It was a dream come true for Serbia’s Novak Djokovic at the Wimbledon tennis championships this past Sunday.
The 24-year-old dealt Rafael Nadal his ugliest loss ever in London and became the new No. 1 player in the world in the process, defeating him 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. It was just as shocking to me as it likely was for most of the tennis world, but it really shouldn’t be. Despite Nadal having not lost at the All England Club since 2008, Djokovic put together a 41-match winning streak to start the year during which he won seven titles and has made Nadal his whipping boy all season long.
After Sunday’s final, Djokovic has made me a believer. He won the Australian Open over a resigned Andy Murray and I didn’t give it enough clout. In four tournaments over a month-and-a-half Djokovic and Nadal met in various finals. The Serb defeated him four straight times, two of which were on Nadal’s preferred red clay.
No real love for the Canadians at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club as all gave us little reason to cheer. All were out before the end of the first week including doubles player Daniel Nestor who lost out in the second round for the second straight year. Under nothing new, Frank Dancevic choked after going up two sets to love, losing in five sets to clay-courter Ricardo Mello in first-round action. Milos Raonic retired after a leg injury in his second-round match and our ladies Aleksandra Wozniak, Stephanie Dubois and Rebecca Marino all lost before day five of the tournament.
But it’s a little less about who I want to win Wimbledon and more a different reason I love watching — for the tremendous storylines that undoubtedly appear during the two weeks of tennis.
Goran Ivaniševic’s 2001 victory in which he won the tournament as a wild card, the only man to ever perform such a feat, is one that sticks out. That same year, a young kid named Roger Federer defeated seven-time champion Pete Sampras, a sign of things to come.
Mario Ancic’s brilliant 2004 run to the semifinals included a key victory over British hope Tim Henman before losing a tight four-setter to eventual runner-up Andy Roddick.
A more recent and spectacular display at Wimbledon was in 2010 where Czech Tomáš Berdych showed the world what he could do by reaching the finals. En route to his first finals at Wimbledon, Berdych had to grind out a tough five-set match against Denis Istomin in which he rallied down two sets to one. His quarter-final was against five-time champion Federer who looked poised to return to the winner’s circle. But Berdych shocked the world, dealing Federer a four-set loss, out-hitting and out-muscling the Swiss on nearly every point. He followed up that brilliance with an equally impressive straight-sets win over Djokovic. Unfortunately, Nadal won the final with ease.
This year’s feel-good story was 18-year-old Australian Bernard Tomic. This kid is something. He serves strong and has a forehand that’s going to be a serious weapon in the future. In the fourth round he defeated World No. 5 Robin Söderling in straight sets including an unreal 17-minute 6-1 opener. He ran strong until he played soon-to-champ Djokovic but still managed to take one set off him. He ascended 87 spots to World No. 71 for his courageous efforts at Wimbledon.
Perhaps my favourite Wimbledon moment, and many others I’m sure, was also from last year. Nicolaus Mahut and John Isner played the longest match in tennis history.
First off, Mahut didn’t even qualify for the tournament and had to win a match just to get himself into the main draw. He didn’t disappoint the crowd after that. Playing Isner, a 6’9” American behemoth, Mahut held tough after dropping the first set. He won the second and each traded tiebreakers before heading into what is now known as “the endless match.” In a Grand Slam fifth set, a player must win by two games, not in a 7-6 tiebreaker. The fifth set began the next day since play was suspended for darkness. The two battled all day for seven hours without a winner and play was again stopped for darkness with the match deadlocked at 59-59. With both players being extremely cautious, Mahut had a couple quick miscues and Isner pounced. He won 70-68 in a match that broke multiple tennis records most aces, 113 for Isner and 103 for Mahut.
The final set of the match lasted 491 minutes, which is longer than any entire match ever played in tennis history. They played each other again this year, but Isner won in straight sets and it only took two hours, a pittance compared to 2010.
And this year’s run by Djokovic was equally as Cinderella-esque as any of the others perhaps since he defeated both Nadal and Federer, the only players to have won the tournament going back to 2003. Looking forward to the U.S. Open now and seeing the new World No. 1, Djokovic in action.
