Well, I have been very late with this look at the 2018 Wimbledon championships this year so far as the tournament ends tomorrow and what an event it has been! So, in this post I will cover the ladies semi finals and the final and see how it all went.
First up however here is a look at the big number of shocks that happened in the ladies event this year at SW19 as all top 10 seeds went out before the quarter finals!
SEEDS OUT
Well the biggest upsets of the tournament definitely came on the ladies side as there were a high number of casualties this year. Starting with the defending champion, Garbine Muguruza, who went out in the second round, Simona Halep, the current World No.1 and reigning French Open champion was defeated in the 3rd round. As for the other top 10 seeds, Caroline Wozniacki was stunned in the second round by the giant killer, Ekaterina Makarova and Sloane Stephens, Elina Svitolina, Caroline Garcia and Petra Kvitova ALL went out in the first round! Whereas Venus Williams and Madison Keys both went out in the 3rd round. And the last top 10 seed standing, Karolina Pliskova fell in the fourth round to Kiki Bertens that saw all the top 10 seeds eliminated before the quarter finals.
LADIES SEMI FINALS
As for the semi finals, well they were fairly intriguing on paper as Angelique Kerber took on the former French Open champion, Jelena Ostapenko and Serena Williams faced off against first time major semi finalist, Julia Goerges. So, let's take a quick look at these matches.
Angelique Kerber vs Jelena Ostapenko
This match promised to be the more competitive one given that both these women are major champions and both are pretty aggressive players, so much was promised here. However the match itself was a bit of a letdown as Ostapenko despite making a promising start, went on to make too many rash unforced errors and imploded on serve as she lost the first set. In the second set, things got worse for Ostapenko as Kerber took a decisive 5-1 lead, however Ostapenko did manage to recover one of the breaks back and made Kerber serve for it once more. However, Kerber had no issues on the second time of asking and she sealed the victory with a very straight forward 6-3, 6-3 victory in just over an hour.
Serena Williams vs Julia Goerges
The second ladies semi, saw Serena Williams, the seven time champion, take on the German player, Julia Goerges, in her first grand slam semi final, so the odds were already stacked heavily in Serena's favour.
As for the match itself, it was pretty much a routine one for Serena in the first for sure as Goerge's inexperience at this level really showed as she surrendered her serve twice to hand Serena the first set with a double break. In the second set it was more of the same from Goerges, however she did manage to break back toward the end of the match to get back on serve but in the end it was short lived, as Goerges capitulated on serve once more and she handed Serena her place in another Wimbledon final with a 6-2, 6-4 victory, again in just over an hour.
Its a shame that both matches were pretty non-competitive and very one-sided, particularly the one with Kerber and Ostapenko and both matches combined length where just over two hours and 10 minutes total! So, it really wasn't much of a day's tennis for the fans but hey ho, that's the way it can go at Wimbledon.
THE FINAL
Now we get onto the ladies final, which saw Serena Williams take on Angelique Kerber for the title with the German player, Kerber in her second Wimbledon final having lost to Serena two years ago at this stage, so she had her work cut out once again with the American, heavy favourite.
However, in the match, Kerber had ideas of her own as she managed to get the immediate break from Serena but it wasn't long before she broke back. However, Kerber was not to be outdone as she managed to go and break Serena once again and she closed out the set to take the lead and one step closer to her maiden Wimbledon title. And in the 2nd set, it was more of the same, as Serena's unforced errors continued and she ended her quest for an 8th title in defeat as she netted a backhand return of Kerber's serve that saw the German fall to the ground in delight, having won her first Wimbledon title with a 6-3, 6-3 victory.
Well, this match certainly didn't go the way alot of pundits would have expected as many people, myself included, saw Serena as the heavy favourite here to win. However, Kerber herself had won her first grand slam at the Australian open when she played Serena in the final and beat her in three sets, so in a way it wouldn't be surprising that she could do it again. Kerber also has won the US Open, so this now sees her with three out of the four slams with only the French Open alluding her to make it the career slam.
And you never know, Kerber might just do it as she has proven that she really is a great player, who emerged on the scene back in 2011 and has endured many successes and failures along the way but this is definitely a sign that she will go on to win more majors before she hangs up her racquet.
As for Serena, it was a pity that she wasn't able to get herself more into the match as Kerber's gameplan proved to effective and Serena made too many errors. However, it was still a mark of Serena's greatness that she was able to come back from childbirth and being a new mother, to getting herself into another major final on only her fourth tournament of the year. So, we all know that Serena has unfinished business in the slams and no doubt she will have her chances to add to her collection.
SIGN OFF
So, while it has to be said that the ladies tournament has been a bit of a letdown this year, given the lack of great competitive matches, particularly in the ladies semis and the final, it was still great to see a new champion emerge in Angelique Kerber and the return of Serena Williams no doubt would have been a great thrill for many tennis fans.
Right, well that's it for the ladies event at Wimbledon, let's move onto the mens...
See you soon!
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