Sunday, 8 July, 2007
There has been a number of highlights of the 2007 Championships, with some truly remarkable matches taking place on the grass courts of the All England Club. The www.wimbledon.org editorial team looks back over this year's tournament and reflects on the most memorable matches from Wimbledon 2007: Roger Federer d. Rafael Nadal
Men's Singles Final - 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 Rafa-Roger finals are always special occasions, yet this stunning five-set match surpassed all expectations. It was quite simply fantastic, with the top two players in the world pushing each other to the very limits of their games. In the first three sets there was nothing between them, with Federer taking the first set, Nadal the second and Federer the third. There was drama too, with the defending champion losing his cool – and the fourth set – after Federer questioned a hawk-eye decision. However, Federer refocused and went on to claim the match set in style. To top it off, the final was also laced with history, with Federer’s win equalling Bjorn Borg’s five consecutive men’s titles. Borg himself was in the Royal Box, looking on approvingly to cap off a quite spectacular match. - David Bates Jamie Murray/Jelena Jankovic d. Jonas Bjorkman/Alicia Molik
Mixed Doubles Final, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
At the start of the tournament all the talk was about Andy Murray. Would he play, wouldn’t he play? If he played, how far would he go? There was little focus on his older brother Jamie, who is a remarkable doubles player. That all changed when he teamed up with Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in the Mixed Doubles. Each match exploded with chemistry but the final, for me, proved to be the ultimate nail-biter. That victory, which made Jamie the first British player in 20 years to win a premier Wimbledon title, was by far the highlight. - Helen Gilbert Richard Gasquet d. Andy Roddick
Men's Singles Quarter-Final, 4-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 8-6 This was meant to be a routine win for the big A-Rod, one of the best grass court players in the world against the 21-year-old Gasquet, the Frenchman playing in only his fourth Wimbledon. For a while on No.1 Court a routine win looked a certainty with Roddick firing on all cylinders and racing into a two set lead. Then Gasquet caught the mood, his backstroke became the beacon as the match went into early evening, and he took the last three sets in a storming finish. - Barry Newcombe Novak Djokovic d. Marcos Baghdatis
Men's Singles Quarter-Final, 7-6, 7-6, 6-7, 4-6, 7-5 Two of the nicest guys you could hope to meet on the tour going toe to toe, eyeball to eyeball for one minute shy of five hours – and doing it in the best possible spirit. Both were desperate to win yet both thought the other bloke deserved to go through. Baghdatis fought from two sets down, he hurt his shoulder, Djokovic hurt his back – and both were absolutely exhausted when it was over. Baghdatis was disappointed for himself but delighted for Djokovic; Djokovic was happy for himself but sad for Baggy. Sportsmanship like that you seldom see in professional sport these days. - Alix Ramsay Ana Ivanovic d. Nicole Vaidisova
Ladies' Singles Quarter-Final, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 Chances are this photogenic pair will be fighting it out for the Venus Rosewater Dish before long. The Czech Republic’s Vaidisova, 18, came out all guns blazing and kept her 19-year-old Serbian opponent on the back foot to take the first set. The momentum stayed with Vaidisova just long enough for her to secure an early break in the second, but Ivanovic battled back to take the contest to the decider. The third set could have gone either way, as fearless winners flowed from both players no matter how precipitous the scoreline. It was impossible to tell who would win until the very last ball was struck; Vaidisova actually held three match points but on this occasion it would be Ivanovic who held her nerve. The future of women’s tennis is in safe hands. Even better, in the delightful Serb it has a new star who clearly loves coming to work. - Adam Lincoln Venus Williams d. Maria Sharapova
Ladies' Singles Fourth Round, 6-1, 6-3 When the women’s draw was made, one potential match had everybody talking. If the seedings panned out, then the universal forecast was that the winner of the Justine Henin-Serena Williams quarter-final must go on to win the title. There was scarcely a murmur about an equally charismatic last 16 tie between Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams. Even on the morning of the match, no one had this tagged as a key moment in the tournament. After all, Venus had struggled horribly through two of her first three matches. She was ranked 31 in the world and it was obvious that the number two seed would see her off. But it didn’t work out that way. The match was initially scheduled for Centre Court on Tuesday but after numerous rain delays it was shunted to less aspiscious surroundings of Court 3. However, only three points of play were possible before a thunder, lightening and an almighty downpour intervened. They resumed the following morning on Centre Court where Williams decimated Sharapova. She repeated that form against Svetlana Kuznetsova and Ana Ivanovic, and was too strong for Marion Bartoli. Venus came into the tournament tipped by no one, and it was only after her destruction of Sharapova that everybody realised they had been looking at the wrong Williams to raise the Venus Rosewater Dish again. - Kate Battersby Serena Williams d. Daniela Hantuchova
Ladies' Singles Fourth Round, 6-2, 6-7, 6-2 For a match to be truly memorable you need a great story packed with drama, tension and controversy, and Daniela Hantuchova losing to a one-legged Serena Williams was an absolute classic. The two-time champion, rather predictably and rather uneventfully, breezed through the first set. But at 5-6 in the second, Serena dramatically collapsed on the baseline with a “spasm-induced left calf strain”. Clearly distraught, Williams burst into tears. The gutsy American could barely walk but she didn’t throw in the towel and battled on with the tears still rolling down her cheeks. From the Centre Court competitor’s box her father Richard was pointing to the dark clouds looming over Centre Court and sure enough the rain came to save his hobbling daughter who was 4-2 down in the tie-break. The delay gave the medics enough time to patch up the injured calf. Limping back on court two hours later she went on to lose the tie-break and her title charge looked dead and buried. However Hantuchova was too sympathetic, lost her nerve and began to crumble herself. By contrast Serena went for her shots with some aggressive play and stumbled to victory in heroic fashion. - Paul Kiernan
Tim Henman d. Carlos Moya
Men's Singles First Round, 6-3, 1-6, 5-7, 6-2, 13-11 Henmania swept across Wimbledon once again after Tim Henman’s epic 4 hour 11 minutes win over Spaniard Carlos Moya in the first round of The Championships. The match had everything we have come to expect from former Wimbledon semi-finalist Tiger Tim – five sets, brilliant volleys, missed match points, high tension and the barmy army support of the nation. After missing four match points, Tim left the Centre Court fans in their usual agony when the clash was suspended at 5-5 in the fifth set due to bad light. The tie then resumed at 5-5 in the final set and, after a night of rest, neither player looked prepared to concede anything. After 12 consecutive games went with serve, Henman had to save two Moya match points on his serve at 11-11. Tim then went on to earn a match point on the Moya serve in the 24th game of the set. Unfortunately after the clash reached such heights, it was a double fault by Moya that handed Tim a spot against Feliciano Lopez in the second round. - Beci Wood Wayne Arthurs d. Christophe Rochus
Men's Singles Final Qualifying Round, 6-3, 3-6, 6-7, 7-5, 6-4. 36-year-old Wayne Arthurs had announced that this would be his last tournament before retiring and in order to make his final swansong at Wimbledon, he had to win three rounds of qualifying at the Bank of England Sports Ground at Roehampton – about two miles down the road from SW19. There aren’t any tv cameras at qualifying, but as I was based in the All England Club web bunker, I had to follow the Aussies’ progress through the Wimbledon website’s live scoreboard. Despite being a match I didn’t actually see, I was hooked; cheering on Arthurs as he staged a remarkable comeback from 1-4 down in the fifth to defeat Belgian Christophe Rochus 6-3, 3-6, 6-7, 7-5, 6-4, to qualify as the oldest man in main draw. Arthurs ended his 17 year career competing in his ninth consecutive Wimbledon, fittingly going out in the third round to the second oldest person in the tournament, 35-year-old Jonas Bjorkman. - Tim Westmacott Written by AELTC Staff
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