Sunday drew the curtain on the 135th Wimbledon Championships after what was an enchanting fortnight at the All England Club.
For the first time in Wimbledon history, the reigning no.1 and no.2 ranked Men’s players were both missing from the tournament. World no.1 Daniil Medvedev was unaccounted for due to the retrospective ban on Russian and Belarusian players, in the wake of Russia’s ongoing military invasion of Ukraine. In turn, this decision saw Wimbledon stripped of its ranking points.
World no.2 Alexander Zverev was ruled out of the grass-court major after undergoing surgery on torn ankle ligaments he sustained in the French Open semifinals. Notably, also unavailable was eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer who had last missed the Championships in 1998.
Despite not competing, Federer was in attendance at Centre Court on day 7 of this year’s event. With his 41st birthday on the horizon, the 20-time Grand Slam winner has not played since last year at Wimbledon and he has now fallen outside the top 100 of the latest ATP rankings, for the first time in almost a quarter century.
With eight singles titles to his name, @rogerfederer 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆#Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/ucGLn0wW6q
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 3, 2022
Through the absence of both Medvedev and Zverev, Novak Djokovic was the top seed despite the Serb dropping to 3rd in the ATP rankings prior to the start of Wimbledon. Djokovic came into the tournament a six-time Wimbledon champion and he had won the title in each of the previous three editions of the most prestigious tennis major.
Djokovic was far from his dominant best, having dropped a set in his opening-round encounter with Soonwoo Kwon and did so again in the fourth round versus Tim van Rijthoven. The 35-year-old rallied from two sets down in the quarter-finals to dispose of Jannik Sinner, who is 14 years Novak’s junior.
In the semis he once again went a set down before overcoming home favourite Cameron Norrie in four sets. Djokovic advanced to his 8th final at Wimbledon and his 32nd major final overall – more final appearances than any other male competitor in history. This was the Serb’s 85th victory at Wimbledon, elapsing Jimmy Connors as the second-most successful man at SW19, behind only Federer (105 wins).
In the corresponding side of the draw, Kyrgios upset 4th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in what was a heated third-round clash. Tsitsipas was ultimately Kyrgios’s only opponent ranked inside the top 20 en route to the semifinals, and the unseeded Aussie was subsequently subject to a walkover into a maiden Championship match after Rafael Nadal withdrew from their last-four clash with an abdominal injury.
“If I keep going the injury will get worse and worse – I feel very sad to say that”
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2022
Come back stronger, @RafaelNadal 💪#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/5yeQ3myiux
Djokovic and Kyrgios had each dropped five sets on their way to the final, albeit the latter played one match fewer and had an extra rest day due to Nadal’s premature exit. In the Championship decider Kyrgios took the opening set, 6-4, before Djokovic responded in the second, 6-3.
The top seed went ahead after taking the third set, 6-4, by which time Kyrgios’s aggressive temperament had begun getting the better of him. The underdog ultimately lost his head and he was seen venting his frustrations towards the chair umpire, Renaud Lichtenstein.
Kyrgios put up a considerable fight in the fourth set, taking it to a tiebreaker, although Djokovic stormed to victory and added an extraordinary 21st Grand Slam honour to his collection – becoming the third man to triumph seven times at Wimbledon in the Open Era, and the fourth (after Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras & Federer) to win four Wimbledon titles in a row.
Djokovic def. Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
Djokovic now sits just one behind Federer’s record eight titles at Wimbledon, and one shy of Nadal’s record 22 Grand Slam crowns. Another record which has remained intact is that one of the renowned ‘Big Four’ – Djokovic, Nadal, Federer & Andy Murray – has won every men’s title at Wimbledon since 2003.
The chase for greatness continues 🏆
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 10, 2022
For the first time in his career, @Djokernole overtakes Federer in the Grand Slam race!#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/mKOwZFw8U7
In the Ladies’ singles draw, nine of the 16 competitors who qualified for the fourth round were unseeded, compared to just four unseeded players in the Men’s Round of 16, and the Ladies’ quarter-finals housed just a solitary player seeded within the top 10.
Top seed Iga Swiatek and 5th seed Maria Sakkari each crashed out in the third round, three other top-10 seeds – including Emma Raducanu and no.2 seed Anett Kontaveit – were eliminated in the second round, while Danielle Collins and Garbine Muguruza (seeded 7th and 9th, respectively) were both dumped out in the first round. The returning Serena Williams also failed to progress past the opening round.
In its centenary year, Centre Court crowned a new Ladies’ Singles champion in Elena Rybakina. The 17th seed came from a set down in the Championship match against world no.2 Ons Jabeur to become the first Kazakhstan national, male or female, to hoist a major.
Rybakina def. Jabeur 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
Shining on the biggest stage 📸#Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/Niob42Ld2I
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2022
Rybakina was born in Moscow, Russia before acquiring Kazakh citizenship in 2018, aged 19, and since then she has competed under the Kazakhstan flag. Rybakina, 23, is the lowest-ranked female to win Wimbledon since 2007, the youngest winner of the Venus Rosewater Dish since 2011 and she also becomes the 127th different woman to emerge victorious at a Grand Slam.
There was a significant sense of irony in that a Russian-born competitor still managed to win the Ladies’ singles tournament, despite Russian players having been barred from competing at Wimbledon this year.
Prize money at SW19 this year amounted to a total pot of £40million, a record purse at the event and up by 15 per cent compared to last year. The winners of the Men’s and Ladies’ singles titles took home £2million apiece, while the runners-up each received precisely half that amount.
Despite conquering Wimbledon yet again, Djokovic has dropped to 7th in the latest ATP rankings. The fourth and final major of 2022, the US Open, will begin August 29th and conclude on September 11th. As it stands, Djokovic will be unable to enter the United States as he remains unvaccinated against Covid-19.
Djokovic is a three-time winner at Flushing Meadows and he will be sweating on some positive news regarding the US government’s stance on unvaccinated incoming travellers.
