Djokovic and Williams Secure Wimbledon Victories

This weekend saw the exciting culmination of Wimbledon 2015, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and the most prestigious of Grand Slam tournaments, with the grand prizes won by Serbian wunderkind Novak Djokovic and tournament mainstay Serena Williams respectively.

Djokovic pipped Federer to the post after a nail-biting 3-hour match and 4 sets, making it the second year in a row Djokovic beat Federer to the much-coveted Men’s Championship trophy. Federer beat Andy Murray in the semi-finals to reach Djokovic, who beat French Richard Gasquet in order to qualify for the final. It was Federer’s tenth appearance in the Men’s Championship Finals, and if Federer had won the match he would have obtained a world record for most Wimbledon wins at eight times – edging ahead of Pete Sampras’ seven, with which he previously shared the record.

Djokovic’s tennis year is far from over following his victory though – he will join, amongst others, Wimbledon semi-finalist Andy Murray at the Davis Cup starting July 17th, and afterwards compete in the Rogers Cup and the next Grand Slam tournament, the US Open. Following his Wimbledon win, Djokovic remains No. 1 in world rankings, followed by Federer at No. 2 and Murray at No. 3.

Serena Williams’ rise to Championship victory saw her beat her sister Venus in the 4th round, Maria Sharapova in the semi-finals, and world No. 9 Garbiñe Muguruza in the finals, all in straight sets. Serena has won all four Grand Slam titles this year, having done so once before in 2003; this is her 6th Wimbledon win, and 25th Grand Slam final. Garbiñe Muguruza knocked out former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniaki in straight sets, making her an unlikely upstart ready to knock Serena’s crown, only to be knocked back herself in the finals.

Williams will head to the US Open next month in the hopes of winning there, and completing her first calendar year grand slam sweep. After her Wimbledon victory, she is placed at 11/10 to win the US Open, while Muguruza is placed at 16/1 and Maria Sharapova 8/1. Meanwhile, Djokovic’s odds on winning the Men’s US Open are 6/5 in comparison to Federer’s 6/1, while Murray’s odds lie at 10/3. For more tennis news, click here.

Nonetheless, in the brief Grand Slam season’s respite, good sportsmanship has countered some of the tournament’s nastier moments: Williams and Djokovic danced on stage at the Wimbledon Championship Ball, and Federer interviewed post-match with good humour as to Djokovic’s solid performance.

Photos courtesy of Dailymail.co.uk