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The tennis calendar from May to July can go by in a flash with big tournaments sandwiched between the marquee events at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
Just like that, here we are, with the grass season over and the sport’s most prestigious event having added another chapter to its glorious history.
Carlos Alcaraz further consolidated his claims to the throne of men’s singles tennis with a masterclass straight-sets victory over seven-time champion Novak Djokovic. Barbora Krejčíková, meanwhile, is now an Australian Open singles and U.S. Open singles title away from having won all four Grand Slam titles in both singles and doubles.
There wasn’t much happiness for Canadians — save for Gabriela Dabrowski — at this year’s Wimbledon, but Italians are feeling much different. All that and more in 2024’s Wimbledon takeaways:
ALCARAZ PULLS OFF LANDMARK DOUBLE
In a final filled with promise after last year’s all-time classic, Alcaraz turned in a dominant display against Djokovic to win 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4) and claim a second consecutive Wimbledon crown.
Alcaraz’s shotmaking was in fifth gear for virtually the entire match, making life seem like Mission: Impossible for the seven-time champion from Serbia, as Tom Cruise watched on from the stands. If not for some nervy moments serving for the match at 5-4, 40-0 in the third and blowing all three match points, the win would have looked even more convincing.
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Remarkably, Alcaraz is now 4-0 in Major finals, a feat only matched by Roger Federer at age 21 in men’s tennis. The Spaniard also became just the sixth man after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Djokovic to secure the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double. It’s scary to think that it was just a year ago that many prognosticators felt that grass would take some time for the phenom to adapt to.
Djokovic had not lost a Grand Slam final twice in a row to the same player since another Spaniard in Rafael Nadal beat him at the French Open in 2014 and 2015.
While Italy’s Jannik Sinner has shown an incredible level this year and is assured to be a huge rival of Alcaraz over the years to come, it’s the Spaniard who possesses the higher ceiling. Performances like this will have him thinking even the Big Three’s respective tallies of 20, 22, and 24 are attainable.
KREJCIKOVA QUIETLY STACKING UP HALL-OF-FAME RESUME
Krejčíková’s own shock at winning the Ladies’ Singles Championship was oh so endearing, but nothing will beat her unbelievable tribute to the late Jana Novotna.
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Coming in as the 31st seed, she took down an 11th seeded Danielle Collins in the form of her life in the fourth round, the feisty 13th seeded Jelena Ostapenko in the quarterfinals, and former champion Elena Rybakina in the semifinals.
Her fighting spirit and tactical brilliance was on full display against Rybakina in particular, looking well below Rybakina’s level in the first set before bouncing back to take the second and third sets. Krejčíková came to the net 14 times over the final two sets after coming in just once in the first set, using that expert doubles savvy to perfection against a player in Rybakina known for her power.
In the final, fortune favoured the brave as Krejčíková’s willingness to go big or go home paid off. In the third and deciding set, had 15 unforced errors to seventh seeded Jasmine Paolini’s six but also 14 winners to Paolini’s six.
Very quietly, the Czechia native has built an incredible tennis résumé worthy of the Hall of Fame: Krejčíková has now won all four Grand Slam women’s doubles titles as well as doubles Olympic gold and the doubles WTA Finals. She now also has two of the four Major singles titles (French Open, Wimbledon), has been as high as No. 2 in singles and No. 1 in doubles.
CANADIAN SINGLES TENNIS SCRAMBLING AS DABROWSKI KEEPS DOUBLES SWIMMING
Firstly, plenty of love and appreciation needs to be shown to Dabrowski for carrying the Canadian flag as high as she has in women’s doubles. Playing alongside Erin Routliffe, the pair reached the final but lost to Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova. It’s the second time Dabrowski reached the Wimbledon women’s doubles final, five years after her first appearance in 2019.
She has the 2023 U.S. Open as her lone doubles Grand Slam title.
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Now, moving over to the singles side, it is disappointing to see the way Canadian singles tennis has seemingly come off the rails after plenty of potential was teased in the early days of Bianca Andreescu, Leylah Annie Fernandez, Félix Auger-Aliassime, and Denis Shapovalov.
Andreescu, of course, delivered that 2019 U.S. Open title, but has flattered to deceive in the five years since. She went out in the third round here to eventual finalist Paolini in straight sets. Fernandez battled hard against active legend Caroline Wozniacki but lost that second round match in three sets. Auger-Aliassime blew a two sets to love lead in the first round against Thanasi Kokkinakis and Shapovalov lost in five sets to Ben Shelton in the third round.
We are firmly in the days of hoping a Canadian can reach the second week of a Grand Slam again.
ITALIAN TENNIS AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH
While Canadian tennis may be slumping in singles, Sinner and Paolini are giving Italians plenty to cheer for.
Sinner won this year’s Australian Open, is the reigning ATP No. 1, and went out in a spirited battle against Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals here.
Paolini has now reached back-to-back Grand Slam finals by following up her run at the French Open with another six wins here at Wimbledon. Those results will now see Paolini rise to a career-best WTA No. 5 behind Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, and Elena Rybakina.
BEGINNING OF THE END FOR DJOKOVIC?
After winning three of the four Slams a year ago and coming within a whisker of all four, Djokovic has now failed to win a single tournament through the first seven months of the year.
It was a listless performance in the Australian Open semifinal against Sinner and there was a withdrawal from the French Open quarterfinals due to a knee injury. Earlier in the year, former coach Goran Ivanisevic felt as though the motivation level took a serious dip having broken nearly every record there is to in men’s tennis.
That being said, it was a remarkable effort to go from having knee surgery to repair his meniscus four weeks ago to reaching the final of Wimbledon. That achievement was another record, as it made him the first player to reach the final of three Grand Slams at least 10 times. The desire to return so soon against the odds, while certainly encouraging, also shows a level of desperation knowing time is not on his side at age 37.
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Djokovic, ever the big performer on the big occasion, will arguably be most disappointed that his Aussie Open semifinal against Sinner and Wimbledon final against Alcaraz were two of the worst big matches he’s ever played in terms of his level. Will more time help him return to his usually pristine movement or just leave him further against the clock?
Tied with Margaret Court at 24 Grand Slam titles, the path to an all-the-more-historic 25 is looking ever murkier. Ask him, though, and he’ll likely trade getting to 25 if he can get to his first Olympic gold — the one accolade missing from his illustrious résumé — three weeks from now.