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Tag 2019 Wimbledon

Sport

Djokovic beats Federer in Wimbledon epic to win fifth title

Djokovic
London, July 14, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Novak Djokovic again proved the toughest of nuts for Roger Federer to crack to claim his fifth Wimbledon title on Sunday.

It was the first All England Club final match to be decided by a tiebreaker.

The Serbian repelled everything the Federer could throw at him in am epic final worth every minute.

The defending champion was outshone at times on Centre Court and saved two match points deep into a gripping decider.

But he dredged his tank of mental and physical resilience to claim a thrilling 7-6(5) 1-6 7-6(4) 4-6 13-12(3) win.

Nothing could split the players in an intoxicating final set and the match was already the longest Wimbledon singles final in history.

So, the club’s new rule stipulating a tiebreak at 12-12 in a deciding set was deployed for the first time in singles.

As he had done in the day’s two other tiebreaks, the top-seeded Djokovic showed nerves of steel to crush Federer’s hopes of claiming a ninth title.

The Swiss would have become the oldest man to win a Grand Slam title in the professional era.

Djokovic moved 6-3 ahead and, after the final point had to be replayed following a Hawk-eye challenge, he could celebrate victory when a weary Federer framed a forehand.

Victory took the 32-year-old Serbian level with Bjorn Borg in fourth place on the all-time list of men’s winners at Wimbledon.

It also increased his Grand Slam tally to 16 ——- four behind Federer.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Halep stuns Serena to win Wimbledon title

Title
London, July 13, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Serena Williams’ wait for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles title goes on after Simona Halep stunned the off-key American 6-2 6-2 in a one-sided Wimbledon final match on Saturday.

An inspired Halep took full advantage of an error-strewn display by seven-times champion Williams to become the first Romanian to win the Wimbledon title.

The 27-year-old Halep broke serve in the opening game and raced into a 4-0 lead.

She remained rock solid throughout and Williams simply could not respond.

There were signs that Williams was finding her range in the second set but Halep was undaunted and reeled off the last five games.

The contest ended after Williams buried a forehand into the net after 56 minutes.

It is the second year running that Williams arrived in the final seeking to match Margaret Court’s record 24 singles majors.

Last year she failed to get a set against Angelique Kerber.

She then went on to lose the U.S. Open final match.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Federer overcomes shaky start to join Grand Slam 100 club

Federer
London, July 10, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Roger Federer chalked up another monumental milestone to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals on Wednesday, recovering to beat Japan’s Kei Nishikori 4-6 6-1 6-4 6-4.

The Swiss thus becomes the first man to record a century of singles wins at any Grand Slam.

Number two seed Federer was so poor in the first set that the eighth-seeded Nishikori may have felt the 37-year-old Swiss’s advancing years had finally caught up with him.

Yet the remainder of the contest had just enough flourishes of pure brilliance from the eight-time champion.

It made it a worthy occasion for him to become the sole male member of the Grand Slam 100 club.

Federer’s victory raised the prospect that Wimbledon may once again play host to one of the sport’s greatest rivalries.

That is if Rafa Nadal overcomes big-serving American Sam Querrey to tee up a clash against his old Swiss foe in the semi-finals.

The duo have not met at the All-England Club since their titanic tussle in the 2008 final.

That was when Nadal outlasted Federer over five thrilling sets which finished in the late evening gloom.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Svitolina becomes first Ukrainian woman to reach major semi-final

Svitolina
London, July 9, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) It was 28th time lucky for Elina Svitolina as she finally managed to get a grip on her nerves with a 7-5 6-4 win over Karolina Muchova on Tuesday.

She thus became the first Ukrainian to reach the singles semi-finals of a Grand Slam.

Svitolina has long been expected to join the challenge for the biggest prizes in tennis but, until Tuesday, all those attempts had fallen well short.

What was surprising was that the feat was achieved on Wimbledon’s rather threadbare lawns as the Ukrainian’s game is more suited to the sport’s slower surfaces.

Svitolina, seeded eight, was not about to complain.

“It feels amazing. It is the first semi-final for me, and I actually didn’t expect it to happen here.

“It is exciting and I am looking forward to it already,” the beaming 24-year-old said after setting up the last four clash against former world number one Simona Halep.

For long periods during her quarter-final against her unseeded Czech opponent though, it felt that her challenge might again fall flat.

She trailed 1-4 in the first set and was broken when she went to serve for the match at 5-2 up in the second set.

Her heart must have been pounding at the thought of another missed opportunity.

But somehow she managed to keep the jitters in check to subdue the spirited challenge of her 68th-ranked opponent.

“I had to fight for every point, take my chances, and just try to get the extra ball over the net,” she said.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Strycova stuns Konta to reach 2019 Wimbledon semi-finals

Strycova
London, July 9, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Unseeded Czech Barbora Strycova weathered an early storm to flatten British hopes with a 7-6(5) 6-1 defeat of Johanna Konta in the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Tuesday.

Konta powered into a 4-1 lead in the first set but Strycova never panicked.

She used her superior craft to turn the match in her favour in front of a deflated Centre Court crowd.

After playing a superb tiebreak to take the first set, the 33-year-old Strycova took complete charge of the match as Konta self-destructed with a flurry of wild errors.

Konya had raised hopes of a first British women’s singles champion at Wimbledon since 1977 with a strong run to the last eight, but she was well-beaten in the end.

World number 54 Strycova will now face seven-time champion Serena Williams in her first Grand Slam semi-final. (Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Halep steers steady path into Wimbledon semi-finals

Halep
London, July 9, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Former world number one Simona Halep reached her second Wimbledon semi-final on Tuesday by dispatching China’s unseeded Zhang Shuai 7-6(4) 6-1.

But she had to overcome an early onslaught to deliver another textbook example of matchplay tennis.

Just as she did in quelling the lively challenge of 15-year-old Coco Gauff on Monday, Halep initially struggled.

She looked in real danger when 4-1 down and facing more break points in the opening set.

However, the Romanian dug in to see off the threat and then played her usual percentage tennis as Zhang lost her way.

Seventh-seed Halep will now face either number eight seed Elina Svitolina or unseeded Karolina Muchova as she bids to reach the final for the first time.

She lost to Eugenie Bouchard in the last four in 2014.

“I fought hard in the first set, even if I knew I was 4-1 and she was hitting hard. I knew she would hit with a lot of power.

“I knew I would have to play aggressively and I did it great.

“I have energy, I feel fresh and confident and I am perhaps playing my best tennis on grass,” Halep said.

Zhang is ranked 50th and has reached the quarter-finals in only one Grand Slam event ——— the 2016 Australian Open.

However, she started superbly, serving and returning with depth, power and confidence to break in the second game and race to a 4-1 lead.

That looked set to be 5-1, but Halep battled and chased to save four break points in the game and turn the match.

The 27-year-old Romanian, last year’s French Open champion, began to find her own rhythm.

She delivered the calculated low-risk groundstrokes that wore down American Gauff on Monday to hold, and then broke back via a double fault.

Zhang’s double-handed backhand, so deadly in the opening games, began to pepper the tramlines as the inconsistency indicated by her poor Grand Slam record became evident.

She clung on enough to get to a tiebreak but was well beaten in it and an early break in the second set put Halep 3-1 up.

Zhang’s head then dropped and the errors flowed as Halep rattled through the remaining games at a canter.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Joseph Edeh and Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Wimbledon: Williams survives Riske business to reach semis

 

Wimbledon: Williams survives Riske business to reach semis

Survival
London, July 9, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Serena Williams clubbed her way into the Wimbledon semi-finals, draining the last drop of fight from fellow American Alison Riske before sealing a 6-4 4-6 6-3 win in a rip-roaring Centre Court contest on Tuesday.

For two sets, Riske absorbed every last punishing blow from the seven-time champion, while her own lightweight jab inflicted some early pain and then levelled the seesaw encounter at 1-1.

Williams’s blows, however, became too frequent and too heavy in the final games, with the weaponised serve pushing the world number 55 Riske back on her heels.

Having knocked out world number one Ash Barty in the last round and having spent over nine hours on court en route to the quarters, Riske had shown a streak of pure Pittsburgh steel.

But Williams is tennis tungsten, and recovered superbly from a brief wobble in which she lost the second set and fell a break behind in the third.

She eventually charged over the finish line after more than two hours on court, bringing up match point when Riske netted a forehand.

Williams completed the job in typical fashion with her 19th ace of the match.

“It was really satisfying; I wouldn’t have won that match a couple of weeks ago, every match here has really counted,” said Williams.

“She has played so great and beaten so many great players here. I was really pumped, it’s for a place in the Wimbledon semis – it’s a long arduous road.” (Reuters/NAN)
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Edited by Joseph Edeh/Felix Ajide

 

Sport

Wozniacki’s Wimbledon ends in grumbles

Wozniacki’s Wimbledon ends in grumbles

London, July 5, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) At first it had all looked so good for former world number one Caroline Wozniacki at Wimbledon on Friday.

The newly-wed Dane raced into a 4-0 lead over China’s Zhang Shuai in their third round clash on Court Two.

But that was as good as it got. From there she slipped, via a rambling, rumbling grumble about Hawk-Eye, to a 6-4 6-2 defeat.

“I thought there was a few ones that I saw way differently,” the 28-year-old said, referring to her ongoing irritation with the line-call verification system.

“But it is what it is. You can’t really change a Hawk-Eye call. You just have to move on, know what it is. That’s really it. I mean, at this point it doesn’t matter.

“It is what it is. Maybe the Hawk-Eye was right. Maybe I just saw it wrong. I don’t know.

“Obviously when you think you’ve won the point and then have to replay, that can be frustrating.”

More frustrating, however, must have been letting slip such a commanding lead with barely a whimper.

In her last tournament she had let slip a 5-2 final set lead to lose to Aryna Sabalenka at Eastbourne.

But Wozniacki had a swift answer to questions about her form. “I think she played better, and that’s really it,” she said.

End of conversation.

Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at the end of last season, Wozniacki has struggled for consistency this term.

She reached the final at Charleston in April, but following that up with first round defeats in three of the subsequent four tournaments.

For Zhang the victory over the 14th seed marked her first win over a top-20 player all year.

She becomes the first Chinese woman to reach the Wimbledon fourth round since Peng Shuai five years ago.

This year’s run to the fourth round marks a major upturn in Wimbledon fortunes for the 30-year-old.

She had never won a main draw match since her first attempt at qualifying in 2010.

“Can you believe I never win one match before 2019?” she posted on Twitter. “Thanks very much all crowd to visiting and supporting.”

Zhang will next face either Viktorija Golubic or Dayana Yastremska for a spot in the quarter-finals. (Reuters/NAN)

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Edited by Silas Nwoha

Sport

Wimbledon: Pliskova uses ‘amazing’ serve to see off tricky Hsieh

Wimbledon: Pliskova uses ‘amazing’ serve to see off tricky Hsieh

London, July 5, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Former world number one Karolina Pliskova served superbly to beat Hsieh Su-Wei, 6-3 2-6 6-4 on Friday to reach the Wimbledon fourth round for the second time.

Czech third seed Pliskova fired down 14 aces on Court One to counter the unorthodox Hsieh’s fast feet and soft hands, securing victory in an hour and 46 minutes.

“I thought my serve was amazing today… I’d love to call myself a specialist on grass,” Pliskova said. “This year I’m doing better and I’ve made the second week.

“On grass she’s a very tough opponent, she’s done a good job the past couple of months and I’m just super pleased that I’ve made it,” added Pliskova.

“There’s nobody like this playing any more in the draw so I think I’ll feel much better in the next match after this test,” Pliskova added.

Both players started the opening set strongly before an unusually untidy game by world number 16 Hsieh allowed Pliskova to claim a break for a 5-3 lead.

That was the opening the 27-year-old needed as she switched gears and closed out the set with her sixth ace.

Hsieh responded with an early break in the second set to race 4-2 ahead and the 33-year-old Taiwanese saved four break points in the seventh game before taking the match into a decider.

Pliskova put Hsieh on the back foot with searing groundstrokes early in the third set to break for a 3-1 lead.

She beat last year’s Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber in the Eastbourne final last week but lost to Hsieh in Dubai this year.

Appearing less rattled by Hsieh’s variations as the match wore on, Pliskova staved off a late comeback attempt by Hsieh to close out victory.

Up next for Pliskova is Czech compatriot Karolina Muchova who beat 20th seed Anett Kontaveit 7-6(7) 6-3. (Reuters/NAN)

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Edited by Silas Nwoha

Sport

Osaka sent packing from Wimbledon

Osaka
London, July 1, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) World number two Naomi Osaka’s hopes of a third Grand Slam title were shredded on Centre Court as she was dumped out of Wimbledon in the first round.

The Japanese lost 6(4)-7 2-6 to Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva on Monday.

Osaka failed to find her range on the slick lawns of the All England Club, tumbling out amid a flurry of unforced errors.

She had nervelessly battered her way to Grand Slam success at the U.S. and Australian Open.

Putintseva was far from an unknown quantity for Osaka, having recently knocked her out in Birmingham.

She again proved a resolute obstacle for the Japanese, fighting back after an early break to take the first set on a tiebreak.

The Kazakh broke the Japanese second seed twice in a dominant second set, wrapping up victory in an hour and 36 minutes when her opponent sliced a backhand into the net. (Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)