By Chris Oddo | Sunday July 15, 2018

 

Is this the beginning of new Djokovic era? We contemplate this and more in 20 Wimbledon takaways.

Photo Source: Matthew Stockman/Getty

Wimbledon, England—The drama has unfolded, the champions have been crowned, the grass has been battered, and now another Wimbledon fortnight has come to an end.

Here’s 20 takeaways from the 2018 version of the Championships.

1. Djokovic, Back or Better than Ever?

Novak Djokovic steadily improved from the day he hit the clay in Monte-Carlo, but even though we felt him building something special, we wondered if he was really ready to return to the Grand Slam winner’s circle. After all he looked strong in Paris but then fell in disappointing fashion to unseeded Marco Cecchinato in the quarters. As it turned out that loss only served as further motivation. The process was there. The talent was there. The fire kept burning and Djokovic channeled it all into one of his best performances of his career in the semifinals, when he took out Rafael Nadal 10-8 in the fifth in one of the most dramatic, intense and entertaining matches that we’ve ever seen at Wimbledon.

As it turns out, what we believed before the semifinals was true: Djokovic v Nadal was the de facto final—Djokovic cruised to victory in the final and won his fourth Wimbledon and 13th major title. It may indeed be the most important title of his career when it’s all said and done, and even though many are saying that the old Djokovic is back, what we may have seen at Wimbledon is the beginning of a new, improved Djokovic. Let the games begin.

2. Kerber’s Crowning Moment

Germany’s Angelique Kerber owned Centre Court on Saturday and made GOAT Serena Williams look pedestrian as she put up her classic wall of defense and achieved her most impressive career victory by taking down Williams 6-3, 6-3. Kerber becomes the fourth active player to own more than three major titles, and she is now the second player to achieve one of the hardest feats in tennis—defeating Williams more than once in a major final. She did it with the belief she built during a long, difficult 2017, and proved on Saturday that her 2016 was not a flash in the pan. Kerber will be a Hall of Famer when it’s all said and done, and a deserving one. And, judging from what we saw on Saturday, the best may have yet to come.

3. Federer’s Getting Squeezed

With Roger Federer turning 37 in August it’s hard not to at least contemplate what Djokovic’s sudden resurgence might mean for the twilight of the Swiss maestro’s career. Nobody thought Federer would have captured Slams 18, 19 and 20 and risen back to No.1 back when he was held back by Djokovic and the rest of the big four so often in 2013-2016. It’s tempting to think that Federer might be in the same position again.

How will he win more majors with Nadal still firing on all cylinders and Djokovic in Slam-winning form again? Andy Murray's on his way back as well. Never count Roger out, but it won’t be getting any easier.

4. Serena has work to do

It had to be a deflating loss for Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final in some ways. She was dominated by Angelique Kerber and never really had a shot. She had a friendly draw (average ranking of first six opponents was greater than 80) that allowed her to get through to the final without expending too much energy and she really should have had tons of energy to produce a signature performance and tie Margaret Court’s all-time Grand Slam record. She didn't--not even close.

The optics looks tricky now for Williams. Like Federer, Williams will turn 37 soon, and winning Slams won’t get any easier.

There’s a lot to like about the fact that she reached the final at Wimbledon in just her fourth tournament back from giving birth to her daughter Olympia, but her performance in the final showed that she’s further from becoming a major champion than we initially thought.

5. Bravo Kevin Anderson

The South African poured his heart and soul out on the court for 23 hours and 20 minutes in total, and on Sunday he fell short in the final, losing to Novak Djokovic, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(3). Forget the result, this was a gritty, soulful effort for Anderson, who took out top-seeded Roger Federer in five and then won the marathon with John Isner that was the longest match in Centre Court history and the second-longest Grand Slam match of all-time. But that semifinal took it out of Anderson. He only was able to practice for ten minutes on Saturday and would later say that he had to see doctors and a podiatrist for his feet.

Not the best way to prep for a Wimbledon final.

After starting slowly on Sunday Anderson came to life and earned five set points in the third set. Credit to him for shaking up Wimbledon, defeating the great Federer, battling into his second major final, and showing some real character in the final. He may yet have his day.

6. Kasatkina Showtime

Reflecting back on the quarterfinal showdown between Daria Kasatkina and Angelique Kerber, one cannot help but get excited for the prospect of more big-time Grand Slam matches featuring the Russian. She has such an electric game—and personality—and she’s proven over the last two months that she may indeed have what it takes to win majors. Go back and watch the final game of the match, in which Kerber was forced to endure seven match points before finally escaping with the win. With back-to-back Grand Slam quarterfinals to her name, the future does indeed look bright for Kasatkina.

7. Tsitsipas Rising

The first Greek male to ever reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal in the Open Era? That’s 19-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas and he did it this year at SW19, with a game that, like the aforementioned Kasatkina, is built to thrill. Tsitsipas’ dives were the hit of week one, the kid has Boris Becker in his blood (who knew?) and his tennis was pretty out of this world as well. He fell short to John Isner in the round of 16, but notching his first ever Wimbledon win and going on to reach week two is a tremendous achievement.

8. Thumbs up, Rafa

For the first time in his career, Rafael Nadal reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon but did not go on to reach the final. That’s a weird stat that you’ll probably have to read twice to understand. More importantly, for the first time in a long time Nadal showed incredible form on the grass. If it wasn’t for Novak Djokovic’s brilliant tennis he would be heading back to Mallorca with his 18th major title. The semifinal loss to the Serb was a heartbreaking defeat, handled with the usual class, for Nadal. But when the heartbreak fades the fact will still remain. At 32 Nadal is still in incredible form. He’ll enter the hardcourt season with a good chance to defend his U.S. Open title.

9. Krejcikova Wins the Doubles, Salutes Novotna

Barbora Krejcikova was taken under the wing of Jana Novotna when the Czech legend was still alive and the pair only stopped working together when ovarian cancer made it impossible for Novotna to keep doing it. But the 1998 Wimbledon champion’s legacy lives on through Krejcikova, who won the doubles title with Katerina Siniakova and made a gesture to the heavens after the victory. It was a subtle yet beautiful tribute to one of most emotionally compelling winners that Wimbledon has ever seen. Novotna passed away last November, but she’ll be remembered at SW19 forever.

10. Seeds Got Crushed on the WTA Side--What Gives?

So what did all that seed carnage on the WTA side mean? For the first time in Open Era history ZERO Top 10 seeds made the quarterfinals at Wimbledon (or at any major), and while it sounds bad on the surface, it might just mean that the depth of the tour is better than it’s ever been. The women’s side is loaded with talented players, and there are no cakewalk draws. That said, players like Petra Kvitova, Garbiñe Muguruza and Elina Svitolina should do a bit of soul-searching between now and the U.S. Open.

11. Bring on the Fifth Set Tiebreaker?

Kevin Anderson’s 6-hour and 36-minute marathon victory over John Isner just might be the tipping point when the Grand Slam committee next meets to discuss implementing a fifth-set tiebreaker across all four majors. Would it change these tournaments for the better? It certainly would have given Kevin Anderson more of a fighting chance against Novak Djokovic on Sunday, and it would have allowed the tournament to run on schedule on Friday and Saturday, instead of having Djokovic and Nadal play their semifinal over two days, while also bumping the women’s singles finals into TBD never-never land.

12. And what about that roof closing?

Interesting as it was that Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal played two sets of their semifinal under a roof while Wimbledon was experiencing perfect weather conditions outside—at 1PM, no less—it was kind of strange. But rules are rules. If the tournament says that both players need to agree to play under different conditions than what the match started with, how can you fault the Serb for choosing to stay under the roof. Sun God Nadal might have been too dangerous with that darn thing open.

Djokovic’s decision might have been one of the smartest decisions he’s ever made. Would he have still won if the roof was open? We’ll never know and it doesn’t matter now.

13. Did the WTA Get Shafted by Having their Final Pushed Back?

This is a great question, because the reaction of the final’s participants, Angelique Kerber and Serena Williams, does not match the furor that we saw on social media about the tournament’s decision to put the Djokovic-Nadal men’s semifinal on the schedule prior to the women’s final. Both Williams and Kerber agree that there was not much that the tournament could have done.

But the optics were not great. Saturday at Wimbledon is supposed to be about the women’s final and it was made to take a back seat to the men’s semifinal on Centre Court, and that’s unfortunate. Why couldn’t they simply give the women a later start time rather than have them waiting for the men’s match to end before they started?

14. Heat and Hardly Any Rain at Wimbledo 2018

For all those that make light of the fact that the English summer is nothing but one dreary grey day after another, remember 2018, the year that we saw one short rain delay and temperatures hovering around the 28-32 degree mark for much of the fortnight. Thank God for high octane air conditioning in the media center because it was hot hot HOT this year.

15. Iga Swiatek and Tseng Chun Hsin take Boys’ and Girls’ Titles

Every year we get more and more into the Boys' and Girls' events at Wimbledon. What better way to keep tabs on the future of tennis? There are matches everywhere during week two, and it’s easy to get a front row seat at most of the matches. This year we enjoyed the play of 14-year-old American CoCo Gauff, China’s Wang Xinyu and Wang Xiyu, Great Britain’s fiery southpaw Jack Draper and, of course, Boys’ Champion Tseng Chun Hsin and Girls’ Singles champion Iga Swiatek of Poland.

16. Three Cheers for Del Potro vs. Nadal

Nadal vs. Djokovic was the best match of the tournament on the men's side, but Del Potro vs. Nadal was most certainly a close second, even ahead of Federer-Anderson. The Argentine gave Nadal everything he had and the pair went at each other furiously, often ending points on their rumps or in the crowd. It was one of those matches that simply kept on giving and even when it was over, the Delpo hug was there to make us all smile. The Argentine has a knack for creating these sporting moments that instantly go viral. Watching him lay on the grass as Nadal crossed the net to shake his hand was one of the epic moments of the fortnight to be sure.

17. Ostapenko Bounces Back

Jelena Ostapenko was one of the biggest disappointments of Roland Garros. Here on the Wimbledon grass, however, she was a revelation. She fell short in the semis to Angelique Kerber but the Latvian has all the making of a future Wimbledon champ. She loves the quickness of the grass, moves well on the surface and has now reached the quarterfinals or better in each of the last two seasons.

18. Goodbye Julien Benneteau

France's Julien Benneteau picked up a win in the first round and had an emotional moment after the match when he Face-timed his family and spent five minutes laughing and chatting with them. Just another great Wimbledon moment where a player notches his last win on a small side court and relishes it with every bit of his soul. That's the kind of stuff we see regularly at grass-court Mecca. It's a beautiful, spiritual place for tennis wonks. Benneteau beat Martin Fucsovics for his final victory at Wimbledon, before falling to Frances Tiafoe in the second round. He’ll play his last major at the U.S. Open this summer.

19. Giorgi on Grass?

Camila Giorgi of Italy has a 14-8 record at Wimbledon and a 13-18 at the other four majors. The 27 year old reached her first major quarterfinal at Wimbledon and it might not be her last. She looks really strong on this surface and nearly upset Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. She was one of the bigger surprises in a fortnight of many surprises on the women's side.

20. Isner Breaks More Records

It was a breakout performance for American John Isner, even if he fell short to Kevin Anderson in that marathon semifinal. He cracked 214 aces, breaking the Wimbledon record for aces in a fortnight and he reached his first major semifinal. He also won 139 of 143 service games in six matches—absolutely unruly service numbers. But we’ll leave you with this thought: Changing to a fifth-set tiebreaker at all the majors will help a player like Isner win more matches. Does he deserve it? He has now played the two longest matches in Grand Slam history—does tennis have a fifth-set tiebreaker problem or a John Isner problem?