There was something for everyone at Wimbledon 2010 with Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams claiming their eighth and 13th major respectively.
These formidable players are no stranger to the business end of a Grand Slam tournament. Both are ranked No.1, both went in to their respective finals as strong favourites and both prevailed in straight sets.
So while the Spaniard and the American ultimately had their names engraved on the famous silverware yet again, there was plenty of action elsewhere throughout one of the most popular fortnights on the tennis calendar.
· After years of suffering through frustrating rain delays, the All-England Lawn Tennis Club installed a roof over Centre Court for last year’s Championships. Remarkably, not one minute of play was lost to rain in 2010! A welcome fact for spectators, but it must have organisers scratching their heads and wondering why this never happened before the roof was added. The roof only cost around 100 million pounds to build.
· Wimbledon was treated to a touch of royalty when Queen Elizabeth II came to watch for the first time in over three decades. The monarch was in attendance on the first Thursday where she observed Andy Murray’s straight sets demolition of Jarkko Nieminen.
· Speaking of Andy Murray, the 23-year old felt the weight of a nation on his shoulders once more, but couldn’t break the British hoodoo. No Brit has won a home title since Fred Perry in 1936 and although Tim Henman went close several times over the years, Murray has to wait until 2011 for another chance. He succumbed in straight sets to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in the semifinals.
· Nadal’s adversary in the decider, Tomas Berdych, put together a giant-killing run on his way to the final Sunday. It was his first Grand Slam final and although the Spaniard proved a bridge too far, the Czech took some major scalps along the way, eliminating No.1 seed and defending champion Roger Federer, as well as world No.2 Novak Djokovic.
· A match that will forever live on in our memories is the epic first round clash between Frenchman Nicolas Mahut and American John Isner. After commencing on the first Tuesday evening, it took until Thursday evening to find a winner, shattering all kinds of records along the way. It’s now the longest ever match (11 hours, five minutes), longest set (8 hours, 11 minutes), most games in a set (138), most aces in a match by one player (113 for Isner), most aces in a match combined (216) and consecutive games held (168). It captured global attention as the gladiators battled away before Isner finally prevailed 6-4 3-6 6-7(7) 7-6(3)70-68. The players were deservedly presented with special awards following the match and Mahut has donated his equipment for display in the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
· Other than the aforementioned marathon, a couple of other Wimbledon records were set. The round one clash between Djokovic and Olivier Rochus was the latest ever finish (10:58pm) and the fastest ever serve was pounded down by Taylor Dent at 148mph (238kph).
Australia’s fortunes were once again mixed throughout the various sections of The Championships.
Lleyton Hewitt flew the flag for the men, reaching the fourth round before bowing out to Djokovic in four tight sets, while Jarmila Groth also reached the fourth round and was defeated by Venus Williams.
Samantha Stosur, who had reached the French Open final just two weeks earlier, was a shock first round casualty, continuing her wretched run on grass in a straight sets loss to Estonian Kaia Kanepi. She did, however, finish the fortnight with a career-high ranking of No.5.
Benjamin Mitchell not only qualified for the boys’ singles, but made it all the way to the final before losing to Hungarian Marton Fucsovics. He was the first Australian to reach the decider since Chris Guccione in 2003 and will no doubt take a lot from his experience.
The successful doubles pairing of Australian Rennae Stubbs and American Lisa Raymond reached the women's quarterfinals but was unable to add to their three women’s doubles Grand Slam titles.
While none of the Aussie combinations were able to progress through the men’s draw, there was one significant result for Australia when Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman ousted dynamic American duo of Bob and Mike Bryan.
The Bryans won their 61st title in Madrid during May, tying them with the great Australian pairing of Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge. Many thought they would overtake ‘The Woodies’ at Wimbledon, but they will be forced to wait a little longer to claim their place in history after falling at the quarterfinal stage.
