Worth the Wait: Murray and Bartoli Wimbledon Champs

Worth the Wait: Murray and Bartoli Wimbledon Champs

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The 2013 Wimbledon was historic. It will be remembered for Andy Murray winning as the first time in 77 years a British male has had the title and the most top seeds in the Open Era losing in the early rounds of the tournament on the Men’s and Women’s Draw. Top players who failed to reach the quarterfinals and their ranks going into Wimbledon included Serena Williams (1), Roger Federer (3), Rafael Nadal (5), Maria Sharapova (3), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (7), Victoria Azarenka (2), Sara Errani (5), Caroline Wozniacki (9), Angelique Kerber (7), Maria Kirilenko (10), Richard Gasquet (9) and Marin Cilic (12). The most shocking losses on the women’s side were Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova losing in the second round to very low seeds. Serena Williams dominated at the French Open. After the other top players lost, it looked like she would cruise to the title. However, Sabine Lisicki upset Williams in the Round of 16. On the men’s side, Nadal’s loss in the first round was shocking especially after he just won the French Open. Federer’s loss in the second round was also shocking as he won the tournament last year. It was the earliest exit for a defending champion in a long time and broke Federer’s streak of 36 straight majors advancing to the Quarterfinals. The 2013 Wimbledon had the most upset of top seeds in the early rounds and had all-time greats making their earliest exits in a Major. As such, it is highly unlikely to be seen again.

Andy Murray Ends 77 British Drought

After 77 years since Fred Perry won Wimbledon, Murray was able to end the drought with his win on Sunday. It was a long journey for Murray as he had to carry the weight and pressure of a nation on his back along with his own pressure of failing to win Majors in a time when his career overlapped with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal winning almost every Major and Novak Djokovic’s dominance emerging in the last couple of years. At last year’s Wimbledon, Murray got to the Finals but lost to seven time Champion Roger Federer. At the award ceremony, Murray broke down in tears after his loss but did say he was getting closer. Afterwards, his response to the loss was very impressive and I respect him for his resolve. Instead of being devastated by the defeat, he rode his strong play into the Olympics, which occurred after Wimbledon and also in London. In a rematch of the Wimbledon Final during the Gold medal game and back on Centre Court, Murray easily defeated Federer. Next, Murray followed it up by winning the US Open, his first Major.

As such, he entered the 2013 season with a new confidence of finally having won a Major. While he made it to the Australian Open Final before losing to Djokovic, he missed the French Open due to his back. The path to the Wimbledon Final was not an easy one for Murray and he was in big trouble in the quarterfinals down 2 sets to 0 against Fernando Verdasco. However, he remained resilient and came back to win the next three sets 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 to win the match. Of all active players, only Roger Federer has more 2-0 set comebacks in Majors than Murray. In the semi-finals, he dropped the first set to Jerzy Janowicz. However, he rallied to win the next two sets. Before the 4th set, Janowicz asked for the roof to be closed as darkness was approaching. As a reminder, the roof was closed during the Finals match with Federer last year. Whether it was due to the closing of the roof or not, Federer played better and took control of the match afterwards. While Murray was visibly angry with the decision, he remained poised and easily won the 4th set 6-3 to get to the Final.

As for the runner up Novak Djokovic, he breezed through the field until the semi-final against Juan Martin Del Potro. It ended up going 5 sets and was the longest semi-final in the history of Wimbledon. Both players made great shot after great shot. It was definitely the best match of the tournament. Del Potro is 6’8” and had powerful returns even when he was off balanced or flat footed. While he threw everything he had at Djokovic, it was not enough to defeat the Number 1 player in the world. While Del Potro did not win, he certainly exhausted Djokovic. It is a fair question to ask whether the semi-final match took too much out of Djokovic. He was in every set of the Finals but seemed just a little off. Moreover, he had 40 unforced errors, which was almost double Murray. Both players have been evenly matched in their previous matchups. As a result, the epic semi-final may have taken just enough out of Djokovic for the deciding advantage. While it definitely denied us an epic 5 set match, Murray definitely earned the Championship. He had a crushing defeat last year and had the added pressure of the hopes of an entire nation. Moreover, his movement on grass was incredible and he covered the entire court. Every time Djokovic tried a soft drop shot, Murray covered the distance and crushed the ball for a winner. When Djokovic saved 3 championship points, Murray stayed resilient and saved the break points. As Murray had waited so long, it seemed only fitting Djokovic made him wait a little longer for Championship Point. Now that Murray has gotten the proverbial monkey off his back by winning Wimbledon for Great Britain, he can enjoy the rest of his career and try to win as many Majors as possible as well as try to get the number 1 ranking from Djokovic.

During last year’s Wimbledon final, NBC did a story about Dunblane Primary School. In 1996, a gunman entered the school and killed 16 children and 1 adult. It was Scotland’s Sandy Hook. Andy Murray was one of the children in the school at the time of the shooting. As he was very young, he noted that he was too young to know what was happening at the time. However, it is noted in his autobiography Hitting Back that he attended a youth group run by the gunman and that his mother use to give the gunman car rides. For a town that was hit with an unspeakable tragedy, it was a great moment seeing the town on television celebrating as Murray got closer to victory and eventually won. Instead of Dunblane being known as the site of a horrific shooting, it can now be known as the home of Andy Murray: Wimbledon Champion.

Marion Bartoli Wins Wimbledon After 46 Majors

While Marion Bartoli won the title, Sabine Lisicki was the star of this year’s Wimbledon. Lisicki has played her best tennis in her career at Wimbledon and defeated 4 of the last 5 French Open Champions in the subsequent Wimbledon. She solidified herself as a giant killer after taking out Serena Williams in the round of 16 in 3 sets. Moreover, she was down 3-0 and a break in the third set of that match but came back to win. She also took out 4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska in 3 sets in the semi-finals. Lisicki has a very powerful game. Her power even gave Williams problems. Radwanska played great with a lot of great returns but Lisicki’s power was the difference as Radwanska had to play too perfect and had no margin of victory to defeat Lisicki. As such, Lasicki was the favorite heading into the Final against Bartoli. However, her inexperience finally caught up to her as she was not able to handle her nerves. Lisicki had her serve broken all 3 times in the first set. In the second set, she was in tears as she double faulted on a serve. She was broken twice by Bartoli in the second set as well. While she finally broke Bartoli near the end of the match, it was already too late. Nevertheless, Lisicki has the talent and power game but needs to be more consistent. Moreover, she is a beautiful blonde with a great personality. Throughout the tournament, she was genuinely excited but humble after every big victory. She became a fan favorite during the tournament. If she can improve her game and be consistent, she can be a rising star in tennis and marketing gold.

For Marion Bartoli, everything broke right for her as she won the Wimbledon Championship without defeating a top 10 player. Nevertheless, luck is a combination or preparation and opportunity. She was clearly prepared as she did not drop a set en route to the title. Although Lisicki was not ready for the moment, Bartoli was all business and put Lisicki away before she could get comfortable on the court. Bartoli has also won her first Major after 46 tries, the most Majors ever before winning one. At 28, she has waited a long time for her first Major. She is one of the brightest players and claims to have a 175 IQ. As such, she is intelligent to recognize that this year’s Wimbledon was her best chance to win a Major as the field will never open up like it did in 2013 again as the number of upsets were historic. She took advantage of the opportunity and will forever be remembered as a Wimbledon champion.

Pat Wong

About Pat Wong

Patrick is a contributor for Rookerville. He is an avid sports fan. Before joining Rookerville, he was part of a defunct New York Yankees message board, NYYankeefans, where he was its top poster and was inducted in its Hall of Fame for his contributions. Patrick is also a passionate fan of movies. He has enjoyed reading movie reviews over the years and is excited about the opportunity to review movies.

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