By Tony Fairbairn at Wimbledon
- Wimbledon comes to a close, so what did we learn about the last 14 days?
LONDON, ENGLAND – Wimbledon has finished for another year, so here are five things learned about the last two weeks.
[table “ADPDAll” not found /]
Wimbledon has ended for another year and what an eventful two weeks that has been witnessed at SW19. Drama, upsets and entertainment were all witnessed as Elena Rybakina and Novak Djokovic were triumphant when all was said and done.
There was the 100th anniversary of Centre Court which saw legends of past and present celebrate the occasion and a successful tournament for British players as ten players made it into the second round, the most of 38 years with Cameron Norrie reaching his first grand slam semi-final.
Baring that in mind here are five things learned from this year’s Wimbledon:
Wimbledon prestige triumphs over ranking points
The main talking point heading into Wimbledon was whether the fact there are no ranking points on offer at Wimbledon would affect the level of play at Wimbledon. As it proved that was far from the case as players were still giving everything they had for the chance to win one of the biggest tournaments in the world. Many players were not thinking about the ranking points as they looked to achieve a goal of a lifetime and try to win Wimbledon or earn a ground-breaking amount of prize money.
As Britain’s Katie Boulter put it Wimbledon is the biggest tournament in the world and regardless of ranking points that will always be the one constant no matter the political situation within tennis:
“Of course I would have loved to have taken some ranking points this week. I’d be lying if I sat here and said I didn’t. But again, I came into the tournament knowing that. I played the tournament because it’s Wimbledon, the biggest tournament of the year for me.”
There has been amazing drama, entertainment and a lot of high-quality matches so the one takeaway heading into the rest of the year is that ranking points are just a bonus and come secondary. What will always remain as the number one priority is winning matches and the desire to become the best tennis player as they can be.
Injuries continue to be Nadal’s kryptonite
On the men’s side the one overall headline heading into the tournament was whether Rafael Nadal could continue his calendar grand slam dream going after winning Roland Garros. Nadal won all of his matches at Wimbledon this year and will head into the US Open with a 19-0 win-loss record at grand slams this season. However the Spaniard’s dreams of winning the calendar grand slam are over after injuries continue to be a thorn in his side with an abdominal injury forcing him to withdraw from his semi-final against Nick Kyrgios.
This is a summary of Nadal’s career as his talent and legacy left on the sport will forever be legendary but the Spaniard’s ambitions of achieving more history has been thwarted by injuries and something that Nadal will reflect on no matter how many other grand slams he continues to win. Now the Spaniard’s priority will be to sort his foot and abdominal injury as he looks to continue his undefeated streak at grand slams at the US Open in September.
Jabeur is Swiatek’s nearest challenger after Wimbledon breakthrough
Meanwhile in the women’s draw Iga Swiatek couldn’t her continue her dominant form as she went out to Alize Cornet in the third round. Although the Pole’s exit from the tournament wasn’t completely unexpected, it did provide the rest of the field with an opportunity to take advantage. The favourite to win the tournament from the rest of the chasing pack was Ons Jabeur and although the Tunisian couldn’t make history in the final, Jabeur did prove that she can be Swiatek’s nearest challenger with the world number two backing up her consistent last year with a run at SW19.
There is no doubt that Jabeur has the game to challenge Swiatek for the major trophies around the world as the WTA desperately looks for a competitive rivalry to headline the tour. As the tour moves over to the States, Jabeur will look to continue to produce her best tennis under pressure and hope that she can win a grand slam sooner rather than later and seal her place in tennis history as well as challenge the player to beat, Swiatek, week in and week out.
How to Watch/Follow Wimbledon 2022
| TV | Across BBC Channels & Red Button |
| Live Stream | BBC Sport |
| Live Scores | Live Scores from Wimbledon |
| Follow Britwatch - Sport in General, Brits in Particular! | |
|---|---|
| Soundcloud | |
| YouTube | |
| We may receive compensation for products purchased via affiliate links on this website | |