Wimbledon Winners Federer and Muguruza Make Charge for Top Spots

July 17, 2017 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff

Roger Federer begins the week at number three in the ATP Men’s Singles Rankings, rising two spots from number five after his Sunday afternoon victory over Marin Cilic at Wimbledon, 6-3, 6-1, 6-4. With the win, Federer captured his record-breaking eighth Wimbledon title, his fifth ATP title of 2017 and his 19th Grand Slam title.

Federer dominated the men’s field at Wimbledon, becoming just the second player at Wimbledon without dropping a set in the Open Era, matching Bjorn Borg’s feat in 1976.

"It’s magical, I can’t believe it yet,” said Federer post-match. “It’s too much, really. It’s disbelief that I can achieve such heights. I wasn’t sure if I’d be in a final again after last year, especially some tough losses to Novak [Djokovic] in 2014 and 2015. But I kept believing and if you believe you can go a long way in your life. Here I am with an eighth title, it’s fantastic."

The ATP also announced that with the Wimbledon win, Federer qualified for a record 15th time for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London, Nov. 12-19.

On the women’s side, it as Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain winning her second Grand Slam title, a 7-5, 6-0 victory over American Venus Williams at Wimbledon. There was a 14-year age difference between the two finalists, as the 23-year-old Muguruza took on the 37-year-old Venus.

"I always come very motivated to the Grand Slams," Muguruza said. "Since I lost the finals here, I wanted to change that. I came thinking, 'I'm prepared, I feel good.' During the tournament and the matches, I was feeling better and better. Every match, I was increasing my level. I think today, I played well."

That loss the Spaniard mentioned in the finals took place back in 2015 to Venus’ sister Serena at Wimbledon.

"Once you step on the court, you see the crowd, you see the final, you see I'm here playing another Wimbledon final,” said Muguruza. “So I'm very satisfied the way I handled it."

Muguruza hit 14 winners to 11 unforced errors, as Venus was more aggressive to start, hitting 12 winners in the first set alone, but only managed five in the second, and struck 25 unforced errors for the match.

With the win, Muguruza moves up to number three on the Porsche Race to Singapore leaderboard, as she seeks to qualify for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore, presented by SC Global. As of Monday, she also sits at number five in the WTA Women’s Singles Rankings, rising 10 spots from her previous position of 15th on the list. 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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