Wimbledon 2013: Highlights

Champions: Andy Murray (L) and Marion Bartoli

This year’s Wimbledon was a truly entertaining one, with many surprises, some good matches, and a lot of quality tennis. Here are some of the highlights of the tournament.

The Winners:

The winners of the gentlemen’s and ladies’ singles, Andy Murray and Marion Bartoli, were clearly the tournament’s best players.

While Murray’s chances were doubted before the tournament as he missed the French Open, he played exceptionally well in the initial stages. His true test came from the quarter-finals onwards; he was thoroughly tested by Fernando Verdasco, after which he played well against the big-serving Jerzy Janowicz, before he finally defeated the No.1 Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the final. His knighthood is almost guaranteed after becoming the first Brit to win the Wimbledon men’s singles title in 77 years.

Marion Bartoli was a surprise winner, to be frank. After top seeds like Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova fell early in the tournament it was Serena’s title to lose, considering the form she was in. Young German Sabine Lisicki, who was the finalist, defeated Serena in remarkable fashion, but fell to Bartoli at the last hurdle. Bartoli was very impressive throughout the tournament, considering that she didn’t drop a single set through the Slam. Even in the final, she crushed all German hopes in spectacular fashion.

Both had tears in their eyes; one was of joy, the other was of pain.

The young guns who impressed

Jerzy Janowicz’s run to the semi-finals was no less than a fairy-tale story. Coming from a poor family in Poland, he once did not even have enough money to travel to the Australian Open. But his parents never gave up on him, and the young Janowicz made his parents proud. Partly assisted by top seeds falling out early, his performance was incredible, nevertheless.

Laura Robson was the female version of Andy Murray. With all the statisticians lined up to mount pressure on her with unnecessary stats, the young girl’s run till the 4th round was no small feat. She has a bright future. Who knows, I might write about her championship-winning performance some time in the future.

The surprise package

It has to be Fernando Verdasco among the gentlemen.

Always living under the shadow of his more talented country-mates, he made a spectacular run, reaching the quarter finals, and also stretching the eventual champion to five enthralling sets.

And well, except Agnieszka Radwanska, all the other three semi-finalists on the women’s side were surprise packages. But special credit must be given to Kirsten Flipkens, who made it to the semi-final after defeating the 2011 champion Petra Kvitova.

Match of the tournament

When I was watching the Wimbledon quarter-finals, I was pretty sure that I would include Murray vs Verdasco match under this column, but a certain match between Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro had me thinking otherwise. What a match they played! Credits to Djokovic, for holding his nerve and capitalising when Del Potro was tired and kudos to Del Potro, who put up such a spectacular performance under pain.

And among the ladies, the Radwanska-Lisicki semi-final has to be the choice. Both of them produced some spectacular tennis, with Lisicki prevailing in the deciding set. But sadly, the German couldn’t go all the way.

Upset of the tournament

12 years ago, a certain 7-time Wimbledon champion was outplayed by a young Swiss named Roger Federer. With the circle of life coming to its end, Federer, a 7-time Wimbledon champ, was outplayed by Sergiy Stakhovsky at his own game, serve-and-volley. Though Stakhovsky wasn’t a household name, that day was his day. He was brave, confident, and produced one of the greatest upsets of recent times (Nadal’s doesn’t count because grass is not his strength, unlike Federer’s).

And similarly, 5-time Wimbledon champ Serena Williams was bought to her knees by Sabine Lisicki. Personally, I thought Lisicki deserved to win, but maybe some time in the future, she will win the Championships.