Another edition of Roland Garros has come and gone and we
have witnessed the very best Grand Slam tennis has to offer. The tournament came
to an end yesterday after the men’s singles final match between Novak Djokovic
and Andy Murray. About 128 competitors (not counting the qualifying rounds) from
the ATP and WTA sections participated to win the coveted French Open title.
Here are the big winners at this year’s Roland Garros:
MEN’S SINGLES TITLE – NOVAK DJOKOVIC
It was all about Novak Djokovic in the last week of the
tournament as he became the first player in tennis history to earn more than US$100
million in prize money as a result of reaching the quarter-finals on Wednesday,
and now he has erased the heartbreaks of losing in three previous French Open
finals with a victory over British rival Andy Murray to claim his maiden French
Open title and his 12th Grand Slam. Djokovic came from a set down to
win 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in a match that lasted 3 hours 5 minutes. With this
victory the 29 year old Serb joins an elite group by becoming the third man
after Don Budge and Rod Laver to hold the four majors at the same time, and the
eighth man to triumph at Wimbledon and the French, U.S. and Australian Opens.
It was a great tournament for the world No. 1, who is now on a 28-match winning
streak in grand slams, he had to overcome the likes of Yen-Hsun Lu, Steve
Darcis, Aljaz Bedene, Bautista Agut, Tomas Berdych and Dominic Thiem before
overcoming Andy Murray in the final dropping only two sets along the way.
WOMEN’S SINGLES TITLE – GARBINE MUGURUZA
Garbine Muguruza caused an upset by dethroning defending
champion and world No. 1 Serena Williams 7-5 6-4 on Saturday to win her first
grand slam of her career. The loss denies Serena Williams the opportunity to
equal Steffi Graf's Open Era record of 22 majors for the second time this year
after she lost in the final of this year’s Australian Open to German Angelique
Kerber in January. The victory for the 22 year old Spaniard means she will be
the new No. 2 ranked player in the world moving two places higher than her
previous ranking. Serena Williams will without a doubt still be considered the
best female tennis player in the world, but after losing two consecutive Grand
Slam finals and missing two golden opportunities to equal Steffi Graf’s Open
era record, the 34 year old could be a little concerned about her future.
Tennis fans might be upset over the absence of action
now that the French Open has been concluded, but in about three weeks time we
shall be bathed in the glory of some more Grand Slam tennis as Wimbledon resumes,
till then let’s wait patiently, see you soon.
Post a Comment