DonaldPierce.com

17 July 2018
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Context
The world’s oldest major tennis tournament (it’s 141 years old) and arguably the best known, is now over. Saturday was the day that the Ladies Singles Championship was settled, along with Men’s Doubles and Women’s Doubles. On Sunday, the men played for the Gentlemen’s Singles Championship and the mixed doubles championship was also decided. So that’ll be it for Center court, Wimbledon, until the tournament starts up again next June. It was, in short, a doozy this year.
The Results
The Women’s side of the tournament was a bit of a let down. It was good to Angelique Kerber win, but the rest of the top women just left like they were in a hurry. Kerber punched out Serena Williams in straight sets and even though a very big media push was made about how great Serena was playing, she didn’t face anyone really tough until the semis. OK, she got to the finals, but…..sometimes that happens. Let’s see how she does at the U.S. Open. Really, does she even still want to play? No one would think twice if she decided to be a full time mom and enjoy a life outside of tennis. The rest of the Women’s side of the tournament was not compelling. I don’t think even one of the top 10 seeds made it to second week. That’s pretty dismal and also not good for the tournament. Venus Williams was taken out in the round of 32 in the first week of the tournament. She’s struggled with health issues off and on for years and her very best years of competitive tennis are behind her. Maybe the U.S. Open will make a different case for her staying on the tour.
The men’s draw was the main attraction this year. There were three classic, great matches,  but the final–Djokovic vs. Anderson–was not one of them. The Anderson-Federer match was a very good one. Federer caught Anderson on the day that Anderson was playing the best tennis of his life and Federer was just a little off, and down Roger went. Like the class act he is, Federer gave all credit to Anderson; the Nightshift Staff was all in for Roger winning another Wimbledon title, but maybe he’ll pick up another major at the U.S. Open.
Anderson moved onto play Big John Isner, and those two staged the dual of the tournament, going six hours and thirty minutes or so, with Anderson winning three sets to two, with the score in the fifth set 26-24. It was the longest semi-final in Wimbledon history (it also featured the two tallest players, Isner is 6’10” and Anderson is 6’8″). Isner is the diesel of tournament tennis..he played an eleven hour match in 2010 at Wimbledon.  Anderson survived Isner and recovered to play the winner of the best match of the men’s side of the tournament, the Djokovic/Nadal shootout, which Djokovic won in the fifth. That match really was the “championship” match for the tournament….anyone watching it had the feeling that the winner would take the Championship. Djokovic overcame a nervous moment or two (as did Nadal) and won. He then beat Anderson in straight sets for the title. It’s good to have him back in the mix at the top of the tennis food chain.
In mixed doubles, Peya and Melichar bested home-town favorites Murray and Azarenko; Mike Bryan, playing without his brother, teamed with American Jack Sock to win the Men’s Doubles; and Krecikova and Siniakova won the Women’s Doubles.  Wimbledon is an amazing tournament because of the sheer number of championships it offers; click this link to see all the 2018 winners. 
Players who should have done better include the mercurial Nick Krygios, Milos Roanic (taken out by Isner),  Gail Monfils (great shotmaker…but) taken out by Anderson and Dominic Thiem, who retired due early due to back injuries (a little young for those..). Juan Martin del Poltro (will he ever win a major?) took Nadal to five sets before fading but showed he’s still improving.
ICYMI
The prize money at Wimbledon is the same for men and women (the women can thank Billie Jean King for that ) and a finalist receives 50% of what the Winner gets. This year, the Men’s Singles champion won £2,250,000 pounds and the doubles winners received £450,000 pounds. Wimbledon hands out a lot of money and they take their responsibility seriously; thus, no surprise that Wimbledon has this rule in effect: “A new rule in 2018 is that any first round singles player who is unfit to play and withdraws on-site after 12pm on Thursday before the start of the Main Draw will now receive half of the First Round prize money, the other half to be awarded to the replacement Lucky Loser. Any player who competes in the First Round Main Draw singles and retires or performs below professional standards, may now be subject to a fine of up to First Round prize money, to deter players from appearing only to claim prize money.” Bottom line–it’s an honor to be invited to play at Wimbledon, but don’t show up just for the first round check and tank, or you will owe a rather tidy sum of money. They should have the same rule in all pro sports–especially basketball and football. 
Click this  link to see the draw (and results) for all classes of competition at Wimbledon. 
Court Notes
Djokovic looked sharp and ready to be a major champions today. Anderson looked a bit tired. And England looked dispirited when they played Belgium for third place in the World Cup. More on the weekend’s sports in tomorrows long form wrap up of Wimbledon.
Looking Back
A video review of play at Wimbledon, today courtesy of Wimbledon, YouTube and ESPN.



Resources
If you love tennis, or Wimbledon, or both, you are encouraged to revisit the links below and, especially, to take advantage of our special direct link to the Wimbledon site, where there is just tons of great material awaiting you. We left the link to The Guardian’s coverage up so you can navigate forward or backward to see their coverage, which was great.  Hope you enjoyed the tournament. See you next year.
Direct Link to The Official Wimbledon Website
The Wimbledon Dress Code
The 2018 Draw
Time Magazine Deep Background on the Wimbledon Dress Code 
Wimbledon Background and History
Wimbledon Results (updated Continuously)
Where to Watch Wimbledon 
Wimbledon Apps Link
Wimbledon YouTube Channel 
The Guardian Covers Wimbledon (great print coverage, continuous update)
Wimbledon Instagram Feed
Wimbledon Official Twitter Feed
 
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