The World No. 1 Novak Djokovic claimed his 20th Grand Slam trophy and equaled the all-time record after defeating Italian Matteo Berrettini 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. Djokovic is now level with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on career Grand Slam titles. The Serbian has won the first three Grand Slams of the season and is the first to do so since Rod Laver did and won all four in 1969. Djokovic dropped the first set after being up 5-2, but recovered with his consistency and court depth to win in a little over three hours. Let’s look at the other news and notes from the two-week tournament:
Korda celebrates at Wimbledon (Photo via Skysports)
Sebastian Korda was the only American to make it to the second week, but there were plenty of positives coming out of SW19. The 50th ranked American got through Dan Evans and Karen Khachanov, ranked 22nd and 25th, to cap a great tournament. Frances Tiafoe beat the 4th ranked men’s player Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round. Tiafoe ended up losing in the third round, but he has struggled in the new year and this is a huge result for the 23-year-old. Seeded Reilly Opelka fell in the first round to German Dominik Koepfer and 31st seed Taylor Fritz lost to Alexander Zverev who made it to round 4. American tennis fans will be hopeful for a successful rest of the year after a promising Wimbeldon.
Djokovic powers his way to the final (Photo via NY post).
After dropping one set in his first match, Novak Djokovic ran through his draw all the way to the final where he dispatched an in-form Matteo Berrettini to win his 20th Grand Slam. Berrettini had won the cinch Championship in the build-up to Wimbledon and was on an 11-match win streak. Djokovic will now have his sights set on the US Open and a 2021 Grand Slam for the Serbian after winning the Australian Open and French Open earlier this season. Novak looks unstoppable at the moment and would not be surprised if the rest of 2021 was filled with trophies.
Barty celebrates her Wimbledon title (Photo via © TENNIS PHOTO NETWORK)
Top seed Ashleigh Barty has claimed her second Grand Slam crown, and first at Wimbledon, with a 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3 defeat of No. 8 seed Karolina Pliskova in 1 hour and 55 minutes. Barty became the first Australian since Evonne Goolagong Cawley did in 1980 and comes on the 50th anniversary of Cawley’s first Wimbledon title in 1971. Barty will look to continue her strong showing at Wimbledon with more success this summer and at the US Open.
Nadal on clay (Photo via tennishead.com)
The tour does not stop till December, so that means we have action all year! The Hamburg European Open starts on July 12th and will feature world No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas. Later this month will be the Tokyo Olympics, which will feature Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, even with the Japanese government declaring a state of emergency in Tokyo due to COVID-19. Rafael Nadal will not play in Tokyo, but will be playing at the Citi Open in Washington D.C. in August. This tournament kicks off August, followed by the National Bank Open in Toronto, Canada, and the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Ohio. This all leads to the US Open in the first weeks of September and will be an exciting summer of tennis.
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