Wimbledon 2010 Winners
Wimbledon 2010 - Forever To Be Remembered
The 2010 Wimbledon will be remembered forever. The John Isner and Nicolas Mahut epic 11 hour 5 minute match assures this tournament a place in history but there were many other unique events that contributed to a mesmerizing end result.
Her Majesty the Queen’s first visit to the All England Club in 33 years set a regal tone to a fortnight of unusually cooperative weather that helped spike the turnstiles. True, some fans sought refuge from the disappointing World Cup but the larger-than-life performances by the game’s biggest and newest stars kept fans and viewers enthralled.
Despite the reduced seating caused by overhauls to Court Two, the second largest turnout of all time graced the tournament. 489,948 fans watched thirteen days of exciting tennis as players went through 54,250 Slazenger tennis balls. Another 6.8 million viewers, the second highest audience in history, watched the finals between Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych on television.
The unpredictable results contributed greatly to the drawing power. In the Ladies Singles, the 21st seed, the 82nd ranked and 62nd ranked players reached the surprisingly competitive semi-finals. In the Men’s semifinals, local favorite Andy Murray played well against Nadal and the popular Berdych upset the stoic Djokovic. First-time winners championed the Men’s and Women’s Doubles events.
All in all, the 124th Wimbledon was a tournament that will be forever etched in record books and memory banks.
Wimbledon 2010 Winners
The Men – Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Won Wimbledon 2010 Mens Title
Rafael Nadal of Spain defeated Tomas Berdych of Czech by 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to lift the Men’s trophy.
The strongest player in men’s tennis may have been ranked second, but by the end of Wimbledon there was no doubt who the force in the game is. Spain’s Rafa Nadal claimed his second championship at the All England Club and won his 8th Grand Slam tournament in convincing style with a straight set triumph over Tomas Berdych.
12th seed Czech Tomas Berdych overcame some big names on the way to the finals. In the quarterfinals, Berdych upset the top seed, Roger Federer. In the semifinals, Berdych polished off third-seeded Novak Djokovic to gain momentum heading into the finals.
Nadal rolled over hard-playing Swede Robin Soderling before winning a hard-fought three set battle with Andy Murray. The Murray-Nadal match may have been the best men’s battle of the tournament.
Against Berdych, Nadal saved the best for last. The Spaniard never lost serve, displayed the quickest feet in the game and revealed his unparalleled will to win. Nadal followed his Roland Garros clay court win with his grass court domination to show his all court prowess. From this point forward, Rafa will be the man to beat in every Grand Slam event.
The Women - Serena Williams
Serena Williams Won Womens Title at Wimbledon 2010
Serena Williams of USA defeated Russian Vera Zvonareva by 6-3, 6-2 to win women’s title.
Serena asserted herself effectively in defending her Wimbledon title against an overmatched Vera Zvonareva. The win was Serena’s fourth Wimbledon title and 13th Grand Slam Championship.
Williams earned her way to the finals with a difficult quarterfinal win over Maria Sharapova and an unexpected semifinal tussle with Czech 20-year old star-to-be, Petra Kvitova. Unlike most players on the tour, Sharapova and Kvitova have the power to hit and serve with Williams.
Williams, however, is used to the big stage. She is also a fierce competitor who knows how to finish matches when she gains the lead.
This was an unusual tournament. The semifinals pitted the 82nd ranked, Tsvetana Pironkova against the 21st seed, Vera Zvonareva in one match and the top seed, Serena against 62nd seed Petra Kvitova. The unlikely semifinal pairings produced some of the most thrilling matches in tournament history.
Men’s Double – Jurgen Melzer and Phillipp Petzschner
Jurgen Melzer and Phillipp Petzschner Won Mens Doubles Title
The unseeded team of Austrian Jurgen Melzer and German Phillipp Petzschner neatly put away 16 seeds Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau 6-1, 7-5, 7-5 to claim the men’s doubles Championship.
It was the pair’s first Grand Slam doubles tournament after participating in two lower level events earlier in the season.
The team used their high caliber singles skills to quickly establish themselves as dangerous opponents. Capitalizing on big serves and solid returns of serve, they asserted themselves early in every match. The lefty-righty alignment worked to perfection as Melzer improved upon a personal best semifinal appearance at the Australian Open in 2005 and Petzschner improved upon two quarterfinal appearances in 2008 at the U.S. Open and at Wimbledon.
The solid team began the year playing in Brisbane and improved enough to win their first title at the PBZ Zagreb Indoor Championship. The Austrian-German team is the first unseeded team to win the title since 2005.
Women’s Double - Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova
Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova Won Womens Doubles Title
Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova teamed up for just the third time, but it was a magic number for the unseeded women’s team. The unlikely champions defeated another unseeded but heavily favored Russian team of Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva 7-6 (6), 6-2.
The loss turned out to be Zvonareva’s second runner-up finish of the tournament, losing in straight sets to Serena Williams in the singles finals.
The Russians held set point at 6-5 in the tiebreaker before Zvonareva netted a forehand. The Russians then banged into each other on the next point to give the underdogs the set point. King and Shvedova jumped on the opportunity and claimed the set and took the momentum directly to the next set.
The winners first paired up three weeks ago at Birmingham, where they reached the semifinals and then at Hertogensbosch, where they were runner-ups. King said they never thought about winning the tournament but just kept concentrating on one match at a time.
The winners knocked off the three seed Nadia Petrova and Samantha Stosur, the fifth seed Liezel Huber and Bethanie Mattek-Sands and sixth seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik on their march to the championship. Although both players had reached finals in mixed doubles before, the win was their first Grand Slam Championship of any kind.
Vesnina and Zvonareva established themselves as a team to be reckoned with when they knocked out top seeds Venus and Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. The win prevented the Americans from claiming their fifth consecutive title.
Mix Doubles – Leander Paes and Cara Black
Leander Paes and Cara Black won Wimbledon 2010 mix Doubles Title
India’s Leander Paes and Zimbabwean Cara Black claimed their third Grand Slam Mixed Doubles Championship and made a strong case as the best mixed doubles team in the world. Paes-Black were runner-ups at last year’s Wimbledon and at U.S. Open before striking gold at this year’s Australian Open.
In the finals, the 2nd seeded Paes-Black put down a strong challenge from another veteran team, 11th seeded Wesley Moodie and Lisa Raymond 6-4, 7-6(5). Ironically, Paes won his first mixed doubles event 11 years ago playing with Raymond.
The 37-year old has now won six mixed titles. Paes won the Wimbledon title in 2003 alongside Martina Navratilova. The win marked the third Grand Slam championship for Paes and Black, having won the U.S. Open in 2008 and in Melbourne earlier this year.
The Junior Singles – Boys - Marton Fucsovics
Marton Fucsovics Won Boys Single Title
Hungarian Marton Fucsovics downed Australian Ben Mitchell 6-4, 6-4 to become the first Hungarian boy to win the Junior Championship at Wimbledon. The 18-year old used his big forehand to overcome an early break in the first set.
Fucsovics had also beaten the 17-year Mitchell in the junior quarterfinals in the Australian Open. When Mitchell gained the early break, it appeared he might rattle the Hungarian. But at 1-3, Fucsovics ran off five of the next six games to steal the set.
In the second set, the pair exchanged early breaks before the winner broke in the final game. Mitchell netted a forehand to seal the outcome. After the match, Mitchell was optimistic, saying that he needed to improve his net game to be ready to do better in the U.S. Open.
The Junior Singles – Girls – Kristyna Pliskova
Kristyna Pliskova Won Girls Single Title at Wimbledon 2010
Czech phenom Kristyna Pliskova started quickly before a full house at Court One and gained the upper hand against Japan’s Sachie Ishizu. The Czech won the first set in just 28 minutes and held off the rallying Ishizu 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to claim the junior championship.
Kristyna landed 77% of her first serves in the opening set. Ishizu seemed a bit overwhelmed by the setting and was late to the ball on several occasions before she finally got untracked.
When she did, she played with the intensity and focus that enabled the unseeded finalist to defeated Britain’s Laura Robson and highly regarded Irina Khromacheva in earlier rounds.
Beginning with the second set, the players engaged in long baseline rallies that seemed to favor Ishizu. After dropping the second set and trailing 2-4 in the third, the Czech rallied behind her big serve and volley game going on to win the final four games.
Kristyna’s twin sister, Karolina, won the Australian Open Juniors to establish themselves as the dominant junior women players and pose interesting possibilities for the future.
The Ladies Invitational – Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotna
Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotna won The Ladies Invitational Trophy at Wimbledon 2010
When Martina Hingis and fan-favorite Anna Kournikova agreed to play, the All England Club lowered the age restriction to 29 so the former championship team could play. But in the finals, seniority mattered as oft-time champions Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotna overcame Tracey Austin and Kathy Rinaldi Stunkel.
Renowned baseliners Austin and Stunkel seized an early break but could not hold up to the net pressure applied by the winners in the 7-5, 6-0 finals. Austin and Stunkel upset Hingis and Kournikova 7-5, 7-6 (4) on Friday to eliminate the “dream team”.
It was quite a feat for Navratilova, who just completed radiation therapy two weeks ago. The match was played before a full house on Court One. The Ladies Invitational featured the strongest field in years with former singles stalwarts Navratilova, Hingis, Austin, Novotna and Martinez all participating.
Tags:
1 Comment »
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
TalkProFootball July 10, 2010 at 12:15 am
Very complete source of tennis news. Thanks!