Milestones and heroes make for epic Championships
It’s been an emotional, record-breaking, historic Championships with the first ever Wimbledon final contested under the roof. Epic late-night finishes, major upsets, relentless rain and endless British expectation ... the 2012 tournament has witnessed it all. We take a look back at just some of the stories of the past two weeks.
Rule Britannia...
At the start of The Championships few could have envisaged the success the British contingent would experience but in 2012, the year of the Queen’s Jubilee and the London Olympic Games, home-grown talent shone brightly. Heather Watson, the 20-year-old from Guernsey, became the first woman in a decade to reach the third round since Elena Baltacha, Andy Murray reached his first Wimbledon final and Sheffield’s Jonathan Marry, alongside Danish partner Frederik Nielsen, lifted the Gentleman’s Doubles title after upsetting fifth seeds Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 in a scintillating contest played beneath a closed Centre Court roof. In so doing, Marray became the first British man in 76 years to win a men's Wimbledon final.
Nadal ousted in second round ...
It was perhaps one of the greatest upsets in the history of the game. On Thursday 28th June, world No.2 Rafael Nadal suffered a shock second-round defeat at the hands of 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol, a player who has never appeared in a tournament final and who had lost in the first round of qualifying in his past five Wimbledon attempts. The Czech simply outclassed the Spaniard to secure a 6-7(9), 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 victory in a duel which began in late afternoon sunshine and finished four hours later beneath the closed roof. “You play against an inspired opponent and I am out. That's all. Is not a tragedy. Is only a tennis match,” Nadal said at the time. “At the end, that's life. There [are] much more important things. Sure, I wanted to win, but I lost. That's it.”
The return of Brian Baker ...
Everyone loves a comeback story, particularly when it involves a player who has been sidelined for almost six years due to injury. Brian Baker’s fairytale Wimbledon spell began on the Roehampton lawns where he declared after his first-round victory that he hoped to maybe qualify and “do some damage in the main draw”. The American, who endured five major operations during his time away from the sport and started the year with a ranking of No.458, not only won his subsequent two qualifying matches, but a further three in the main draw before Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber swept him aside in straight sets. Baker’s incredible run saw him break through the top 100 barrier and move up to around No.77 in the world.
The return of Rufus the hawk ...
For the past four years Rufus the Harris hawk has played an important role at The Championships patrolling the skies daily between 6am to 10am to deter pigeons. But the AELTC was sent into somewhat of a flap when it emerged that the feathered employee, who boasts his very own Wimbledon photocard accreditation and Twitter account, had been stolen from a parked car on a private driveway during the first week. Detectives appealed for help to find the missing bird who was fortunately handed in to the RSPCA and reunited with his owners by 8pm Sunday evening.
Serena puts the SW back into SW19 …
Never write off Serena Williams. The American last year underwent emergency surgery to remove a life-threatening blood clot on her lung – a time she described as the lowest of the lows. “There was a moment I just remember I was on the couch and I didn't leave the whole day, for two days,” she said. “I was just over it. I was praying, like I can't take any more. I've endured enough. Let me be able to get through this.” Against the odds Serena fought back and on Saturday was reunited with the Venus Rosewater dish for a fifth time when she defeated Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 on Centre Court, bringing her Grand Slam singles tally to 14. Venus, who too has endured her own health battles – she was diagnosed with a debilitating auto-immune disease last year – joined her sister on the hallowed turf at 9.30pm for the Ladies’ Doubles final where they secured a 7-5, 6-4 win over Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka to pocket a 13th Grand Slam ladies’ doubles title.
And serves up her trump ace card
During the third set of her final against Radwanska, Serena delivered 17 aces – four of those served consecutively in one game. By the end of the tournament the American had set a new record of 102 for the Championships.
Roger the record breaker
Roger Federer joined the illustrious Pete Sampras/William Renshaw Club when he won the Wimbledon Gentlemen’s Singles title for a record-equalling seventh time. In defeating Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 the Swiss also reclaimed his world No.1 ranking and at aged 30, became the second oldest man to do so behind Andre Agassi.
Longest match of the tournament
Marin Cilic and Sam Querrey recorded the second longest men’s singles match in the history of the Championships with their third-round 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-7(3), 17-15 contest, which lasted five hours and 31 minutes and saw Cilic prevail. John Isner and Nicolas Mahut set the record for the longest ever Championships match in 2010 with their 11-hour and five-minute epic encounter.
