Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams underlined their dominance once again by adding to their increasingly impressive Grand Slam tallies at Wimbledon 2015.
Djokovic put the heartbreak of another Paris final defeat firmly behind him by stamping his authority over Roger Federer to claim a third Wimbledon title. Federer had been in imperious form throughout the event, reaching the final without once losing his serve and placing himself in prime position to add to his record 17 Grand Slam titles. But it would turn out to be Djokovic that gave a masterclass in clutch serving, saving six of seven break points during the match, two of which came on set points to Federer in the opening set, a disappointment from which the Swiss was unable to recover in time to salvage the subsequent tie break.
The second set was equally tense, and produced tennis of equally astounding quality. The world #1 held a set point for a two-set lead but Federer raised his level, producing some outstanding play to force another tie break. History looked set to repeat itself as the Serb established a 6-3 lead, but with the crowd behind him the seven-time champion eventually levelled the match at a set apiece after an unforgettable 22-point breaker.
As so often in his career, Djokovic wrested control of the match after a moment of adversity, breaking early in the third and fourth sets to seize the initiative from his opponent. The shortest of rain delays was not enough to interrupt his rhythm or concentration, and on the return it was Federer who looked the less fresh of the two as the world #1 served out to defend his title.
One day earlier, Serena Williams had etched her name once more into the record books with a superlative Wimbledon win that served to further underline her claim to be the greatest female player of all time. The 33-year old withstood a spirited challenge from opponent Garbiñe Muguruza to claim her third Grand Slam title of 2015, and sixth Wimbledon title overall.
Battling nerves throughout the fortnight as the prospect of becoming the first player since 1988 to achieve a calendar year Grand Slam draws ever closer, the world #1 had a tough road to the final. In the third round she stood two points from defeat against Britain’s Heather Watson and also had to come from a set down against Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals, though she had less trouble in matches against sister Venus and fourth seed Maria Sharapova.
Playing in her first Grand Slam final, Muguruza’s best moments came at the start and end of the match, breaking her opponent and serving out for a 2-0 lead in the first set, and recovering from a 1-5 deficit to break serve twice. But Serena was ultimately in control, capitalising on an error-filled final service game from the 20th seed to complete a 6-4 6-4 win.
The victory will keep the pressure on Williams as she continues to chase history, though not in terms of ranking, with the American now holding more than twice as many points as second-ranked Sharapova. For her part, Muguruza became the first Spanish player to reach the Wimbledon final since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in 1996, and as a result joins her doubles partner Carla Suarez to ensure two Spaniards in the WTA Top Ten for the first time in almost as long.
Doubles
Martina Hingis proved to be the star of the doubles events, winning both of her events to secure her seventeeth and eighteenth Grand Slam titles, and the third of this remarkable third phase of her career. Hingis teamed with her regular Indian partners for both victories, helping world #1 Sania Mirza to claim a first Grand Slam title in the women’s event, and following up on her Australian Open mixed doubles victory last January with Leander Paes.
The two finals contrasted in style, with a mixed doubles rout of Timea Babos (HUN) & Alexander Peya (AUT) lasting just 40 minutes, while the previous day’s battle with Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina was one of the longest doubles finals on record, with the top seeds eventually triumphing 5-7 7-6(4) 7-5 after two and half hours of play.
The men’s title went to Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) & Horia Tecau (ROU), who ended the host nation’s hopes of a home win with a straight sets win over Jamie Murray and his Australian partner John Peers. The win was fourth time lucky for Tecau, who had fallen at the final hurdle on three previous occasions in SW19.
Juniors
Unseeded American Reilly Opelka had a breakthrough week in the boys’ singles, stringing together a number of impressive performances on his way to a first Junior Slam title. Having survived the qualifying competition and saved a match point during a 13-11 final set in his first round match against Alex De Minaur (AUT), he went on to beat three seeds, including #1 Taylor Fritz in the semis and former European 14 & Under Champion Mikael Ymer of Sweden in the final.
Opelka almost had the perfect tournament, but just failed in his quest to claim two trophies when he fell in the doubles final to Nam Hoang Ly of Vietnam and Sumit Nagal of India alongside Japan’s Akia Dantillan.
Russian players dominated the girls’ singles event, where Sofya Zhuk eventually beat Anna Blinkova in the first all-Russian final since 2002, when Vera Dushevina outlasted Maria Sharapova in three sets. Zhuk had earlier beaten the Tennis Europe Junior Tour’s 14 & Under #1 Anastasia Potapova, who reached the quarterfinals despite being the youngest player in the draw.
The doubles event went to last year’s European 16 & Under Champions Dalma Galfi & Fanni Stollar, who became the first Hungarian team to win the title (both Timea Babos and Agnes Szavay are previous winners, having teamed with partners from other nations).
With just one Grand Slam event left to play this season, a number of intriguing questions are raised. Can Andy Murray ride his recent improved performances to break the Djokovic/Federer duopoly and reclaim the New York title? Will Rafa Nadal recover from the loss of form that has seen him on the cusp of leaving the Top 10 this season, and can Marin Cilic retain the title he won so spectacularly last year? And can Serena Williams withstand the pressure in New York to turn her ‘Serena Slam’ into a calendar-year Grand Slam, emulating Steffi Graf - the last player to do so, and drawing level with German as the most successful player of all time? The clock is ticking...
Roll of Honour
Men’s Singles
(1) Novak Djokovic (SRB) d. (2) Roger Federer (SUI) 7-6(4) 6-7(10) 6-4 6-3
Men’s Doubles
(4) Rojer (NED)/Tecau (ROU) d. (13) Murray (GBR)/Peers (AUS) 7-6(5) 6-4 6-4
Women’s Singles
(1) Serena Williams (USA) d. (20) Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) 6-4 6-4
Women’s Doubles
(1) Hingis (SUI)/Mirza (IND) d. (2) Makarova/Vesnina (RUS) 7-5 6-7(4) 7-5
Mixed Doubles
(7) Hingis (SUI)/Paes (IND) d. (5) Babos (HUN)/Peya (AUT) 6-1 6-1
Boys’ Singles
Reilly Opelka (USA) d. (12) Mikael Ymer (SWE) 7-6(5) 6-4
Boys' Doubles
(8) Hoang Ly (VIE)/Nagal (IND) d. (4) Opelka (USA)/Santillan (JPN) 7-6(4) 6-4
Girls’ Singles
Sofya Zhuk (RUS) d. Anna Blinkova (RUS) 7-5 6-4
Girls’ Doubles
(3) Galfi/Stollar (HUN) d. Lapko (BLR)/Mihalikova (SVK) 6-3 6-2
Men’s Wheelchair Doubles
Fernandez (ARG)/Pfeifer (FRA) d. (2) Jeremiasz (FRA)/Reid (GBR) 7-5 5-7 6-2
Women’s Wheelchair Doubles
(1) Kamiji (JPN)/Whiley (GBR) d. (2) Griffioen/Van Koot (NED) 6-2 5-7 6-3