Winners and Losers of Wimbledon 2018

Winners and Losers of Wimbledon 2018

Here are the winners and losers of the 2018 edition of Wimbledon.  These picks are matching up how well the players matched up with expectations not how far they went in the tournament, for example Nadal and Isner each made the same round but one is a winner and one is a loser in this persons eyes.

Winner – Angie Kerber

Angie is a multiple slam champion but came into Wimbledon not looking like her best.  She has had some early exits at tournaments and was not quite in peak form.  While she might have had some help with the top ten seeds going out early, she still had to beat the “GOAT” Serena in the finals.  She played tough gritty tennis to win her third Grand Slam Championship.

 

Loser – Serena Williams

I hate having her in the loser category with her having come back from a hard pregnancy experience (and even an easy one is quite difficult) and making the finals she has a lot to build on.  I feel like she has multiple majors left in her but losing this one has to hurt.  She played tough and seemed to get better through the tournament but could not get through for another Major title.

Novak groping the Wimbledon trophy in 2018, seriously Novak it is more than just a great body.

Winner – Novak Djokovic

Novak has been getting into form but by no means was expected to win this or really even compete for the title.  He was very much struggling with his form after injuries sidelined him last year.  He was getting back into shape in Roland Garros and finally put it all together here at Wimbledon.  Now the question is “Is he back at the top to stay?” or is this just one last run by an all time great a la Sampras in 2002 at the US open.

Loser – Playing out the 5th set

While it may have been fun to watch Federer and Andersons 5th set as well at Isner and Andersons it really handicapped Anderson in the final against Djokovic.  I really feel that Wimbledon needs to get rid of it.  It does make for some Epic matches but it really messes with the schedule and most importantly hurts the winner for the next round.

Winner – Kevin Anderson

Kevin made his second major final and could have won it if not for the playing the 5th set out.  By doing so Kevin played basically another full match with the quarterfinal over fed and the semifinal over Isner.  While I hope they change that rule, Kevin played well and is peaking at age 33 as he looks to now win a  major.

Loser – Womens top ten seeds

The whole top ten of the womens bracket lost fairly early and did not really come to play.  I was going to single some people out but they all were disappointing in their own way.  I will say Halep could have really grabbed hold of the tour if she could have paired this with the French but that was not to be.

Winner – John Isner

An American makes the Semifinals of Wimbledon again!  This would not have been a big deal in the previous century with Sampras and Agassi, and even continued with Roddick having success, but this is quite a big deal for John.  He made the semis and played quite well while there barely losing to Anderson (in the second longest match of all time no less)

Loser – Rafael Nadal

Rafael played a good tournament and lost an epic match to another all time great so he cant be that upset right?  Well he lost to an out of form Djokovic (albeit he seems now to be in pretty good form) and had the tournament laid out for him when Anderson beat Federer and then played an obscenely long semi.

 Mike and some random guy holding the trophy for the Wimbledon 2018 men’s doubles title

Winner – Mike Bryan (and Jock Sock I guess)

Mike Bryan lost his twin brother to injury right before the French open and paired with Jack Sock to win a 17th mens double grand slam title.  This is not only very impressive to take a new partner and win the title with him, it has got to be so great to razz Bob with this when he comes back from injury.  “Sure Bob you are tired, maybe I should just get another player so I can actually win majors again, while you rest.” Zing!

Loser – Roger Federer

Roger sat out the clay season to focus on winning Wimbledon and he was looking great in the early rounds of the tournament.  Unfortunately for him he ran into big serving Kevin Anderson who is playing the best in his career.  This feels like a missed opportunity for Fed and he only has so many opportunities left.

 

I found this Wimbledon very compelling with some outstanding tennis being played but it really made me wish they would get rid of playing out the fifth set.  It also got me ready for Serena to start dominating again, watch out WTA it seems like no one wants to step up to dominate so Serena is back!

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