Enigma, drama, heartbreak and ecstasy, the just concluded Wimbledon final between the two titans of the game, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, had all in it as the full-house at the Centre Court, SW19 experienced one of the greatest ever Grand Slam finals in the history of the sport.
Federer, overall played better tennis, won more points and won more games, yet was unable to triumph over the resilient World No.1 as the Swiss maestro squandered two match points in the 16th game of the 5th set to let the Serb escape the jaws of defeat. After 4 hours, 57 minutes, the epic final showdown concluded following the drama of newly introduced final set tie-break rule at 12-12 and Djokovic narrowly edged past the 8-time Wimbledon champion 7-6(7-5), 1-6, 7-6(7-4), 4-6, 13-12(7-3) to win his 5th title at the Championships, emulating the great Bjorn Borg and in the process, also recorded his 16th Grand Slam Major, now trailing behind his rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer by a margin of 2 and 4 Majors respectively.
While we witnessed the stories of dominance of the ‘Big 3’ of men’s tennis yet again at the All England Club, we also came across the tales of success of three other players who can be extremely proud of their performances at the third Slam of the year and their achievements can act as a huge source of inspiration for them as we approach the hard-court season in the lead up to the final Slam of the year, US Open.
# 1: Roberto Bautista Agut
Roberto Bautista Agut
At the age of 31, Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut is not getting any younger and at this year’s Championships, Wimbledon, the Spaniard scripted a fascinating story of success to find himself a place in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam Major for the first time ever in his career.
Bautista Agut began 2019 on a promising note with a victory at Doha and followed up his performance at the Qatar Open with a place in the quarter-final of the Australian Open earlier his year, his first instance of making it to the last 8 of any Grand Slam level event.
However, the Spaniard succumbed to Greek young sensation Stefanos Tsitsipas in his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final and the tame loss down under triggered a series of poor and subpar performances for the 31-year old Bautista Agut.
He was lackluster in the entire clay season and his early exit at Roland Garros would have left the Spaniard disappointed.
After a string of poor performances in the lead up to Wimbledon, Bautista Agut would have hoped for some improved show in the 3rd Slam of the year.
And the Spaniard did exactly that, qualifying for the semi-final spot for the first time ever at a Grand Slam Major when he faced Novak Djokovic at the Centre Court in their semi-final clash at All England Club.
Bautista Agut might have crumbled in the semis against the eventual champion Djokovic, but cruised through his first four rounds handsomely without even dropping a set.
He went past some tricky opponents like Karen Khachanov, Benoit Paire and Guido Pella comprehensively en route his appearance in the Wimbledon semi-final and can be mighty proud of his own self for his stellar show in the 3rd Slam of the year.
At Wimbledon this year, the 31-year old Spaniard, erasing self-doubts, fought against the disappointments of the losses in the lead up to the event and put up a remarkable and resurgent showdown at the All England Club. With significant performances at Wimbledon this year, the Spaniard now can approach the upcoming hard court season which includes US Open as well with a sense of renewed confidence.
#2: Guido Pella
Guido Pella
The southpaw, the Argentine Guido Pella has been an underrated player on the tour for a while now.
However at the Championships, Wimbledon 2019, it seemed Pella was on a mission to knockout the former runner-ups at the All England Club.
In his 3rd round clash, the No.26 seed stunned the 2018 runner-up Kevin Anderson in straight sets before displaying moments of tremendous resilience and character to displace Milos Raonic over five grueling sets of intense tennis 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(7-3), 8-6.
Following his monumental triumphs over Anderson and Raonic, Pella found a place in Grand Slam quarter- final for the first time ever in his career, giving justice to his potential.
Predominantly a clay-court specialist, Pella never went past 3rd round at the All England Club before his appearance in the quarter-finals this year and looking ahead at future, his performance at Wimbledon 2019 is certainly a step in the right direction for the upbeat Argentine.
#3: David Goffin
David Goffin
When the upbeat Belgian David Goffin stepped out on the Centre Court for his quarter-final clash against Djokovic at the All England Club, he recorded his first appearance in the round of last 8 at the lawns of Wimbledon and a 3rd overall quarter-final appearance at a Grand Slam Major event.
Once ranked as high as 7th in the World, the Belgian tapered off since the end of 2017 following his defeat in the title clash at the Nitto ATP finals against Grigor Dimitrov at the O2 arena.
After having a year and a half of coping up with debacles and disappointments, the 28-year old Belgian finally came back to life following his appearance in the final of Halle Open last month. He might have lost to Roger Federer in the finals, but the seeds of a good show at Wimbledon were sown in the remarkable performances that he achieved at Halle in the lead up to the Championships.
At Wimbledon this year, Goffin overcame Daniil Medvedev in 5 sets and Fernando Verdasco in 4 sets in his 3rd and 4th round respectively to find himself a spot in the last 8 of a Grand Slam Major for the first time since his quarter-final appearance at the Australian Open, back in 2017.
Against Djokovic, the Belgian challenger was upbeat and fought hard for about a set before crumbling to Djokovic’s sustained pressure to end his Wimbledon campaign on a rather disappointing note.
Nonetheless, with his performances at Halle and at All England Club, Goffin has taken massive strides towards his resurgence and it would be interesting to follow the Belgian’s journey in the upcoming hard court season.
With the commencement of US Open about 6 weeks from now, one question that will remain to the harbor in our minds is, can anybody defy the odds to deny the member of ‘big 3’ their 12th consecutive Grand Slam title to script a staggering story of their own Grand Slam triumph?
Well, the possibility appears to be bleak, but stranger things in sports have happened in the past.
