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Opinion
The gates have closed on the All England Club for another year and after a fortnight of jam-packed action, it was Novak Djokovic and Elena Rybakina who left as champions.
Djokovic continued to show why he has been the man to beat at Wimbledon over the past few years, winning his fourth consecutive title with a four-set defeat of Nick Kyrgios in Sunday’s men’s final.
The match had the potential to be a blockbuster and both men didn’t disappoint, with Kyrgios striking first early when he broke in the third game of the opening set to take it 6-4.
Having not played his semi-final against Rafael Nadal after the Spaniard was forced to withdraw due to an abdominal strain, it appeared the extra rest would work in the 27-year-old’s favour.
By the end of the first set, the Canberran had played five sets against Djokovic and won each time, not once facing a single break point in either set (he had won their previous two matches in straight sets, both times in 2017).
However, the match started to turn in the Djoker’s favour thereafter, breaking the Kyrgios serve to love in the fourth game and then wiping out three break points in the ninth game to claim the second set 6-3 and level the match at a set all.
The high quality of play by both players continued into the third set, until the Djoker earned a crucial break in the ninth game after trailing 40-0. He then served it out 6-4 to take a two-sets-to-one lead, and the finish line was well within sight.
(Photo by Shi Tang/Getty Images)
The tension continued into the fourth set, with neither player able to manufacture a break point, and so a tiebreak would be used to decide the matter.
A double fault from Kyrgios to start the tiebreak proved fatal as Djokovic raced to a 6-3 lead, converting his first championship point after Kyrgios netted a backhand at close range to end a ten-shot rally.
The result gave Djokovic his fourth consecutive title at Wimbledon, his 28th straight win on the grass courts of the All England Club, and most crucially a 21st Major singles title which is now only one behind the record held by Rafael Nadal (22).
It also saw him pull one clear of Roger Federer’s haul of 20 Major titles, a tally the Swiss Maestro is unlikely to add further to given he has now not played for over twelve months.
Federer’s continuing absence from the ATP Tour means that not only has he dropped out of the world’s top 100 for the first time since October 1999, it is also the first time since September 1997 that he is unranked.
Still, the soon-to-be 41-year-old has not given up any hope of returning to the circuit, with a comeback planned for Basel towards the end of the year while he hopes to return to the All England Club on what would be the 20th anniversary of the first of his 20 Major titles.
But despite his victory, Djokovic has woken up to find out that he has dropped to seventh in the world rankings, due to the rankings points ban enforced in the wake of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis.
It was also his last chance to win a Major this year, as it is expected that he will be absent from the US Open owing to the United States’ strict entry rules regarding COVID-19 vaccination.
This means that Nadal can pull further clear of Djokovic and Federer on the Grand Slam men’s leaderboard, and shoot for a 23rd Major title, which would be equal to Serena Williams’ haul, in the Big Apple.
As for Nick Kyrgios, instead of rocketing back into the world’s top 20, the Canberran has dropped five places to 45 in the world rankings, severely hampering his chances of being seeded for the US Open in September.
Despite the controversy he has generated in the lead-up to his first Major final, the 27-year-old should still be proud of what he has achieved at Wimbledon, as he fell short of ending a two-decade drought for the Australian men at the Majors.
Kyrgios was attempting to become our first Major men’s singles champion since Lleyton Hewitt thrashed David Nalbandian to win the title here in 2002.
But the spoils for the moment go to Novak Djokovic, who continues to show why he has been a consistent player on Tour over all these years.
Men’s championship result: [1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) def. Nick Kyrgios (AUS) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).
In the women’s draw, Russian-born Elena Rybakina became the youngest women’s champion since Petra Kvitova in 2011, coming from a set down to defeat third seed Ons Jabeur in three sets.
The 23-year-old switched allegiances to Kazakhstan in 2018, following which she reached a Tour-leading five finals in 2020 and defeated Serena Williams en route to reaching her first Major quarter-final at the French Open last year.
And now, she has become her country’s first Major singles champion, upsetting the favourite Jabeur to confirm herself as one of the up-and-comers in women’s tennis.
The Tunisian started the stronger of the two players, claiming the first set 6-3, but wilted in the London summer heat thereafter as Rybakina claimed the final two sets, each for the loss of just two games, to complete a stunning victory.
En route to the title, she also defeated two former Major champions, including Bianca Andreescu in the second round and Simona Halep in the semis, her victory over the latter being described as one of the best victories of her career.
She emerged as the most unlikelist of winners following a tournament that was ravaged by some major upsets, the most surprising of which was world number one Iga Swiatek’s third round loss to Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, which ended a 37-match winning streak by the Pole.
Second seed Anett Kontaveit bombed out in the second round, while fourth seed Paula Badosa was on the wrong end of a grass court masterclass by Halep.
Serena Williams also made her singles playing comeback at SW19, but lost to Frenchwoman Harmony Tan in a thrilling first round match in which the final set went to a super tiebreak, while last year’s beaten finalist Karolina Pliskova was upset by local favourite Katie Boulter.
Australia’s top-ranked player, Ajla Tomljanovic, again matched her quarter-final result from last year and fared better this time, taking the first set off Elena Rybakina before a shower of unforced errors saw her bow out in the final eight for the second year running.
(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Despite her impressive run to the final eight, the 29-year-old has now fallen down the rankings into the 70s, meaning she is all but certain to be unseeded for the US Open which starts towards the end of next month.
Rybakina’s victory marked the first time since 2006 that a women’s final was won by the player who lost the first set; on that occasion, Amelie Mauresmo came from a set down to defeat Justine Henin-Hardenne and deny the Belgian a career Golden Slam.
She also became the fourth consecutive different Major champion, following Emma Raducanu (last year’s US Open), the since-retired Ashleigh Barty (Australian Open) and Swiatek (French Open).
Women’s championship result: [17] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) defeated [3] Ons Jabeur (TUN) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
With the third of the four Majors now over, the focus now turns towards the American summer swing, with major tournaments to be held in Canada and Cincinnati before we head to Flushing Meadows for the US Open where Daniil Medvedev and Emma Raducanu are the defending champions.
As was the case for the other three Majors, domestic coverage of this year’s US Open will be carried by Channel Nine, though exact broadcast details are still yet to be known.
To finish off, congratulations to Novak Djokovic and Elena Rybakina, who leave London’s hallowed grass courts as truly deserving winners of the sport’s holy grail – Wimbledon.
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