Djokovic and Kvitova Lift Wimbledon Crowns
While many of us Americans were doing our respective celebrating for the Fourth of July weekend, the tennis world was glued to the grass-courts at the All-England Club in London for the Wimbledon title matches.
In what was the match of the year up to this point, Novak Djokovic outlasted Roger Federer in a five-set match 6-7(7), 6-4, 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-4 on Sunday to capture the 2014 Wimbledon title. The victory is the Serbian’s seventh Grand Slam title of his career and propels him to the number one world ranking yet again.
Through the first couple of sets, the match was dictated by the serve of each individual; with both players holding serve nearly every game. Federer landed the first punch in the opening set, taking it in a tiebreaker to go up one set to none.
The top-ranked Djokovic would answer back though and notched a key, rare break point at 1-1 in the second set. The Serb than went up 40/0 with a chance to take a 3-1 lead, but Federer would fight back and force a deuce in that game. Although Djokovic would go on to win that game, Federer’s ability to fight back would become a symbol of the afternoon going forward.
Djokovic would go onto to serve out the set, saving a break point up 5-4 to even the match heading into the third. Federer had a chance to regain control and take the lead as he led 5-4 in the third, but the feisty Djokovic would not just give in. Each player saved break points to send it into a tiebreak, and when a Federer backhand sailed wide, the set belonged to the Serb.
The fourth frame would turn out to be one of the best sets of tennis that could be played. With the crowd behind him, the 32-year old Federer tried to fight off some outstanding groundstroke work from Djokovic. The Swiss ripped a gorgeous forehand winner down the line to pick up a break point and move within one game at 2-3. After three straight service breaks, Djokovic was serving for the match up 5-4, but had his serve broken to even it up at five.
The seven-time Wimbledon champion then ripped one of his 29 aces on the day followed by a clean win in the 12th game, handing Federer the set and forcing the match to a fifth at Wimbledon for the first time since 2009 (Federer vs. Roddick).
"I was hoping that Roger was going to miss the first serve, but that didn't happen,“ said Djokovic. "It rarely happens. That's why he has 17 Grand Slams and he's been the most successful player ever, because in important moments, he comes up with his best shots and top game."
Each player would exchange games in the deciding set, and Djokovic saved a key break point in the seventh game to push ahead at 4-3. A couple of games later, down 4-5, Federer smashed a backhand into the net which ended the nearly four-hour championship match.
"Of course, after dropping a fourth set, it wasn't easy to regroup and compose myself and find that necessary energy to win the fifth," said Djokovic. "I don't know how I managed to do it."
After the match a relieved Djokovic, who has lost five of the last six Grand Slam finals, knelt down on Centre Court and ate a piece of the Wimbledon grass. The victory also pushes Djokovic ahead of Rafael Nadal as the number one player in the world for the first time since last September.
The women’s final at Wimbledon, which took place on Saturday, was a little more anti-climactic. The title match featured 2011 champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic against upstart Canadian Eugenie Bouchard who was playing in her first ever Grand Slam final.
Kvitova rolled past Bouchard 6-3, 6-0 in the shortest women’s final at Wimbledon ever, defeating the Canadian in 55 minutes. The left-hander’s serve on grass was too much for Bouchard as she ripped four aces and picked up points on 82 percent of her first serves. Bouchard only committed four unforced errors, but was unable to consistently return anything hit off the powerful racquet of Kvitova.
“I can’t say that it’s more special than when I won my first Wimbledon title,” said an emotional Kvitova after the match, “but after three years, to stand here with the trophy again is so amazing. It’s my second title, so I hope it’s going to be a little easier for me.”
The Czech now rises to number four in the world rankings and is playing some of her best tennis of her career. As for Bouchard, the future is still bright for the 20-year old who has reached the final four of all three Grand Slams this year.
“Eugenie had such a great tournament these two weeks,” added Kvitova, “and I’m sure she’ll be here to stay.”
