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Best player
It takes a certain amount of toughness and inner belief to keep on moving forward even after an excruciating setback. In the last match Jannik Sinner played before Wimbledon, he was on the receiving end of one of the most shocking collapses ever in his French Open second-round loss to Juan Manuel Cerundolo. He responded by gradually building momentum in every round, culminating in a flawless 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over Novak Djokovic and then he brilliantly elevated his level against a peaking Alexander Zverev to defeat the new No 2 in four sets. Sinner’s run to a fifth grand slam title showcased his dramatic serve improvements, defensive skills, drop shots and lobs alongside the clean, vicious ball striking that has defined his career.
Most courageous performance
Linda Noskova made a frantic escape from Centre Court during the Wimbledon singles final in the midst of potentially one of the most painful collapses of all time. Noskova had led her compatriot Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-2 before she squandered five championship points, conceded five consecutive games and found herself in a third set. On her way to the bathroom, Noskova found herself face-to-face with the Venus Rosewater Dish and the runner-up plate.
Seeing the trophy at such a pivotal moment in the championship match would have been disruptive for many players, only reinforcing the fact it had slipped from their grasp. For Noskova, however, it made her even more desperate to ensure that she left the court with that trophy. Noskova’s recovery to win her first grand slam title at Wimbledon was an incredibly impressive exhibition of her resilience.
Best match(es)
Women’s round of 16: (10) Karolina Muchova def. Barbora Krejcikova 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 Do not listen to anyone who claims that modern tennis is solely the domain of thoughtless ball bashing. The all-Czech fourth-round match between the 2024 champion Krejcikova and the eventual finalist Muchova was as dreamy in real life as it was on paper. They are two of the most skilful players, both armed with beautiful yet potent all-round games with vast toolboxes of shots, and this match showcased the full array of their capabilities. Both players threw the kitchen sink at each other, trying to outmanoeuvre the other with sweet drop shots, unflinching net play, vicious slices, angles, precision serving and perfectly-timed early forehands, all delivered in their own unique, effortless styles. It was just perfect.
Men’s quarter-final: (7) Novak Djokovic def. (3) Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6 (1) 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4) Five hours into his quarter-final battle with Auger-Aliassime, an opponent 14 years his youth, it would have been perfectly understandable if Djokovic was fading physically or struggling to manage his stress. Instead, Djokovic completely locked his game down, refusing to miss throughout the final set tie-break, and he eventually closed out a scarcely believable victory. Djokovic may not have won the title, but at 39, the level he continues to perform at is astounding. This five hour, 15-minute epic, in which Auger-Aliassime also fought desperately hard, serving brilliantly until the tie-break, was a spectacular match and another reminder of the Serb’s greatness.
Biggest surprise
Arthur Fery’s semi-final run. Not even the most bullish Fery supporter could have possibly imagined how his Wimbledon fortnight would unfold. He arrived at the All England Club, a short walk away from his mother’s home, needing a main draw wildcard with a ranking of No 114 and he left it having reached the semi-final alongside Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev and climbed the rankings to world No 36. Fery’s immense semi-final run included him demonstrating his toughness in two consecutive incredible five-set comebacks against Zizou Bergs and Grigor Dimitrov, then showing his sheer quality in his one-sided 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-0 defeat of Flavio Cobolli. It will be fascinating to see how he follows it up.
Best drama
Jelena Ostapenko and Laura Siegemund are both notorious for their combative personalities, and they have clashed plenty of times before, so it came as no surprise to see them at war again in their mixed-doubles quarter-final match alongside their respective partners Marcelo Arévalo and Édouard Roger-Vasselin. Their dispute started when Siegemund received her second time violation of the match at 7-7 in the second set tie-break after losing the first set 6-4. Siegemund responded by criticising Ostapenko’s time-keeping, then refusing to shake Ostapenko’s hand after the match. It ended with Ostapenko and Roger-Vasselin arguing by the umpire’s chair for minutes after the match, with Ostapenko delivering a stinging criticism of Siegemund: “Take the loss a bit better, eh? Learn how to lose.”
Most memorable quotes
Tennis players often try to put on a brave face before the media, even after a crushing defeat, but Alex de Minaur, the fifth seed, was incredibly candid about his total devastation he felt after losing in straight sets to Cobolli in their fourth round match. De Minaur spoke at length how he is not living up to his lofty ambitions. Some might call him dramatic, but in a sport where even the most successful players lose most weeks, sometimes losses deeply affect them: “It breaks me inside. That’s the reality of it. Many, many hours gets put into my craft, and countless years to kind of have moments like these. To not step up to the plate, it’s truly gut wrenching. Yeah, it’s very tough.”
He continued: “[The losses] just accumulate, right? And kind of the goals, the beliefs, the dreams that you have, they kind of start fading away or they feel a little bit further away than when they once were. I feel like a couple of years ago, I was definitely closer to that. Now it just feels like I’m getting a little bit further away from those dreams. I just want [a big run] to kind of happen to keep giving me that hope. If not, this is a tough, tough sport to play with no hope.”
Worst luck
There had been so much discussion over whether Maja Chwalinska, the recent French Open finalist, deserved a main draw wildcard. Having received one, she played brilliantly to reach match point against Mananchaya Sawangkaew in their first round match at 6-2, 5-2. Chwalinska then slipped on match point, hurt her ankle and was struggling with the injury until the end as she lost 2-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Most disappointing performance
For a player of Iga Swiatek’s calibre, a former No 1 and six-time grand slam champion, a third round loss anywhere is incredibly disappointing. However, much like in her French Open fourth round loss to Marta Kostyuk, her lack of competitiveness and fight in the second set of her 7-6 (9), 6-2 loss against an excellent Alexandra Eala was the worst part of her performance. With Swiatek now sitting at No 8 in the WTA rankings and No 12 in the race to the WTA finals, alarm bells should be ringing.
The biggest enemy of progress at Wimbledon
Injuries. Serena Williams’s singles return provided an enjoyable evening on Centre Court, but the knee injury she suffered meant she could not take to the court alongside Venus, her sister, rekindling one of the greatest sports teams in history. The injury withdrawals of Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper on the eve of the tournament were also brutal, particularly considering they were playing well beforehand. Victoria Mboko, Holger Rune and Lorenzo Musetti were all missed. Carlos Alcaraz’s absence due to a right wrist injury will continue to loom over every significant men’s tournament until he returns.
