Top seeds reign at Wimbledon
 Roger
Federer and Amelie Mauresmo won the men’s and women’s
Wimbledon titles as both top seeds triumphed at the Championships
for the first time since 1997.
Defending champion Federer defeated Rafael Nadal 60 76(5)
67(2) 63 in the men’s final to become the seventh man
in Wimbledon history to win four consecutive titles, and the
third man in the Open Era after Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras.
“They are heroes of the game and this is the most important
tournament, so to win four is out of this world,” said
Federer.
The Swiss player gave an emphatic performance throughout
the Championships, dropping just one set, and in the final
ended a five-match losing streak against Nadal to extend his
record grass court winning streak to 48 matches.
In an otherwise disappointing weekend for French sport, Mauresmo
defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne on Saturday in a repeat of
this year’s Australian Open final. The Frenchwoman overcame
a slow start to defeat the Belgian 26 63 64 and become the
first woman from her country to win the Wimbledon title since
Suzanne Lenglen in 1925.
“It’s the most prestigious tournament in the
world and it’s really a special moment for me,”
said a delighted Mauresmo shortly after collecting her second
Grand Slam title of the year.
Nadal and Henin-Hardenne were aiming for a Roland Garros-Wimbledon
double but as in 1999, when Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf both
won in Paris and then lost in the Wimbledon final, the players
fell just short. Nadal had ended Agassi’s 20-year Wimbledon
career in this year’s third round.
The three doubles events created their fair share of history
as the Bryan brothers completed their collection of Grand
Slam titles, and China and Israel appeared on the Wimbledon
roll of honour for the first time. Bob and Mike Bryan, competing
in their seventh successive Grand Slam final, took the men’s
doubles title, defeating Frenchman Fabrice Santoro and Serbian
Nenad Zimonjic 63 46 64 62 on Saturday to become just the
third men’s team to complete a career Grand Slam in
the Open Era.
Zi Yan and Jie Zheng became the first Chinese players to
win a Wimbledon title, adding to their Australian Open triumph
earlier this year with a 63 36 62 victory over Virginia Ruano
Pascual and Paola Suarez in the women’s doubles final.
In the mixed doubles final, Israel’s Andy Ram teamed
with Vera Zvonareva of Russia to become the first player from
his country to win a Wimbledon title, defeating Bob Bryan
and Venus Williams 63 62.
Sandra De Jenken of France became the first woman to umpire
a men’s semifinal at Wimbledon when she oversaw the
contest between Federer and Jonas Bjorkman.
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