Novak Djokovic, Petra Kvitova Are Wimbledon Champions Again - Mondays With Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

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Wimbledon

Men’s singles: Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer 6-7 (7) 6-4 7-6 (4) 5-7 6-4

Women’s singles: Petra Kvitova beat Eugenie Bouchard 6-3 6-0

Men’s doubles: Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil beat Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan 7-6 (5) 6-7 (3) 6-4 3-6 7-5

Women’s doubles: Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci beat Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic 6-1 6-3

Mixed doubles: Nenad Zimonjic and Samantha Stosur beat Max Mirnyi and Chan Hao-Ching 6-4 6-2

Boys’ singles: Noah Rubin beat Stefan Kozlov 6-4 4-6 6-3

Girls’ singles: Jelena Ostapenko beat Kristina Schmiedlova 2-6 6-3 6-0

Boys’ doubles: Orlando Luz and Marcelo Zormann beat Stefan Kozlov and Andrey Rublev 6-4 3-6 8-6

Girls’ doubles: Tami Grende and Qiu Yu Ye beat Marie Bouzkova and Dalma Galfi 6-2 7-6 (5)

Wheelchair men’s doubles: Stephane Houdet and Shingo Kunieda beat Maikel Scheffers and Ronald Vink 5-7 6-0 6-3

Wheelchair women’s doubles: Yui Kamiji and Jordanne Whiley beat Jiske Griffioen and Aniek Van Koot 2-6 6-2 7-5

OTHERS

Alexander Zverev beat Paul-Henri Mathieu 1-6 6-1 6-4 to win the Sparkassen Open in Braunschweig, Germany

Irina-Camelia Begu beat Kaia Kanepi 6-3 6-4 to win the Lorraine Open 88 in Contrexeville, France

SAYING

“Thank you for letting me win today.” – Novak Djokovic, to Roger Federer on Djokovic accepting the trophy as Wimbledon champion.

“It was a great final. I can’t believe I made it to five (sets). It wasn’t looking good for a while.” – Roger Federer, after losing to Novak Djokovic in a five-set title match.

“Maybe it was magic.” – Petra Kvitova, on her thorough domination of Eugenie Bouchard in the women’s final.

“I felt like I started well … but I didn’t feel like I was able to play my game. She really took the chances away from me and was really putting a lot of pressure on me. I didn’t have that many opportunities. But, you know, sometimes your opponent just plays better than you, and that’s what happened today.” – Eugenie Bouchard, after losing to Petra Kvitova.

“I could have easily lost my concentration in the fifth set and just handed him the win. But I didn’t and that’s why this win has a special importance to me mentally because I managed not just to win against my opponent but win against myself as well, and find that inner strength that got me the trophy today.” – Novak Djokovic.

“I honestly can’t grasp the fact that we’ve been able to accomplish all of this. I think I’ll realize it all after we finish playing. I’ll say, ‘Wow, we did all of that.’” – Roberta Vinci, who teamed with Sara Errani to become just the fifth team to win all four Grand Slam tournament women’s doubles titles together in their career.

“After three years to be back here with the trophy is absolutely amazing. It’s amazing time for me.” – Petra Kvitova, on winning Wimbledon for the second time in four years.

“I kept believing and kept trying to play offensive tennis. I’m happy it paid off in some instances. As you can imagine, I’m very disappointed not being rewarded with victory. But it was close, you know. Novak deserved it at the end clearly, but it was extremely close.” – Roger Federer.

“To be my second Grand Slam title and to do it here at Wimbledon is unbelievable.” – Jack Sock, who teamed with Vasek Pospisil to win the men’s doubles.

“Our games just clicked perfectly together. We were complementing each other the whole tournament. We were a dangerous team.” – Vasek Pospisil.

“These losses are tough. These are daggers but we usually bounce back.” – Bob Bryan, who with his brother Mike lost the men’s doubles final.

“It helps to have a few Wimbledons in the trophy cabinet.” – Mike Bryan, noting the brothers have won Wimbledon three times.

“The team we are, I think it doesn’t matter who is on the other side. If we are playing good, we can win against anyone on that day.” – Nenad Zimonjic, who teamed with Samantha Stosur to win the mixed doubles title.

“Unfortunately Serena has been feeling unwell for the past few days and she just couldn’t play to her potential today. I’m really proud of her for trying because we just love playing doubles together.” – Venus Williams, after her sister Serena pulled out of their second-round women’s doubles match, reportedly with a viral illness.

“I’m very happy to see that with feeling normal I can produce a performance like I did the last two weeks. That clearly makes me believe that this was just a stepping stone to many more great things in the future.” – Roger Federer.

“It’s possible it doesn’t work. It has nothing to do with whether she’s a woman or not. That’s not why it will work or not work.” – Andy Murray, on hiring 2006 Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo as his coach.

SUPER NOVAK

After an extraordinary battle between two giants, Novak Djokovic ended up a Wimbledon champion for the second time. While the Serb’s victory denied Roger Federer of his eighth title at the All England Club, both men put on display one of the finest matches to be played on any tennis court anywhere and anytime. Three hours and 56 minutes and five sets after play started, Djokovic fell to the ground – this time in celebration and not as a result of a slip. “I don’t know how I managed to do it,” a tearful Djokovic said. The victory wiped away the disappointment of his last three Grand Slam tournament finals – all losses. “Going into a match with Novak, you know it’s going to be tough,” Federer said. “I can only say congratulations to him. It was an amazing match and an amazing tournament. It’s well-deserved.” Djokovic now has won seven Grand Slam tournament titles. Federer’s career total of major trophies remains at a men’s record 17. Although Djokovic was close to perfection in the opening set, Federer took the lead by winning a tiebreak. Then the Serb had the chance to close out the victory when he led 5-2 in the fourth set and served for the match at 5-3. Instead, Federer reeled off five straight games to level the match and send it into a fifth set. Djokovic failed to capitalize on three chances to break Federer in the eighth game of the final set. But when presented with two more match points in the 10^th game, he ended the battle, capturing his first Grand Slam tournament title since the 2013 Australia Open. In the trophy presentation ceremony, Djokovic told the crown he was dedicating the victory “to a few people, first of all to my future wife and our future baby.”

With the victory, Djokovic regains the number one spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings, moving past Rafael Nadal. It’s the first time Djokovic has been top-ranked since last October when Nadal became number one.

SECOND TRIUMPH

Where the men’s Wimbledon final featured two of the sport’s best at the top of their game, the women’s title match was a crushing victory for the Petra Kvitova. The Czech left-hander mauled Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, who was in her first Grand Slam tournament final. It took just 55 minutes for Kvitova to capture her second Wimbledon crown. That’s one minute slower than Martina Navratilova’s 1983 record for the fastest women’s final victory. “I was really prepared for everything,” Kvitova said. “I knew I had to go for every, every shot that she played.” She did – and everything worked. In the fourth game of the match Kvitova scampered all over the court, returning Bouchard’s every effort. And when Kvitova ended a lengthy rally with a stunning crosscourt winner, it spelled doom for the young Canadian. “From that time I was like, ‘OK, that’s not normal,” Kvitova said. The winner’s only wobble came in the eighth game of the opening set when the 20-year-old Bouchard broke serve. The Canadian would not win another game on the famed All England Club Centre Court on this day. “It will be good … to have a second trophy at home. I still have a lot of work to do to match how many Martina has,” Kvitova said of Navratilova, her childhood heroine. “So I will work very hard for that.” Navratilova won nine Wimbledon singles titles.

SURPRISING VICTORY

Not only was it a surprise that an American won the junior boys’ title, it was a surprise which American won it. Noah Rubin had to qualify to earn a place in the main draw. Eight wins later, he is a Wimbledon champion, downing fellow American Stefan Kozlov 6-4 4-6 6-3 in the final. “Nothing said I couldn’t be here. I believe in my competitiveness, my mental capability, and speed. I don’t see why not,” Rubin said when asked if when he was qualifying if he could imagine winning the title. “But I wasn’t thinking ahead to this. I wasn’t at all. First-round quallies, playing a big server that day, I was thinking I could possibly lose the first round of qualifying. It was just point by point, match by match. Eight matches later, this is where I am.” It was the first time an American has won the boys’ singles since Donald Young captured the title in 2007. It was only the second all-American boys’ Wimbledon final and the first since 1977 when Van Winnitsky defeated Eliot Teltscher. Once in the top 10 in the junior rankings, Rubin was playing only his second junior event of 2014. “I didn’t expect much coming into these tournaments,” he said. “I just wanted to get out here and enjoy myself. It’s one of my final junior tournaments, so it’s nice to have this under my belt. I’ll always remember this time.”

SHARING A TITLE

Italy’s Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci became only the fifth team to complete a career Grand Slam in women’s doubles together when the won their first Wimbledon title. Seeded second this year, Errani and Vinci beat Timea Babos of Hungary and Kristina Mladenovic of France in the final. Playing in their eighth major final, it was the fifth title for Errani and Vinci, who won Roland Garros and the US Open in 2012 and the Australian Open in 2013 and 2014. “It’s different because it’s the (career) Grand Slam,” Errani said when asked to compare the victory with their other major wins. “I thought about it all day. Even on court, during the match, I thought about it. It’s something historic.” The four other teams with career Grand Slams in women’s doubles are sisters Serena and Venus Williams, Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver, Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva, and Kathy Jordan and Annie Smith. Playing in their eighth major final, Errani said: “I don’t think I ever was as tense as I was today, not even singles,” said Errani, who was runner-up at Roland Garros in 2012. “I was thinking about the Grand Slam. It’s crazy.”

SHOCKER

Jack Sock is not the first player who comes to mind when someone says an American is the Wimbledon men’s doubles champion. But that’s what Sock is as he and Canada’s Vasek Pospisil upset American twins Bob and Mike Bryan in the title match. The Bryans have won 15 Grand Slam titles and 99 doubles titles as a team. Sock and Pospisil were playing as a team in their first tournament. They are the first pair to claim a major title in their initial tournament as a team since Lleyton Hewitt and Max Mirnyi won the US Open title in 2000. The 21-year-old Sock teamed with Melanie Oudin in 2011 to win the US Open mixed doubles title.

STUNNING LOSS

It’s becoming habit-forming for Rafael Nadal. For the third straight year the Spaniard suffered a stunning defeat at Wimbledon. This time the giant-killer was Nick Kyrigios, a 19-year-old from Australia who got into the main draw with a wild card. Kyrgios slammed 37 aces and used a fearless go-for-broke style to knocked off the tournament’s top-ranked player 7-6 (5) 5-7 7-6 (5) 6-3. Playing in his first Wimbledon and only his second Grand Slam tournament, Kyrgios became the first player ranked outside the top 100 to defeat a number one player at a major since 193^rd-ranked Andrei Olhovskiy knocked off Jim Courier in the third round at Wimbledon in 1992. His 37^th ace came on match point.

SERENA “HEARTBROKEN”

After pulling out of her second-round women’s doubles match, Serena Williams said she was “heartbroken” to not be able to continue playing at Wimbledon. “I really wanted to compete, but this bug just got the best of me,” the world’s top-ranked woman said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press. The tournament referee’s office and the WTA said Williams had a viral illness. She was upset in the third round in singles but had played in the doubles draw with her sister, Venus. Prior to the second-round doubles match, Serena looked listless in the warmup. She was examined for about 10 minutes on the sidelines by the medical staff, including a check of her blood pressure, before the match began. The Williams sisters lost all three games played before Serena withdrew. Ninety minutes after leaving the court, Serena walked out of the All England Club still wearing her match outfit with a tournament towel wrapped around her waist. She got into a car and was driven away. The sisters have won 13 Grand Slam doubles titles as a pair, including five at Wimbledon. “We were all looking forward to a great match,” Serena said. “From the bottom of my heart I thank all of the fans for their cheers and understanding. I look forward to returning to Wimbledon next year.”

SET NOW FULL

In only their second tournament together, Nenad Zimonjic and Samantha Stosur wound up winning the Wimbledon mixed doubles title, beating Max Mirnyi and Chan Hao-Ching in the final. The victory completed the set for Zimonjic, who had until now won every other Grand Slam tournament mixed doubles title. “I’m glad she said yes (to the partnership),” Zimonjic said. “Glad we took this chance. This is the Slam that I missed. In the mixed doubles she won it before with Bob (Bryan). So thanks.” It was a combination of superb net play from Zimonjic and strong serving from Stosur that pushed the team through the draw and to the title. In the final, the winner duo broke Mirnyi’s serve in the ninth game of the first set. Chan lost both of her service games in the second set. “She had an unbelievable serve,” Zimonjic said of Stosur. “She can serve any type of serve in any part of the box. She is very solid from the back. Big forehands. At the net, you know, she’s very comfortable.” Stosur was best known for her doubles, being ranked number on in the world on the WTA Tour at one time, before she won the US Open singles title in 2011.

STRUCK DOWN

It was a first week like almost no other. The women’s singles draw was shredded by upsets in the opening week of Wimbledon. It started when Barbora Zahlavova Strycova knocked off second-seeded Li Na, the Australian Open winner. Then Alize Cornet upset the top seed, Serena Williams. And when former Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska lost to Ekaterina Makarova, that meant three of the top four women’s seeds were gone from this year’s Championships. Kaia Kanepi ousted seventh-seeded Jelena Jankovic, Bojana Jovanovski eliminated eighth-seeded Victoria Azarenka and Lucie Safarova downed 10^th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova, the Australian Open runner-up. Zahlavova Strycova continued her dream Grand Slam tournament when she beat former world number one Carolina Wozniacki. “I went into the match with massive belief and this is something I was dreaming about,” Zahlavova Strycova said. “But it is going on right now; the dream is here and it is overwhelming.” She lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Petra Kvitova.

SIDELINED BY CANCER

One of America’s top young players, Victoria Duval, has been diagnosed with Hodgkins’ lymphoma and will immediately undergo treatment. “It is with a heavy heart that I will have to step away from tennis competition for a short period,” Duval said in a statement. “I received the news after my first round of qualifying at Wimbledon but decided to continue to compete. Being on court provided me with much comfort. … I intend to put up my best fight and have a full recovery. I picture myself healthy, stronger and competing again soon with even more appreciation for the game I so love.” The diagnosis came after a biopsy was taken in England before Wimbledon and the results confirmed by further tests in the United States. Hodgkin’s is the most common form of cancer in adolescents. A statement from her representatives at IMG said the cancer was caught in its very early stages. At last year’s US Open in only her second Grand Slam tournament match, Duval upset former champion Samantha Stosur.

SHOE HORSE

Grigor Dimitrov changed his shoes four times during a match. It didn’t work, however, as the 23-year-old Bulgarian lost his semifinal match to eventual men’s champion Novak Djokovic 6-4 3-6 7-6 (2) 7-6 (7). The parade of shoes came about because Dimitrov had problems with his footing on the grass court. At one stage he had four pairs of shoes lined up in front of his chair. “I lost count,” Dimitrov said. “I had four pairs with me, five, six. Oh, good God, I don’t know. I think throughout the whole tournament I changed maybe 10 pairs. I think today was maybe four.” Dimitrov noted that Djokovic also had problems with the footing. “We were both sliding quite a bit on the court, changing shoes,” he said. “When you’re into that deep second week of a tournament, the grass is wearing off a little bit. So you can’t really expect much else. But it’s the same for me, it’s the same for him, so we both try to overcome those kind of obstacles.”

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Braunschweig: Andreas Siljestromi and Igor Zelenay beat Raumeez Junaid and Michal Mertinak 7-5 6-4

Contrexeville: Alexandra Panova and Laura Thorpe beat Irina-Camelia Begu and Maria Irigoyen 6-3 4-0, retired

SURFING

Biarritz: www.tournoi.fft.fr/openboqdfsuez

Båstad (men): http://men.swedishopen.org/

Stuttgart: www.mercedescup.de/

Newport: www.halloffametennischampionships.com/

Bad Gastein: www.gastein-ladies.at/

Bucharest: www.brdbucharestopen.ro/

Hamburg: http://bet-at-home-open.com/

Bogota: www.claroopencolombia.com/