Things We Learned at Wimbledon

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The pinnacle of the short-but-sweet grass court season has come and gone, with Wimbledon coming to an end on Sunday. Barbora Krejcikova and Carlos Alcaraz were the last two standing thanks to their inspired play over the last fortnight.

For Krejcikova it is a second major title, coming three years after her victory at Roland-Garros. Alcaraz, meanwhile, doubled down on his Wimbledon triumph from the previous year and followed up his own title in Paris from just a few weeks ago.

Here are six things we learned at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships.

Alcaraz is a great one

It’s back-to-back majors for the 21-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, who soundly defeated Novak Djokovic in the men’s final. Unlike last year’s five-set victory over the seven-time Wimbledon champion, Alcaraz needed only three set this time around in a 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4) triumph.

Alcaraz breaks the tie for third place among active Slam winners with Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka and now trails only Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in that regard. He also becomes one of six men in the Open Era to have won Roland-Garros and Wimbledon in the same year, joining the illustrious company of Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer as well as the aforementioned Djokovic and Nadal.

It’s not too soon to label the Spaniard as a great in the sport and the leading contender to carry the torch forward in the men’s game once all members of the Big 3 have retired.

Women’s field was wide open on grass

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek has been one of the most consistent top-ranked players that women’s tennis has seen in many years. One surface that she has yet to conquer however is grass, where she has failed to advance past the quarter-finals at the All England Club in five attempts.

Bowing out to the very dangerous Yulia Putintseva this year in the third round really opened up the draw and showed that Wimbledon would yet again be an unpredictable tournament on the women’s side.

A year after unseeded Marketa Vondrousova hoisted the Venus Rosewater Dish, 31st seed Barbora Krejcikova lifted it this time around.

Novak Djokovic can never be underestimated

Despite limping (sometimes literally) through the first half of the season, Djokovic raised his game at Wimbledon by making his first final of 2024. Despite the fact that he came up on the wrong end of another encounter against Alcaraz, the Serbian legend showed he still has plenty to give.

With youngsters like Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz proving these past two years that they are not willing to wait for Djokovic to retire to make a claim on the top of the men’s game, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out for the 24-time major champion. He has one last chance to avoid ending his season without a Slam, something that hasn’t happened since 2017.

Gaby proves yet again to be the Queen at the Slams

Time and time again in recent years, we’ve seen Gabriela Dabrowski as the last Canadian standing at the majors. She did it again at the All England Club, reaching the women’s doubles final at Wimbledon with partner Erin Routliffe.

Dabrowski and Routliffe teamed up last summer at the start of the hard-court swing and it paid almost immediate dividends. A few weeks after joining forces, they became US Open champions.

Read also: Erin Routliffe Rising to the Top

Prior to the grass-court season, Routliffe found it amusing that the duo had yet to have even played a match on the surface together. Three tournaments later, they own one grass title (Nottingham) and two finals (Eastbourne and Wimbledon).

Canadian singles players can compete with the best

Sure, no Canadian made it past the third round at Wimbledon this year, but nonetheless they showed what they are capable of against some top-notch opponents.

There were difficult draws aplenty for the Canucks this year at SW19, including Denis Shapovalov facing the 19th-seeded Nicolas Jarry in the opening round, who he dispatched in straight sets, and then rising American star Ben Shelton, the 14th seed, who ultimately defeated the Canadian in a tight five-set match in the third round.

Bianca Andreescu, who recently returned to the game after nine months away due to a back injury, knocked off 26th-seeded Linda Noskova, 6-3, 7-6(5) in the second round before falling to eventual finalist Jasmine Paolini in the third round.

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Feature Photo : Martin Sidorjak