had a tough time at the
All-England club, overshadowed by the power, determination and no fear attitude
of new kids on the block.
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| Wimbledon 2014 provided a mix of fresh talent and expected forces winning |
It brought us
controversial moments, sensations on Centre Court, a groan of disappointment as
our champion had a bad day and the return of a Swiss ace that refuses to go
away. However, if you looked at the record books, you’d think the SW19 edition
this year had a retro feel as the men’s and women’s singles champions were the
same as they were in 2011.
Czech Petra
Kvitova returned to the scene of her greatest triumph to overpower Eugenie
Bouchard in the women’s final, whilst Serbia’s Novak Djokovic put aside his
pain of losing his last three Grand Slam finals to win the men’s showpiece in
an epic five-set encounter with Roger Federer.
Andy’s agony
British
tennis was in its best place last year when Andy Murray ended 77 years of
heartache to beat Djokovic and become men’s champion. It hasn’t been an easy
year for the Scot since and this Wimbledon was going to bring highs and lows.
Back surgery
last September and a parting of the ways with his coach Ivan Lendl earlier this
year have made life more difficult for Murray. An encouraging run to the French
Open semi-finals on his least favourite surface (clay), had people talking his
chances up of repeating his glory from 2013. The realism was though that with a
new coach in Amelie Mauresmo, a former female champion in 2006; it was going to
take Murray time to gel with his new partner.
The first
four rounds were a breeze. Murray played some great tennis and made no hassle
with his opponents, not dropping a set and barely losing his serve. That all
change though in the quarter-finals against the tall Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
Dimitrov,
best known to us as being the other half of Maria Sharapova’s life, was in the
form of his career. He had won the AEGON Championship at Queens before coming to
south-west London and dealt brilliantly with the pressure of having a home
crowd against him. Couple this with a bad day for the champion and Murray’s
defence of the title was over.
The straight
sets demolition was a shock and questions were raised about Murray’s mind, shot
selection and condition of his fitness. His ranking has dropped to no.10, the
lowest it has been in six years but the reality is that this was always going
to be a testing year after such major surgery. At 27, Murray still has time to
win more Grand Slams. The sparkle from winning Olympic gold, the US Open and
Wimbledon in such quick succession has most definitely fizzled out. However, he
will bounce back from this challenging period in his career.
Serena’s shambles
In the
women’s game, the overwhelming favourite going into the tournament was Serena
Williams. Despite disappointing early exits from the first two Grand Slams of
the year, this is Serena’s favourite surface…well it was until the last
fortnight.
First, she
crashed out before the start of the second week in the singles, beaten by Alize
Cornet on the middle Saturday of the championships. Four days later and in
bizarre circumstances, she came onto court with Sister Venus for the doubles
quarter-finals, looking disorientated and dizzy. A mystery virus meant she
couldn’t even control her racquet. After a game with four double faults, she
sensibly withdrew but it was a sorry and shambolic way for her SW19 challenge to
end.
Her exit made
Sharapova the bookies favourite, but she didn’t get much further. The French
Open champion was beaten in one of the matches of the tournament, ousted by
German no.9 seed Angelique Kerber in the round of 16. Kerber had earlier ended
British interest in the ladies draw, having beaten Heather Watson on Centre
Court in the second round.
The female
game was rocked to the core by the tragic death of former British no.1 Elena
Baltacha in May from liver cancer. On day two of the championships, a
highly-charged Centre Court paid its tribute to ‘Bally’ with nine-year-old Elle
Robus-Miller – a young player from the Elena Baltacha Academy of Tennis in
Ipswich walking out hand-in-hand with the 2013 champion Marion Bartoli to
emotional applause.
Bartoli
herself struggled to fight back the tears. She retired from competitive tennis
only six weeks after her Wimbledon glory last summer. The Frenchman was back
this time working for the BBC, and took her seat in the Royal Box to see one of
her best friends and the runner-up from 2013, Sabine Lisicki win her first
round match. The German’s wave towards Bartoli after completing a straight sets
victory showed her respect and gratitude in taking the honour of opening up
Centre Court action on day two, normally reserved for the defending champion.
Lisicki would
reach the quarter-finals this time, before being blown away on the same court
by Simone Halep. The Romanian has soared up the WTA rankings and was one of the
many newcomers who made their mark at Wimbledon 2014.
The new generation
Halep was
seeded no.3 here and despite admitting that grass was her least favourite
surface, she showed no mercy to Lisicki in the last eight and made the semis,
being beaten by another newcomer in Bouchard.
The Canadian
is definitely one of the most attractive females on the WTA tour and the
British media definitely loved her. Only two years ago, she was winning the
girls singles here. Now, she charged into her maiden Grand Slam final. The
Czech, Lucie Safarova shouldn’t be forgotten either. She made her first Grand
Slam semi-final, before being beaten by Fed Cup partner and compatriot Kvitova.
After winning
Wimbledon in 2011, Kvitova didn’t seem to handle the pressure of it well and
had almost faded into obscurity. Now 24, she seems ready to be able to cope
with becoming a Grand Slam winner again. Apart from a bruising encounter with
Venus Williams in round three, she charged into the final with consummate ease,
barely breaking sweat with some accomplished performances.
The sensation
in the men’s draw was Nick Kyrgios. Only given a wildcard entry into the
tournament and ranked outside the top 100, the teenager caused a stir by
knocking out no.13 seed Richard Gasquet in round two and then an even bigger sensation two
rounds later. He faced Rafael Nadal, who was coming off the back of a stunning
ninth title at Roland Garros.
Nadal looked
uneasy once again on the grass. He dropped the first set in his three opening
games but managed to recover. The Spaniard did it again against Kyrgios, only
he couldn’t recover this time. Kyrgios showed great maturity for such a young
age and his power was unstoppable. Rafa had no idea and checked out in four
sets. If he stays fit and keeps focused, Kyrgios is a champion of the future.
He bowed out
in the next round to another young Canadian in Milos Raonic. Raonic has so far unfulfilled
his genuine promise but that all changed in the past fortnight. The eighth seed
moved through into a first semi-final, although he was no match for Federer. It
is fair to say the future of tennis is looking bright.
The double repeated
On paper,
Bouchard vs Kvitova looked like being a close women’s singles final. It sadly
didn’t live upto the hype and promise. Kvitova was the slight favourite with
many due to her previous experience of a Wimbledon final but she produced a
simply stunning performance that Bouchard couldn’t live with.
Unlike
Lisicki last year, Bouchard’s game didn’t crumble under pressure of the big
occasion. She simply had no answer to Kvitova’s brilliant serve and her strong
return shots that were making rallies very short and therefore, the match far
too quick for many people’s liking. To Bouchard’s credit, she kept going but
there was only going to be one winner. Kvitova (pictured below) won 6-4, 6-0 – becoming champion
for a second time in under an hour. Petra has the ability to capitalise on this
momentum and win many more titles. She just has to believe in herself more,
something that didn’t seem visible three years ago.
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| Petra Kvitova produced a breathtaking performance to win the title for the second time in four years |
If the crowd
felt short-changed on Saturday, no-one will be asking for a refund after Sunday’s
match. Djokovic and Federer met in a Grand Slam final that will go down as one
of the best. It went the full distance, as the balance of power shifted back
and forth. Federer won the first set on a tie-break, Djokovic the next two 6-4,
7-6 and he seemed to have it wrapped up with an early break of the Swiss’ serve
in set four. He even had a championship point, but this was saved by Federer on
the Hawk Eye technology. He then reeled off five games in a row to win the set
7-5 and leave his opponent stunned.
The fifth set
was a tight and close affair. Both players had opportunities to break serve,
but couldn’t take them. Finally at 4-5 in the decider, the Serb had two
chances. This time, championship point wasn’t squandered. A return into the net
and Djokovic was champion at SW19 again. Federer’s drought without a Grand Slam
now has stretched to two years, but while he was denied an eighth title this
time – he has the capability and the concentration to still win more in the
future. For now though, it was Djokovic’s time and over the course of the
fortnight, he was the best player and deserved to take this great prize again.
And just like
that, it was all over. Two weeks of absorbing tennis had come to an end; the
tournament where the new generation had shone but the established were still
able to take the top prizes.
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