Angelique Kerber and Novak Djokovic Are Wimbledon Champions - Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Wimbledon

Men’s Singles: Novak Djokovic beat Kevin Anderson 6-2 6-2 7-6 (3)

Women’s Singles: Angelique Kerber beat Serena Williams 6-3 6-3

Men’s Doubles: Mike Bryan and Jack Sock beat Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus 6-3 6-7 (7) 6-3 5-7 7-5

Women’s Doubles: Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova beat Nicole Melichar and Kveta Peschke 6-4 4-6 6-0

Mixed Doubles: Alexander Peya and Nicole Melichar beat Jamie Murray and Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (1) 6-3

Boys’ Singles: Tseng Chun Hsin beat Jack Draper 6-1 6-7 (2) 6-4

Girls’ Singles: Iga Swiatek beat Leonie Kung 6-4 6-2

Boys’ Doubles: Yanki Erel and Otto Virtanen beat Nicolas Mejia Ondrej Styler 7-6 (5) 6-4

Girls’ Doubles: Wang Xinyu and Wang Xiyu beat Catherine McNally Whitney Osuigwe 6-2 6-1

Men’s Wheelchair Singles: Stefan Olsson beat Gustavo Fernandez 6-2 0-6 6-3

Women’s Wheelchair Singles: Diede De Groot beat Aniek Van Koot 6-3 6-2

Men’s Wheelchair Doubles: Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid beat Joachim Gerard and Stefan Olsson 6-1 6-4

Women’s Wheelchair Doubles: Diede De Groot and Yui Kamiji beat Sabine Ellerbrock and Lucy Shuker 6-1 6-1

Quad Wheelchair Doubles: Andy Lapthorne and David Wagner beat Dylan Alcott and Lucas Sithole 6-2 6-3

OTHERS

Yannick Hanfmann beat Jozef Kovalik 6-2 3-6 6-3 to win the Sparkassen Open in Braunschweig, Germany

Viktoria Kuzmova beat Ekaterina Alexander 6-3 4-6 6-1 to win the Hungarian Pro Circuit Ladies Open in Budapest, Hungary

Stefanie Voegele beat Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-4 6-2 to win the Grand Est Open 88 in Contrexeville, France

SAYING

“It’s my first Grand Slam final in a couple of years and this is the best place to come back. It’s very, very special.” – Novak Djokovic, after winning his fourth Wimbledon singles title

“Even though today is not the result I was looking for, I think in the next few days, just seeing my new career-high rankings is going to mean a lot to me.” – Kevin Anderson, following his loss to Novak Djokovic in the men’s singles final.

“I knew I had to play my best tennis against a champion like Serena.” – Angelique Kerber, who did just that to beat Serena Williams and win the Wimbledon women’s singles title.

“For all the mums out there, I tried to do it for all of you.” – Serena Williams, on trying to win a Grand Slam title since becoming a mother.

“I couldn’t pick the better place, to be honest, in the tennis world to peak and to make a comeback. Wimbledon has been always a very special tournament to me, and to many players.” – Novak Djokovic.

“I feel like I have a ways to go. This is literally just the beginning, literally just the beginning.” – Serena Williams, after losing the Wimbledon women’s singles final to Angelique Kerber.

“When I was about to break the record, I thought, ‘Wow, I’m going to beat Federer at something.’” – Feliciano Lopez, who broke Roger Federer’s record when he played in his 66^th consecutive Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon.

“My favorite idol is Kei Nishikori because I think he’s the best Asian player. I play similar to him, so I want to be like him.” – Tseng Chun-Hsin, who won his second straight Grand Slam junior title.

“I think without 2017 I couldn’t win this tournament. I think I learned a lot from last year, with all the expectation, all the things I go through. I learned so many things about myself.” – Angelique Kerber,

SERB ON TOP AGAIN

Novak Djokovic capped a year of battling injury, a lack of motivation, coaching changes and frustration by winning his fourth career Wimbledon title – and his first major crown in more than two years. “I did not expect to be back in the top shape already here in Wimbledon so quickly,” Djokovic said after crushing South Africa’s Kevin Anderson. “If you asked me after Roland Garros, I would probably maybe doubt that. At the same time there is a part of me that always believes in my own abilities, believes in my own quality of tennis, what I possess. Whenever I come to the tournament and, Grand Slams especially, I believe I can have a good opportunity to fight for the trophy.” Djokovic needed no time to assert his dominance, breaking Anderson’s serve in the opening game and racing out to a 5-1 lead. The second set was just as one-sided, Djokovic again starting with a service break. The Serb committed just one unforced error in the first set and six in the second. Anderson finally began finding the range in the third set, holding in each of his first four service games. The South African actually had set point twice, but Djokovic saved both. They then battled into a tiebreak, where Djokovic moved out front 5-1 before winning 7-3. “I understand that people are questioning whether I can consistently play on this level,” Djokovic said. “Trust me, I am, too.” The Serb now has 13 career Grand Slam tournament titles, moving past Roy Emerson for fourth-most. He is one major title behind Pete Sampras.

STOPS SERENA

Angelique Kerber won two Grand Slam titles and reached number one in the world. Then came 2017 when the German had trouble winning a match. Now she’s back on top again, making history by winning the Wimbledon women’s singles title. With the straight-set victory, Kerber became only the second player to beat Serena Williams in two Grand Slam tournament finals. The only other one is Serena’s older sister, Venus. Yet Kerber looks back on her horrendous 2017 season as the reason for her victory. “I think without 2017 I couldn’t win this tournament,” Kerber said. “I think I learned a lot from last year, with all the expectation, all the things I go through. I learned so many things about myself, about the things around, how to deal with this, how to make my day schedule. You have to go through all the things, the good things the bad things, and then you need to learn.” While Kerber was seeded 11^th and Williams just 25^th, it was Serena who was favored to win her 24^th Grand Slam singles title. Just 10 months after giving birth to her daughter, the 36-year-old American looked poised to win her eighth Wimbledon. Instead, it was Kerber who dominated the first women’s final between two players in their 30s since 1977, breaking Williams three times in the opening set and again in the sixth game of the second. With the win, Kerber became the first German woman to win the title since Stefanie Graf in 1996. Williams was bidding to become only the fourth mother to win a Grand Slam tournament title in the Open Era and the first at Wimbledon since Evonne Goolagong beat Chris Evert in 1980. “To all the mums out there, I was playing for you today, and I tried but Angelique played really well, she played out of her mind,” said Williams, who was playing only her fourth tournament since returning to the Tour.

STARS WITHOUT TWIN

Playing without his twin brother, Mike Bryan proved he was still a champion, teaming with fellow American Jock to win the Wimbledon men’s doubles. It was Bryan’s record-tying 17^th Grand Slam doubles title – and his first without his twin brother, Bob, who is sidelined with a hip injury. “I want to dedicate this title to him, because I’m sure he’s watching on TV,” Bryan said. At the age of 40, Bryan is the oldest man in the Open Era to win the doubles at Wimbledon. He won his first 16 major championships, including three at Wimbledon, with his twin, Bob, a record. John Newcombe also won 17 Grand Slam tournament doubles titles, but the most he won with one partner was 12. The Bryans had played together in a record 76 consecutive major tournaments until Bob missed the French Open in May. Mike entered Roland Garros with Sam Querrey and lost in the first round. This was only the second time Mike Bryan had teamed with Jack Sock, who also mentioned Bob Bryan in his post-game remarks. “I’m just filling in here for one of the greatest of all time,” Sock said.

SHARING HISTORY

Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova are showing their success as juniors was just a prelude to their careers. The 22-year-old Czechs won their second straight Grand Slam tournament title, stopping Kveta Peschke and Nicole Melichar. They become the first pair sine 2003 to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year, and they are the first to win both the junior girls’ and women’s doubles title at Wimbledon. They won the junior crown in 2013. “At the beginning of the tournament I wouldn’t have expected this,” Siniakova said. “Now I’m here and we have two titles. It feels just amazing.” Krejcikova dedicated their victory to her mentor and compatriot Jana Novotna, who died from ovarian cancer last November. “Novotna won the Wimbledon singles 20 years ago. “I’m really, really proud,” Krejcikova said in honoring Novotna’s memory. “I think she would be really proud, too.”

STRONG JUNIOR

Taiwan’s Tseng Chun-Hsin continued his romp through the junior ranks, reaching his third straight Grand Slam junior final and winning for the second straight time. The 16-year-old Tseng defeated Great Britain’s Jack Draper to win at Wimbledon. The world’s top-ranked junior also captured the French Open title after finishing runner-up at the Australian Open in January. “I think after this year I will start to play professional tournaments,” Tseng said. “This year I play maybe (junior) US Open and after I will turn to the pro circuit.”

SWIATEK JUNIOR CHAMPION

When Iga Swiatek beat Swiss qualifier Leonie Kung, she became the fourth Polish player to win a Grand Slam tournament junior girls title. Aleksandra Olsza won in 1995 and the Radwanska sisters, Agnieszka and Urszula, in 2005 and 2007, respectively. “I was scared that I will not do well because of the stress and the pressure, but I felt great on court,” Swiatek said after her straight-set victory. “My serve was really good. I played very fast balls, so I’m happy with that. It was great.” Swiatek missed several months last year because of ankle surgery. The 17-year-old reached the singles semifinals and won the doubles with Caty McNally last month at the French Open.

SNARED FOR GAMBLING

Robert Farah of Colombia was banned for three months and fined USD $5,000 for promoting a gambling website through his social media channels. The 31-year-old in February shared a tweet advertising an online betting company, indirectly encouraging others to bet on tennis and so possibly influence the outcome of a match. After he was contacted by the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), Farah removed his tweet and helped authorities with the investigation. Currently ranked 16^th in the world in doubles, Farah will not be able to compete again until October 2018, providing he doesn’t violate any Anti-Corruption Tennis Programme Rules.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Braunschweig: Santiago Gonzalez and Wesley Koolhof beat N. Sriram Balaji and Vishnu Vardhan 6-3 6-3

Budapest: Alexandra Cadantu and Chantal Skamlova beat Kaitlyn Christian and Giuliana Olmos 6-1 6-3

Contrexeville: An-Sophie Mestach and Zheng Saisai beat Prathana G. Thombare and Eva Wacanno 3-6 6-2 10-7 (match tiebreak)

SURFING

Newport: www.halloffameopen.com/

Båstad: www.swedishopen.org/

Umag: www.croatiaopen.hr/hr/ulaznice-i-smjestaj/ulaznice/

Astana: www.ktf.kz/

Bucharest: www.brdbucharestopen.ro/

Gstaad (women): www.ladieschampionshipgstaad.ch/fr/

Hamburg: https://german-open-hamburg.de/en/