Was This a Really Terrific Wimbledon Even Without the Murray Victory ?

Wimbledon 2013 is destined to go down as a remarkable one for Andy's win, but I would argue that it was a marvellous tournament this year in any case.
There were shocks galore, giving it an unpredictability perhaps lacking in other years. There were some new faces rather than the usual crowd and there were some epic matches with the Djoko-del Potty semi probably the pick of the bunch.
The weather was generally kind - and blisteringly hot at the end. How do others rate this particular Wimbledon?

It might revert back type by the end of the year, but it felt liked the Winds of Change were blowing through the sport. Especially on the womens side, how refreshing was it to watch a second week with no grunting or screeching.

So, yes, I really thought it was a great two weeks.

The Murray victory aside, for me the most refreshing thing was to see grass tennis played once again. Brown v Hewitt, Stahkovsky v Federer and Darcis v Nadal not just for the results, but the brand of tennis played was truly stunning. Janowicz v Almagro was the most dominant performance of the 2 weeks.

I do hope we see similar results future tournaments!

I missed the first week because I was on holiday, so didn't see the matches where Rafa and Roger got beaten. Did though see Del Potro's fantastic gutsy quarter-final and Lisicki's win over Serena, plus Andy's comeback victory against Verdasco - anyone know what odds you could have got on Murray taking the title when he lost the second set there?

The one thing lacking for it being a really terrific tournament was a top class final - the men's final was decent quality and hard-fought during each rally but ultimately was still straight sets (OK, so Murray's win will elevate its importance), while the women's final was compromised by Lisicki's nerves getting too much for her.

There were some encouraging signs for the near to medium term future of tennis on both the ATP and WTA, with more players showing a willingness to come to the net and getting some success from doing so. Although I didn't see the match, apparently the girls singles final included 70 net approaches between the two players - that's more than some complete WTA tournaments during the Bolletieri-clone dominated era of the last decade.

Bearing in mind I have a biased view here - yes it has been a marvellous tournament.

Mammoth shocks always spice up a tournament and we had three major shocks here. There is also the drama of the injuries, the fantastic weather and possibly the emergence or re-emergence of future slam contenders Del Potro and Janowicz. It was also refreshing as the courts seemed to be playing much quicker.

Of course you need a dramatic conclusion and where the final might not have been a true classic it more than made up for it with the drama and historic conitations. Definitely a Wimbledon to remember.

A brilliant Wimbledon, and it would have been even without the euphoric scenes yesterday.

The Fedal shocks were incredible viewing, the Novak Delpo semi was as good a match as I've seen this year, we had the comeback drama of Murray v Verdasco, a new name in the semis, a great run from a young Brit on the women's side, the fantastic run of Lisicki with her smile lighting up Wimbledon, shocks galore on the women's side, new champions on both sides...

Best slam of the year by a mile! One of the best Wimbledons of recent times for sure.

It was a great tournament.

Upsets, a young player getting to the semi, some fantastic individual performances, a contender for match of the year (Novak v JMDP) and some variety in playing styles.

The only blemish was both singles finals had one of the players deliver a below-par performance. Novak was poor and Lisicki just had a total meltdown.

I'm trying to think of recent slams that have been better and I think I'd have to back as far as USO09. RG09 was pretty good too and USO11 also had a great set of SFs and F.

I agree it was a marvellous tournament and I buy into the drama of the Brit thing.

The only caution is that for all the attraction that S & V was seen, come the final the sport had reverted to type and we were averaging 7+ stroke rallies (averaging meaning loads were huge, the average has to handle the unreturned serves). It may be Wimbledon but its still not what it was, the sport still needs to examine how it can give risk taking tennis a fairer chance.

Ta very much for all the replies. B'brush comments are interesting. Yes, it's good to see more serve and volley and yes, constant baseline duels can get tedious.
But it was not that long ago that people were crying out for rallies on grass. Queen's, in particular was lightning fast, with the likes of Pete Sampras, Goran, Mark Philly and Todd Martin pounding down the aces.
I was also pleased to see the screechers depart early. Was really looking forward to the women's final and yet even that was dramatic as we were shown just how big a stage Wimbledon can be and how it can still drive top professionals into mental meltdown.

I like baseline tennis but would appreciate faster surfaces to further test Murray and Djokovic in other areas. That is out of their control but I am a firm believer that both are so adaptable that they'd still be ultra-competitive on faster surfaces.

I look for a fair contest, I don't want baseline play made impossible either.
At the moment it's just too feasible to get a good shot on any ball you can reach, so the volleyer is going to get either a tricky one or he's come in on a prayer. We all know the solutions, no need to go over those again. I'm talking about a touch on the tiller, not turning the game round.

CC. Good points. These are always the eternal questions - how would players adapt if conditions were different/equipment was different/if it was another era?
Pat Cash said that when he won Wimbledon (1987) the grass was awful with horrible bounces. He said you just had to come in or face losing from the back of the court.
Watch the young Fed taking on Sampras at Wimbledon in 2001 and you see two players coming in behind most serves (and often getting passed !).
I think Wimbledon was fast enough this year for the s-and-v guys to do some damage but no so fast to unsettle the baseliners.

My feeling is that this Wimbledon wasn't far off the right speed.

I think S&V and risk taking could have been rewarded (and in many cases it was).

The bigger issue was that the top players i.e. those with the ability to be a potential winner just don't have the mindset or skill set to play in that way.

We reverted to type more due to the players than the conditions.

This is why we need a few more faster surfaces - to make it worth a players while to develop these skills. Nobody is going to bother for a couple of weeks a year.

If I recall correctly Murray won around 75% of points when he approached the net whereas Novak was down at around 60%.

CaledonianCraig wrote:If I recall correctly Murray won around 75% of points when he approached the net whereas Novak was down at around 60%.

Novak executed his net play pretty badly in the final.

He doesn't have soft hands at the net and isn't very competent at really cushioning the ball. Too many of his net approaches ended with cushion volleys that went too deep and Andy devoured them.

To his credit, he is improving and attempting this kind of play. A few more tournaments where it was possible would force him to perfect it (or of course lose his ranking!).

Arguably Wimbledon is the fairest court surface nowadays. A serve volleyer can still succeed there but baseliners now have a fair chance as well. This is how tennis should be and kudos to Wimbledon for getting the change to the Court surface right. The problem nowadays is with the hard courts. Most of them are high bouncing treacle which makes any attempt to get to the net more or less impossible. Of course, that then has an impact at Wimbledon as no one knows how to SV anymore.

Yes it was a terrific Wimbledon - lots of surprises and some wonderful and inspired tennis.

Great to see Delpo playing so well, and Verdasco rediscovering some form. Sad to see Roger and Rafa exit but fantastic to see opponents take it to them. The semi between Delpo and Djokovic was brilliant, and to see Murray win Wimbledon was just the icing on an interesting fortnight.

On the women's side, it was lovely to have the last few matches played without the shrieking of some of the top women. To see Radwanska, once again, play so delightfully. Lisicki's fantastic run and play, and the eccentric Bartoli lifting the crown.

I thought it was above average and maybe my second favourite after 2001.

There was certainly more excitement in the first week of Wimbledon than the first week of the French Open - as often seems to be the case.

Definitely a terrific Wimbledon. While we were robbed of Nadal (possibly still not fully over his injury) and Federer (on the wane or just out of sorts?) early on, it gave some lesser names the chance to shine and reach the latter stages.

Of course, Andy's victory just made it all the better.

Fantastic tournament, there was a real buzz in the air that started with the Fedal defeats and just carried on. I'm not a Murray fan - though I do like him, I prefer other players - but seeing him cap it off was a wonderful moment. Add in the upsets, good weather in the end, some unheralded players making deep runs, shifts in the world rankings, and an excellent women's tournament to boot; a potent combination. As good as last year, perhaps better.

My final thoughts........... it was an okay tournament. Always good to see shocks and a few underdogs come through but it also meant a lot of the latter matches were very predictable. Lower ranked players rarely seem able to back up a big win with another one. It is refreshing to see players have a real go at the top players.

I thought the stand out matches were Verdasco vs Murray and Djokovic vs Del Potro. The quality of tennis in both were excellent, i thought the final was disappointing as Djokovic just didnt turn up. Could have been a great final, Murray brought his A game but it takes two players to make a great final. All the what ifs but it would have been really interesting to see what would have happened if Novak had taken one of those break points at the end. The way he was serving though, probably would have been broken again in the next game.

I thought Lisicki was a breath of fresh air, so tough for her to do the hard part and beat Williams, Stosur, Radwanska..........only to lose to Bartoli !! did not see that coming.

Was good to see a player like Verdasco come back and show what he is capable of. Del Potro really impressed me, some unbelievable shots against Ferrer and the Djoker. He is a class act and a credit to the game.

Happy for Murray with his win, he has certainly silenced a lot of his critics and you have to admire his work ethic. He clearly puts the work in and is constantly striving to improve, you cannot ask for more. Was great to see Djokovic so sporting at the end of the final, definitely one of my favourite traits in the guy. He handles defeat as good if not better than anybody else. I wish other sportspeople would take note, a credit to the game of tennis. Wonderful to see the mutual respect the top players have for each other, what these guys do day in day out on the court is pretty extraordinary.

Well done again Murray fans !

Slasher

Meant to say "congrats again Murray Fans" !! but well done too, you have done your part for Andy surely, he couldnt have done it without his 606 followers