Sunday, July 13, 2025

My Wimbledon top 10

Here are my top 10 Wimbledon happenings, in ascending order:

10. Exceeding your worst expectations: It was a pain to have ESPN cover Wimbledon in the U.S. In addition to the painfully bad commentating (nothing new), the app had to be constantly refreshed or it would display a message that the match I was trying to watch wasn't available in my area or package. And breaking into the women's doubles final to show us ATP players practicing was also offensively on brand for the network. And on top of all that, ESPN is still using the promotional voice-over of the man saying "WimbleDEN."

9. Slovakian spirit: Unseeded Mia Pohankova of the Slovak Republic became the 2025 junior girls' singles champion when she defeated 6th seed Julieta Pareja 6-3, 6-1 in Saturday's final. Pohankova, who is 16, is the second consecutive Slovakian player to win the title. In doubles, the USA's Thea Frodin, playing with Pareja (also from the USA), defeated Kristina Penickova (USA) and the Czech Repubic's Vendula Valdmannova to win the championship.

8. Remember me?: Emma Raducanu has been a "fan" punching bag for some time now, but it was kind of hard to punch her at Wimbledon (although I'm sure that didn't stop some people): The 2021 U.S. Open champion won her first round, then upset 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova in the seconde round. She then lost to world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated her 7-6 (6), 6-4, which is a very respectable losing scoreline. Raducanu played quite well; it was too bad that she didn't make it to the second week.

7. New faces: We became so accustomed to Diede de Groot's winning just about everything that--when she had to take some time off in order to undergo hip surgery, rehab and working her way back on the tour--it was a bit of an adjustment. Of course, Yui Kamiji--always second to de Groot in results--was the natural (if likely temporary) successor. And indeed, the Japanese player won both the Australian Open and the French Open. 

But Wimbledon was different in every way. 3rd seed Li Xiaohui--the woman who ended de Groot's 145-match win streak--defeated de Groot in the quarterfinals. Li then lost to top seed Kamiji in the semifinals, then Kamiji lost to 4th seed Wang Ziying in the final. Wang got as far as the semifinals in the Australian Open, but was defeated by Aniek van Koot.                                                

6. Believe in yourself!: Conchita Martinez and Mirra Andreeva turned the tables in a hilarious way at this event. Once Andreeva was out of the tournament, she became her famous coach's coach in the Legends competition, and she put her whole heart into it. There are a number of prize videos of Andreeva's coaching, and I can't stop watching them.

5.  When you can't catch a break: Last year, Barbora Krejcikova won Wimbledon. But things didn't go so well after that. She was out for six months with a back injury, she was ill, and then she had to withdraw from Eastbourne (after saving match point in her two matches) because of a thigh injury. She arrived in London full of the usual Krejcikova spirit, defeating the talented Alexandra Eala, then also winning her second round.

But during the third set of her third round match against Emma Navarro, the eternally calm Krejcikova appeared to be ill, and at one point, she went to the back of the court and wept. Then she pulled herself together and won the next game, which was nothing short of amazing, but she lost the match. It turned out that the Czech star had contracted a virus, and she was sick for several days. 

4. Time to add another shelf to the trophy case: Katerina Siniakova spends a lot of time in the winner's circle. She has won ten women's doubles titles (seven of them with Krejcikova), and now, she has also won a mixed doubles title. Siniakova and Sem Verbeek won the 2025 title, defeating Luisa Stefani and Joe Salisbury in the final. 

3: They were just here a moment ago: The first two rounds of this year's tournament were filled with carnage. 2nd seed Coco Gauff, 3rd seed Jessica Pegula, 5th seed Zheng Qinwen, and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova all went out in the first round, as did three of the warmup tournament champions. In the second round, 4th seed and 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini and 6th seed Madison Keys were upset, and 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova was also defeated.

2. Veronika gets her trophy: In 2021, Veronika Kudermetova and Elena Vesnina (making a brief comeback to the tour) lost the Wimbledon final to Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens. This year, Kudermetova--playing with partner Elise Mertens (the no. 8 seeds)--defeated 4th seeds Hsieh and Alona Ostapenko 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 to win the title. It was an entertaining match, and the last two points were stunning. This is Mertens' fifth major doubles title; she won two of those titles with Hsieh.

1. Bagels with a side of strawberries: Iga Swiatek, throughout her career, has had an issue with grass courts. The Polish star, who likes to have a little time to set up her shots, couldn't find that time on grass, and she appeared to have developed a mindset that she needed that time. But mindsets can be changed, and so can serves, and strategies. Now working with coach Wim Fissette, Swiatek has improved her serve, lifted her comfort level on grass, and very obviously changed her mindset. 

Known for dispensing bagel sets to her opponents, the former world number 1 saved her signature beat-down tactic for the final, defeating 13th seed Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0. Anisimova, who had upset world number 1 Aryna Sabaenka in the semifinals, simply wasn't herself in the final. She was undoubtedly affected by the occasion (she had never before contested a major final), but she also appeared to be physically and mentally low on fuel. On the other hand, Swiatek was very much herself--with upgrades. 

Swiatek has now raised her ranking to number 3 in the world, and Anisimova enters the top 10 for the first time, as number 7. My educated guess is that the psychological boost of winning Wimbledon when she thought--for so long--that she couldn't (other than as a junior), will re-set Swiatek's already remarkable career, and make her more dangerous than ever.

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