Nadal seals historic triumph
 Rafael
Nadal ended Roger Federer’s five-year reign as Wimbledon
champion by defeating the world No. 1 in a dramatic five-set
final on Sunday. Earlier Venus Williams joined Federer on
five Wimbledon titles with a straight sets victory over sister
Serena in Saturday’s women’s final.
Nadal became the first player since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to
win Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year after completing
a 64 64 67(5) 67(8) 97 victory in four hours 48 minutes, the
longest ever Wimbledon final. The match was twice interrupted
due to rain, with Federer saving two match points in the fourth
set tiebreak. Nadal, who is the first Spaniard to win Wimbledon
since Manuel Santana in 1966, said: “It's impossible
to describe. I'm just very happy. It's unbelievable for me
to have the title here at Wimbledon. It's a dream. Always,
as a kid, I dreamed of playing here.” Federer, previously
unbeaten on grass since 2002, described the defeat as his
“hardest loss, by far. I was hoping, with the momentum
going into the fifth set, that it was going to be enough from
my end that I would play a little bit better. But I couldn't
play my best when I had to.”
Defending champion Venus Williams added the women’s
singles title to her successes in 2000-01, 2005 and 2007.
She recorded her first ever Wimbledon final victory over sister
Serena, who had defeated her in the 2002 and 2003 finals.
Serena held an early break in both sets but Venus fought back
to win 75 64 in one hour 51 minutes. Venus, who still hopes
to surpass Martina Navratilova’s record of nine Wimbledon
titles, said: “It's monumental. I would have been more
disappointed not making history than not winning the match,
if that makes any sense. Winning this tournament so many times
puts you in the stratosphere."
Serena, who suffered her first loss to her sister in a Grand
Slam final since the 2001 US Open, said: "I just lost
rhythm at the end of the first set and made a lot of errors.
I didn't feel tight but I couldn't get the balls in and nothing
I was doing seemed to work."
There was some consolation for Serena when she later partnered
Venus to a third women’s doubles title, defeating Lisa
Raymond and Samantha Stosur 62 62 in the final. Stosur went
on to win the mixed doubles title, teaming up with Bob Bryan
to defeat Mike Bryan and Katarina Srebotnik 75 64 in a match
that finished in darkness on Court 1.
Daniel Nestor became the first Canadian to capture a title
at Wimbledon, partnering Nenad Zimonjic to win the men’s
doubles, defeating Jonas Bjorkman and Kevin Ullyett 76(10)
67(3) 63 63. Victory saw Nestor complete a career doubles
Grand Slam while it was the first Grand Slam men’s doubles
title for Zimonjic, who broke a bone in his left wrist during
the semifinals.
Roger Federer (SUI) and Rafael Nadal (ESP) (Photo: Paul Zimmer)
Wimbledon roll of honour
Men’s singles: Rafael Nadal (ESP)
Women’s singles: Venus Williams (USA)
Men’s doubles: Daniel Nestor (CAN)/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)
Women’s doubles: Serena Williams/Venus Williams (USA)
Mixed doubles: Bob Bryan (USA)/Sam Stosur (AUS)
Boys’ singles: Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
Girls’ singles: Laura Robson (GBR)
Boys’ doubles: Cheng-Peng Hsieh/Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE)
Girls’ doubles: Polona Hercog (SLO)/Jess Moore (AUS)
Dimitrov and Robson claim Wimbledon Junior titles
Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and Laura Robson of Great Britain
are the newly crowned junior Wimbledon champions after both
clinched victories in front of large crowds on Court 1. Fourteen-year-old
Robson had not dropped a set en route to the final but faced
a tough test in the form of No. 3 seed Noppawan Lertcheewakarn
(THA), a member of the ITF/Grand Slam Touring Team. Robson
defeated top seed Melanie Oudin (USA) in round two and ninth
seed Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) in the quarterfinals and appeared
unfazed by the attention she attracted from the world’s
media.
In front of a capacity crowd and with millions watching on
television, Robson raced to a 3-0 lead in the opening set
and, despite subsequently exchanging breaks, held on to claim
the first set. Lertcheewakarn levelled the match after a nervous
second set but Robson gathered herself together and dominated
the decider to claim her maiden Grand Slam title with a 63
36 61 victory. “You kind of dream about it, and then
you never really expect it to happen, so I’m still in
a bit of a shock state,” said Robson.
Ninth seed Dimitrov overcame another ITF/Grand Slam Touring
Team member, Finland’s Henri Kontinen, in the boys’
final. The Bulgarian was in imperious form as he negotiated
his way past Kontinen’s attacking serve and volley game
to lift the trophy without dropping a set. Having overcome
third seed Cesar Ramirez (MEX) in the quarterfinals and promising
Serb Filip Krajinovic in the semifinals, Dimitrov got a vital
break at the end of the opening set, then held on to a lead
in the second to win 75 63, despite carrying an injury for
which he needed on-court treatment. “I had the two breakpoints,
when I was 5-4, he did unbelievable shots and I was, like,
okay, I mean, this guy can play well. I’m just proud
of myself that I could fight the whole match,” explained
Dimitov.
In the boys’ doubles final Chinese Taipei pair Tsung-Hua
Yang and Cheng-Peng Hsieh overcame Australians Matt Reid and
Bernard Tomic 46 62 12-10 in an epic encounter, while Australian
Jess Moore and Slovenian Polona Hercog were crowned girls’
doubles champions following a 63 16 62 win over Australians
Isabella Holland and Sally Peers.
Dutch duo retains Wimbledon wheelchair title
Robin Ammerlaan and Ronald Vink (NED) successfully retained
their Wimbledon Wheelchair Doubles Masters Series title when
they came from a set down to beat second seeds Stephane Houdet
and Nicolas Peifer (FRA) 67(6) 61 63. The Dutch duo moved
to a 3-0 lead in the opening set before Houdet and Peifer
hit back, with the French pair producing some deft drop shots.
Ammerlaan and Vink had a set point at 5-4, but the first set
went to a tiebreak, with the Dutch pairing again having the
early opportunities as they opened up a 4-2 lead. The defending
champions had their second set point at 6-5 in the tiebreak,
but once again Houdet and Peifer hit back and converted their
first set point at 7-6. Houdet and Peifer’s level visibly
dropped in the second set, as Ammerlaan and Vink opened up
another 3-0 lead en route to comfortably levelling the match.
In the final set Ammelaan and Vink retrieved an early break
and then broke twice more before Ammerlaan served for the
match at 5-3, hitting a huge forehand on the first match point
that Houdet was unable to return.
Both the winners and runners-up had their trophies and medals
presented by Peter Bretherton, a member of the Committee of
Management for The Championships. In its fourth successive
year, the Wimbledon Doubles Masters Series, an event sanctioned
by the ITF as part of the global NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour,
boasted a record total prize money of £14,000.
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