By Tony Fairbairn at Wimbledon
- As another Wimbledon comes to an end what did we learn about the last two weeks?
LONDON, ENGLAND – Wimbledon has finished for another year, so here are three things that were learned about this year’s Wimbledon.
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Another year of Wimbledon is in the books after an exhilarating last two weeks at Wimbledon which saw upsets, exciting tennis, British triumph and disaster, rain and more rain. It’s another Wimbledon which caused plenty of controversy but one that reminded everyone why Wimbledon is the best tournament in the world.
On the women’s side Barbora Krejcikova paid tribute to Jana Novotna in the best way by becoming Wimbledon champion for the first time, sealing a second Grand Slam title with victory over Jasmine Paolini. Meanwhile in the men’s tournament Carlos Alcaraz cruised past Novak Djokovic to successfully defend his Wimbledon title.
There were plenty of talking points at this year’s Wimbledon so let’s see what three things were learned from this year’s Wimbledon after another exciting edition of grass court tennis at SW19.
Doubles and Wheelchair Grand Slam success highlights depth of British tennis
The depth of British tennis was there for all to see at Wimbledon this year not only with the amount of singles players that produced good performances but in terms of Grand Slam success in other areas of the game. A first Grand Slam title for Henry Patten alongside Harri Heliovaara shows that British tennis has unlimited depth in the doubles game.
Patten is the second British player in a row to win the men’s doubles after Neal Skupski’s success last year and there are now eight British players in the world’s top 100 as the developmental growth and system in doubles continues to reap its rewards.
However it’s not just the doubles game that has displayed the rich quality that British success has at its disposal as Wheelchair success was gained with Alfie Hewett completing the career Grand Slam at Wimbledon. Hewett has always been an extraordinary ambassador for Wheelchair tennis in the country, but that reputation will only grow and get bigger having achieved another massive milestone at SW19.
Now the question remains as to whether the LTA can capitalize on this success as there is still work to do. The best countries in the world don’t just celebrate the success they’ve created, they continue to invest in resources, facilities and developmental programs to ensure more success is created the following year. It’s all good increasing prize money for the big stars but the prize money and investment in doubles and wheelchair tennis is nowhere near good enough as things stand.
British tennis has insane depth on all levels on the game and now it’s time the LTA pay the biggest compliment to their players and continue to invest, grow and create an environment where more players are likely to breakthrough. Hopefully the progress that will be made over the next year will be evident at next year’s Wimbledon.
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Injuries highlight dangers of long season and change in surfaces
Another big takeaway from this year’s Wimbledon is the amount of injuries that have been suffered at Wimbledon. The likes of Aryna Sabalenka, Victoria Azarenka, Madison Keys, Grigor Dimitrov and Alex De Minaur have all suffered big injuries at this year’s Wimbledon. These plague of injuries are no secret as this is a result of two big things, one of them is related to the long-term pattern of tennis authorities and one of them is a problem related to this year.
The long-term problem is a longer schedule that the players have to adapt to week in and week out. The season is getting longer and yet those in charge of the game have no plans to care about player safety anytime soon. In fact they seem content of making it worse for players with most of the ATP/WTA 1000 events turning into ten day tournaments which are more detrimental to a players consistent physical wellbeing. This long schedule means players are unable to get themselves into physical shape which ultimately takes its toll in the long run.
The short-term problem is changing of surfaces with the Olympics taking place shortly after Wimbledon at Roland Garros. This is a problem for many players as changing surfaces constantly can have an impact on a player’s physical conditioning. As a result, many players have withdrawn from the Olympics and with injuries continuing to mount up at Wimbledon it’s easy to see why that is a wise decision.
At the end of the day, the biggest learning point is that tennis authorities need to wake up and start taking player welfare seriously. There are lessons to be learned from team sports such as Football and Basketball where they have the best medical facilities possible but are still struggling to cope with the intense schedule.
Should tennis fail to take action soon then it will lead to a lack of quality in product and more and more injuries in the future which could end up shortening players’ careers.
Consistency and predictability in men’s tournament due to sharper movement
The final talking point is that once again there were plenty of upsets in the women’s game and not so many upsets in the men’s game. Most of the players that went out early in the men’s tournament either went with the form guide or were injuries whereas the same can’t be said for the women’s game.
A potential reason why this could be is that there are better movers at the top of the men’s game than there are on the women’s side. A second consecutive semi-final appearance for Daniil Medvedev, Alcaraz and Djokovic seems to back this up whereas none of last year’s women’s semi-finalists made the last four this year.
There are a lack of sharp movers that have adapted their game to grass on the women’s side while on the men’s game players like Alcaraz, Djokovic, Medvedev, Dimitrov and De Minaur have all adapted their movement to grass. This is something for some of the elite women’s tennis players to think about as an eighth different champion in eight years happened this year. Will wee see a ninth in 2025?
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