Ashraf Ali Siddiqui comments on an iconic tennis tournament of Wimbledon 2022
Novak Djokovic won a seventh Wimbledon 2022 title and 21st Grand Slam crown with a four-set triumph over Nick Kyrgios, whose challenge angrily unraveled after a blistering start. Top seed Djokovic won 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) to equal Pete Sampras’s mark of seven titles at the All England Club and move within one of the men’s record of eight held by Roger Federer. The 35-year-old Serb is now one Slam ahead of Federer in the all-time race and just one behind Rafael Nadal’s record of 22 majors. He is also just the fourth man in the Open era to win four successive Wimbledon titles after Federer, Sampras and Bjorn Borg. This victory helped Djokovic extend his Wimbledon winning streak to 28 consecutive matches and this was also his 32nd Grand Slam final. No one, however, expected it to be an easy straight-sets match with Djokovic having not lost a match on the manicured lawns at the All England Club since he retired injured during his 2017 quarter-final against Czech Tomas Berdych.
On the women’s side, No. 17 seed Elena Rybakina beat Ons Habeur in the women’s final to win her first Grand Slam championship. Rybakina’s win made her the first woman representing Kazakhstan to win a major tournament. She was born in Russia — and still lives in Moscow — but switched her tennis representation to Kazakhstan in 2018 when the nation’s tennis federation offered her more support than she found in her home country. Jabeur, meanwhile, was the first Arab woman and African-born player to reach a Grand Slam final. Ladies No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek saw her winning streak come to an end with a third round loss to Alizé Cornet. The world No. 1 had won 37 straight matches and the previous six tournaments she has entered, including wins at Qatar, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart, Rome and the French Open at Roland Garros. Cornet’s win put her in the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time since 2014.
Serena Williams took to the court for the first time since the 2021 installment of Wimbledon on 28 June. She had not played since last June, when she suffered a hamstring injury during her opening-round match at the All England Club. Williams’ match against Harmony Tan was a close one but Tan walked away as the winner by going 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) after three hours and 11 minutes on the court. Williams had to retire in the first round at the All England Club last year — her only first-round exit prior to this year — but this is the first time she has lost a match in the first round at Wimbledon and just the second time she’s been beaten on the court in the first round of a Grand Slam since the 2012 French Open. TW
