Wimbledon: From Roger Federer to Claire Liu, here are the heroes of the 2017 tournament

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  • All hail King Federer.

    Roger Federer told Marin Cilic he was a “hero” during the Wimbledon final trophy ceremony on Sunday, and there were plenty of those at the All England Club this past fortnight.

    From Federer’s record-breaking triumph, to Garbine Muguruza’s statement victory for Spain, to Claire Liu’s success in the first all-Asian-American girls’ singles final… the list of heroes at Wimbledon 2017 is a long one.

    A full house watched Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid claim the men’s wheelchair doubles trophy on Court No. 3 in nearly three hours, while Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo survived a 4hr 39min marathon against Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic.

    Here we give a shout-out to everyone who shone, in one way or another, at this year’s Wimbledon…

    ROGER FEDERER

    He came into the tournament as the favourite, skipped the clay season to maximise his chances of winning at Wimbledon, and walked away with an eighth title at SW19 (a record in men’s singles), and 19th Grand Slam trophy.

    He’s the oldest man in the Open Era to win the Wimbledon title and is back to No3 in a the world after skipping six months of action last year. Have I mentioned he turns 36 next month?

    GARBINE MUGURUZA

    The first Spanish woman in 23 years to win Wimbledon, Muguruza had a sensational fortnight at the All England Club, taking out the likes of top seed Angelique Kerber and five-time champion Venus Williams along the way.

    She lost 6-1, 6-0 to Barbora Strycova in Eastbourne a few days before the tournament started, and didn’t have her coach Sam Sumyk with her due to family reasons, but had an ultimate trump card in the form of 1994 champion Conchita Martinez. After leaving Paris in tears last month, it was impressive to see Muguruza storm back that way.

    MARCELO MELO AND LUKASZ KUBOT

    Battling for four hours and 39 minutes, the Brazilian/Polish duo claimed their first Wimbledon doubles title – both as a pair and individually – with a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 13-11 win over Marach/Pavic. Completing the victory under the lights and roof of Wimbledon Centre Court, Melo and Kubot’s celebrations were a tournament highlight, particularly the latter’s Can Can dance.


    ELENA VESNINA AND EKATERINA MAKAROVA

    With a double bagel in 55 minutes, Vesnina and Makarova claimed their first Wimbledon doubles crown – and third major in total – in stunning fashion. It was just the second double bagel in a women’s doubles final in history, and first since 1953.

    JAMIE MURRAY AND MARTINA HINGIS

    Twenty years after she won her Wimbledon singles title, Hingis claimed a 23rd Grand Slam trophy (across singles, doubles, mixed doubles), this time alongside Jamie Murray. They beat defending champions Heather Watson and Henri Kontinen 6-4, 6-4. It was Murray’s second mixed title at Wimbledon, 10 years after he won his first alongside Jelena Jankovic.

    CLAIRE LIU

    Liu became the first American to win a girls’ singles title at Wimbledon since Chanda Rubin in 1992 and her emotional reaction after defeating Ann Li 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 was incredibly moving. It was also the first All-American junior final at Wimbledon since 1979.


    ALEJANDRO DAVIDOVICH FOKINA

    A Spaniard against an Argentine is not necessarily what you’d expect in a Wimbledon junior final. But Davidovich Fokina and Axel Geller produced some great tennis throughout the week before the former claimed a 7-6(2), 6-3 win in the final. Davidovich Fokina is the first Spanish boys’ singles champion in 50 years.


    DIEDE DE GROOT

    After exiting from the opening rounds at the Australian Open and Roland Garros this year, the 20-year-old Dutchwoman claimed her first Grand Slam title with a 6-0, 6-4 result over Germany’s Sabine Ellerbrock. She lost the doubles final alongside Marjolein Buis.

    STEFAN OLSSON

    The 30-year-old Swede won his first Wimbledon wheelchair singles title with a 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 success over new world No1 Gustavo Fernandez. The 2012 Paralympic gold medalist was down by a break in each set but survived the big-hitting Argentine to claim his first Grand Slam trophy in his third final.

    JORDANNE WHILEY AND YUI KAMIJI

    The British-Japanese duo claimed their fourth consecutive Wimbledon doubles title together with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 over Dutch pair Marjolein Buis and Diede de Groot. Whiley and Kamiji completed the Grand Slam by winning all four majors as a team in 2014 and are an unstoppable force in wheelchair doubles tennis.

    ALFIE HEWETT AND GORDON REID

    The British pair claimed the men’s wheelchair doubles title with a near three-hour 6-7(5), 7-5, 7-6(3) upset victory over French team Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer. It was their second Wimbledon title as a duo.

    MARIN CILIC

    The Croatian played some sensational tennis en route to the final, backing what had been his most consistent clay season to date. He was undone by a foot blister in the end and wasn’t able to test Federer in a lacklustre final but we can’t forget what he did in the entire grass swing. It’s a heartbreaking end for him at Wimbledon, but if he handles the aftermath well, he’s a real contender at the US Open, where he won in 2014.

    VENUS WILLIAMS

    At 37 years old, Venus pretty much breaks a record every time she steps on the court. But her accomplishments are well beyond her age. Her victims at Wimbledon were: Elise Mertens, Wang Qiang, Naomi Osaka, Ana Konjuh, Jelena Ostapenko and Johanna Konta before she fell to Muguruza. That is one impressive list. She played her second Slam final in 2017 and is back in the world’s top-10. We’re not sure how much longer she’ll continue to spoil us but we’ll take what we can get.

    IVAN LJUBICIC AND JONAS BJORKMAN

    The respective coaches of Roger Federer and Marin Cilic deserve a shout-out. Since Ljubicic joined Team Federer – coaching him alongside Severin Luthi – the Swiss has gone on to win two Grand Slams and return to what looks to be his best form. Many believe Ljubicic had a lot to do with Federer’s improved backhand, which has been devastating opponents all season.

    Meanwhile, Bjorkman has formed a successful partnership with Cilic, who is now knocking on the door of the top five and has found his way back to the Grand Slam finals.

    ANDY  MURRAY

    He may not have defended his Wimbledon title but Murray still made headlines for standing up to casual sexism – he corrected a journalist’s stat that ignored the achievements of American women – and also stating that the All England Club’s scheduling is unfair to the ladies. Always a class act!

    CONCHITA MARTINEZ

    The Spaniard did a tremendous job helping guide Muguruza to the title, in the absence of Sam Sumyk, Muguruza’s full-time coach. Martinez was the only Spanish woman to ever win Wimbledon prior to this year’s tournament. She helped rebuild Muguruza’s confidence and introduced a sense of calm to the big-hitting Spaniard.

    With Anabel Medina coaching Jelena Ostapenko to the French Open title last month, and now Martinez’s success with Muguruza, looks like whoever wants to win the US Open should get their hands on a Spanish female coach stat!

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