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This year’s Wimbledon tournament, at the sacred All England Club, has been nothing short of intriguing. At every stage of this competition, there has been a shock exit of a highly ranked player.
None more so than the demise of the great Roger Federer (I mean that purely for this tournament, he’s not done yet).
There’s no doubt Tomas Berdych is a fantastically gifted player, but to brush aside Fed in the quarter-final the way Berdych did, is quite remarkable.
Federer wanted this tournament badly, having being beaten in the quarter-final at Roland Garros just three weeks ago, and needing one more Wimbledon crown to match Sampras’ seven triumphs. He was completely outplayed, unable to match Berdych’s skill and power.
Heading into the semi-final stage, the men’s draw is wide open.
World number 1 Rafael Nadal is the favourite. However, he will hardly be sleeping easy, with hometown superstar Andy Murray waiting for him in the semi’s. If he manages to get through Murray, either supreme talent Novak Djokovic or the ever unpredictable Berdych awaits him.
Of the four players remaining in the women’s draw, world number 1 Serena Williams is the only one ranked in the top 20. The other three have had remarkable runs through the championship so far, exceeding all expectations to make it to the final four. Little known young players Petra Kvitova and Tsvetana Pironkova, ranked 62 and 82 respectively, have been especially great stories.
We will soon find out if we have a Wimbledon Cinderella story on our hands.
With all of this drama going on at the All England Club, it seems ridiculous that the highlight of the tournament came in a first round match-up.
This epic marathon between American John Isner, and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut was played all the way out on court 18, and featured two players certainly not known for pulling a big crowd. This match was a pure and brutal test of physical strength, mental toughness and sheer will to win.
After more than 11 hours of total playing time (more than eight of those hours in the final set alone) Isner won the deciding fifth set 70 games to 68.
But was there really a loser?
This match not only broke, but smashed an astounding amount of tennis records, including being the longest match in history, and beating the previous high by approximately 4.5 hours.
The bottom line is that a match like this will never occur again. It was fitting that each player, along with the chair umpire received awards and recognition for what they had achieved. Isner and Mahut will forever be linked in a special way, thanks to this match.
No matter what happens for the rest of the championship, this will be the moment (three day moment) we remember.
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