Wimbledon 2013 Wrap-Up: You Can’t Be Serious!

A wrap up of Wimbledon 2013 including the unexpected shocks, and some things that rocked!

Here we are at the end of The Wimbledon Championships 2013. Being in Melbourne in the Australian time zone, a lot of nights I watched as much tennis as I could before needing to sleep, and then woke up to read news of results I never would have seen coming. Especially during the first week of the tournament.

In my opinion of all the tennis grand slams, Wimbledon is pure class on the grass. It ranked No.2 behind the Australian Open in my fan rankings. It could have been No.1 but lost points due to the comparitive difficulty in getting tickets and only having one court with a roof to counter-attack the rain that is regularly seen on court.

I’m sure all tennis fans will agree that the 2013 Wimbledon tournament has been un-anticipated craziness. From relatively good weather, massive ticket queues and exceptionally superb tennis to incredible upsets and unfortunate injuries.

Here’s a recap of significant events that happened each day of the Wimbledon tournament. I’m sure I’ve missed some though so please let me know in the comments.

Day 1 – Round 1

The first big whammy! Rafael Nadal defeated by No.135 ranked Steve Darcis in straight sets.

This was the first time Rafa lost in the first round of a major. Must admit that it took me awhile to accept the new Wimbledon reality that didn’t have Rafa in the draw.

Day 2 – Round 1

The lovely British hope Laura Robson upsets No.10 seed Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-4.

Day 3 – Round 2 – Black Wednesday

This day, now known as Black Wednesday, was surely the craziest day of any grand slam tournament.

The next big whammy! Roger Federer defeated by Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, 7-6 who is currently ranked No.116.  Federer’s loss broke his run of 36 consecutive grand slam quarter-finals. Stakhovsky lost next round.

Qualifier Dustin Brown defeats former Wimbledon Champion Lleyton Hewitt in four sets. Brown lost next round.

And the high seeds keep on falling! Michelle Larcher de Brito defeated 2004 Champion Maria Sharapova. And 19 year old Eugenie Bouchard defeated No.12 seed Ana Ivanovic. Following the pattern that developed, both top 10 slayers lost next round.

Black Wednesday Withdrawals and Retirements (the most in a single day at a grand slam)

• Jo Wilfried Tsonga
• Marin Cilic
• John Isner
• Steve Darcis
• Radek Stepanek
• Victoria Azarenka
• Yaroslava Shvedova (who achieved the Golden Set by not dropping a point during her match against Sara Errani in 2012)

Day 4 – Round 2

Rain delays play for the first time in this year’s tournament.

Day 5 – Round 3

Kaia Kanepi defeats No.7 seed Angelique Kerber. Kanepi went through to the quarter-finals and lost to Lisicki.

Day 6 – Round 3

Great weather for tennis and 88 matches were completed.

Bernard Tomic defeats No.9 seed Richard Gasquet in four sets. Tomic lost in the next round to Berdych.

Laura Robson becomes the first British women to play in the fourth round of Wimbledon since 1988. Robson lost in the fourth round to Kanepi.

Read Quotes of the First Week of Wimbledon.

Day 7 – Round 4 – Manic Monday

In one of the biggest surprises of an extremely surprising tournament, reigning Champion Serena Williams who hadn’t dropped a set in the tournament was defeated by Sabine Lisicki 6-2, 1-6, 6-4.

Lisicki has defeated the reigning Roland Garros champion at Wimbledon four times. Lisicki is now through to the final.

Day 8 – Ladies’ Quarter-Finals

2011 Champion and No.8 seed Petra Kvitova defeated by No.20 seed Kirsten Flipkens in the quarter-finals. Kvitova was the highest seed left in her half of the draw.

Day 9 – Gentlemen’s Quarter-Finals

An in form Fernando Verdasco takes Andy Murray to five sets in their quarter-final.

Read more about the Murray Verdasco quarter-final.

Juan Martin Del Potro falls during the first game of his quarter-final against David Ferrer, re-injuring his knee that suffered during his fourth round match, and then goes on to win in straight sets.

Lukas Kubot (currently ranked 130) and Jerzy Janowicz Polish become the first two male Polish players have reached a quarter-final in the same tournament.

Day 10 – Ladies’ Semi-Finals

Sabine Lisicki and 2012 Runner-Up Agnieszka Radwanska play an epic semi-final which Lisicki wins 6-4, 2-6, 9-7 in two hours and 18 minutes.

Read more about the Lisicki Radwanska match.

Day 11 – Gentlemen’s Semi-Finals

Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro play the longest Wimbledon semi-final, a five set match which lastest 4 hours and 43 minutes. I stayed up until around 3am Melbourne time watching the match. Every time it seemed like the match could have been over for Del Potro, he found a winner and stayed in the match. I was sad that he lost but have to admire Djokovic for showing why he is World No.1, finding a way to win despite hitting some shots that weren’t his best tennis.

Neither man had dropped a set during the tournament prior to this match

Read more about the Djokovic Del Potro semi-final.

Day 12 – Marion Bartoli wins the Ladies’ Final

2007 Runner Up No.15 seed Marion Bartoli plays first time grand slam finalist No.23 seed Sabine Lisicki.

Bartoli defeated Lisicki in straight sets 6-1, 6-4. Lisicki was overwhelmed by the occasion but hopefully she’ll be back in a Wimbledon final in future.

Here’s a great wrap up of the ladies’ final and draw from the Wimbledon website.

View the Ladies’ draw to see how the two weeks of the tournament played out.

Day 13 – Andy Murray wins the Gentlemen’s Final

What a way to end Wimbledon 2013! No.2 seed Andy Murray defeats No.1 seed Novak Djokovic in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.

With the win, Murray become Britain’s first man to win Wimbledon in 77 years.

Even Lendl smiled.

Read the Wimbledon review of the Murray v Djokovic Gentlemen’s Final and have a look at the completed Gentlemen’s Draw.

Watch a vid of Murray’s Winner Speech

Can’t help but be sad that Wimbledon is over for another year. Despite the craziness (and lack of sleep in this case for me), grand slam tournaments are definitely an enjoyable ride. The US Open, the final slam of the year, starts on 26 August 2013.

Until next time

Grand Slam Gal