Serena Williams, winner of the 2012 Singles and Doubles title

What a great day for Serena Williams. Not only did she win her 5th Wimbledon title in singles, she also won her 5th Wimbledon title in doubles, with her sister, Venus Williams.

First up for Serena Williams was her singles final, against world number 3 Agnieszka Radwanska. She won the first set 6-1. It seemed as though this would be an easy match for her. In the second set, she was up 4-2 and she was 2 games away from winning in straight sets. All of a sudden, Radwanska started playing better and better and came back to win the second set 7-5.  Radswanska was in control of the match, it seemed. At 2-2, though, Williams started serving much better and moving better. This helped her win the next four games and her 5th Wimbledon singles title. The score was 6-1, 5-7, 6-2.

The wildcard men’s doubles team who beat Bob and Mike Bryan yesterday, won their first ever title together. Jonathan Marray, Great Britain, and Frederik Nielsen, Denmark defeated Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(7-5), 6-7(5-7), 6-3.  Marray and Nielsen were given a wildcard to Wimbledon, but no one really expected them to go far, esp considering they had to face the defending champions-Bryan Brothers-and other seeded doubles teams. The two of them had never played in a tour level match before and Nielsen had never won a match at a major. On their way to the final, they defeated: Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez, number 9 seeds, Aisem Quereshi and Jean-Julien Rojer, number 8 seeds, and the biggest upset, the Bryan Brothers.  This match was huge for both players. Nielsen was the first male player from Denmark to ever win a title in a Grand Slam, single or doubles. Marray was the first British man to win the doubles title sincer 1936.

While the men’s doubles final had two first time winners, the women’s doubles final had the veterans. Serena and Venus Williams, who were unseeded, defeated Czechs Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 7-5, 6-4 in a little over an hour and fifteen minutes. Their opponents had won the French Open doubles title last year, so they knew how to perform in big matches. The first set was a little tough for the Williams’ sisters. Both doubles teams held serve until 5-5, when the Czech team was broken. Serena served for the match and they won the first set.  They didn’t have much time, they wanted to finish the match before 11pm, which is when all the matches are suspended and postponed until the following day. They didn’t need to worry. The second set was much easier for the Williams’ sisters.  They won the match after Venus closed to set with an ace.  This was their 5th Wimbledon title and 13th major title overall.

The Men’s Singles final will be on ESPN at 9 am EST. It will be a historic match whether Roger Federer or Andy Murray win on Sunday.  If Federer wins, he will win his 7th Wimbledon title and 17th major. If Murray wins, he will be the first British man to win a major in over 70 years. Good luck to both, although I will be rooting for Federer.

Federer v Murray and Williams v Radwanska
(courtesy of Wimbledon twitter)

Day 10

Agnieszka Radwanska made it to her first Wimbledon final, after defeating Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-4 in the SF. She is seeded number 3 and if she wins the title, she will become the world number one. Radwanska is the first Polish player, woman or man, to make it to the Wimbledon final since 1937. One thing that helped her, was the long rallies between her and Kerber. She will face Serena Williams in the final.

Williams will be playing for her 5th Wimbledon title, after defeating Victoria Radwanska 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) in the SF. This will be Williams’ 7th Wimbledon final. After a disappointing French Open, she lost in the first round, Williams started playing better tennis. In this match, she served 24 aces against Azarenka, a Wimbledon record. Another  impressive statistics? She had zero double faults. Williams has 13 majors, including 4 Wimbledon titles. She will face Radwanska in the final.

Two American doubles teams made it to the SFs, for both men and women’s doubles. Serena and Venus Williams played their QF match against another doubles team of Americans- Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears. They won 6-1, 6-1. This game was played a few hours after Serena Williams’ singles match.

Next up for them is the American doubles team-who’s also seeded number 1-Lisa Raymond and Liezel Huber. The other Americans doubles team to make it to the SFs was Bob and Mike Bryan. They are one of the most accomplished doubles team in history. Their Qf match wasn’t easy though. They played against Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram, two Americans, and won 5-7, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.  They won the Wimbledon men’s doubles titles last year and are after their 3rd title. They will face the wildcard doubles team-Jonathan Marray and Frederik Nielsen.

Day 11

What an incredible win for Roger Federer. He defeated the world number one, Novak Djokovic, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.  Federer was incredible in his SF, some even said this was vintage Federer. Everyone this to be a very close match. After all, you had the world number one and the the best player of all time, espn on grass, playing against each other. This match was worthy of being a final. The last time these two met in a major was last month in the French Open, where Djokovic won in the SFs.  Federer has a chance of becoming world number 1, again, if he wins the title on Sunday. This is Federer’s first final since last year’s French Open final, when he lost to Nadal. He will play Andy Murray.

Murray has been to three finals before, 2 Australian Open finals and a US Open final. This is his first ever Wimbledon final. He made it through after defeating Tsonga in four sets-6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Murray is the first British man in the singles final in 74 years. He started off really well, wining the first two sets without a problem. Then he lost the third set. He struggled a little during the fourth set and it looked like he was going to lose that one too, but he pulled through and won 7-5. He will face Federer in the final.

Mixed results for the Americans in the doubles SFs. The men, Bob and Mike Bryan, lost their SF match to the wildcard team, Marray and Nielsen. They lost the first two sets, but won the third set. The Bryan brothers were down 5-0 in the fourth but came back to even it at 5-5. That wasn’t enough though, as they lost the fourth set in a tiebreak 7-6(7-5) and the match.

The women did much better. Serena and Venus Williams defeated the top seeded Americans- Huber and Raymond. They won 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. They had a little trouble with their serves in the first set, but stepped it up in the second and third sets. They will face Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of Czech Republic in the final.