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Sporty Sam

I love most sports, but particularly rugby union, rugby league, football, cricket, tennis, athletics, boxing, golf, jai alai, Formula 1 and The Olympic Games. I hate American football and wrestling and will not watch it.
This blog is about the sports I like.

Men's Singles Champions at Wimbledon
Monday, July 14, 2025

The first Wimbledon Gentleman's Final was in 1877. The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships has been held every year since then, except during the First World War, World War II and the Covid-19 pandemic. That means that this year, 2025, is number 138.

 

Engraving courtesy of Wikipedia     

 

Introduction

Men's tennis was dominated for two decades by three players: Roger Federer (SUI); Rafael Nadal (ESP) and Novak Djokovich (SRB). In the Grand Slams (Australian Open; Paris; Wimbledon and US Open) Djokovich has won 24; Nadal 22 and Federer 20.

     Novak Djokovich [El Confidencial]          Rafael Nadal [CNN en Español]                             Roger Federer [BBC]

 

Since the Open Era began in 1968, when professional players were admitted to the tour for the first time, several players dominated in the Grand Slams at that time. 

Bjorn Borg (SWE) won eleven Grand Slams, including six singles titles at Roland-Garros and five at Wimbledon. He never played in Australia.  

Andre Agassi (USA) managed eight victories, including a career Grand Slam. He also won the heart of Steffi Graf (GER) arguably the best female tennis player ever.

     Bjorn Borg [Int. Tennis Hall of Fame]             Andre Agassi [Los Angeles Times]

 

Jimmy Connors (USA) won eight slams but never won in Paris.

Ivan Lendl (CZE, then USA) also won eight, but couldn't win at Wimbledon.

John McEnroe (USA) and Mats Wilander (SWE) each won seven.

Stefan Edberg (SWE) and Boris Becker (GER) managed six each.

     Jimmy Connors [Britannica]                       John McEnroe [Los Angeles Times]

 

Hard on their heels Pete Sampras (USA) clocked up 14 Grand Slam titles, including seven at Wimbledon.

     Pete Sampras won seven titles at Wimbledon [ESPN Deportes]

 

Then, along came Federer .....

Roger Federer, a young Swiss player, came up against Sampras in the 2003 final, ..... and beat him!

Federer dominated tennis after that until McEnroe, Nadal and Djokovich emerged. Federer has won more Wimbledon titles -  eight - than any other player.

 

The next generation

Now that Federer, Nadal and Andy Murray have retired, no younger players have picked up the gauntlet. Dominic Thiem (AUT) and Alexander Zverev (GER) have flattered to deceive.

But now, all of a sudden .....

Jannick Sinner (ITA), 23, and Carlos Alcaraz (ESP), 22, have clocked up four and five Grand Slams respectively. Others to keep an eye on next season are Taylor Fritz (USA); Ben Shelton (USA); Flavio Cobolli (ITA); Grigor Dmitrov (BUL) and Jack Draper (GBR).

     Jannick Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz after the 2025 Wimbledon Final [The Objective]

 

Conclusion

In the Wimbledon championships in 2025, some new records were set:

Jannick Sinner became the first Italian ever to win the Gentlemen's singles.

Iga Swiatek became the first ever Pole to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish.

Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool became the first all-British pair to win the Gentlemen's Doubles since 1911.

Tokito Oda from Japan won the men's wheelchair title for the second time and he's still only 19 years of age!

A year of surprises!

 

See also:

The Changing face of Women's Tennis

 

© Sporty Sam

 

Photos:

BBC, CNN en Español, El Confidencial, ESPN Deportes, Iberfotos (ES), International Tennis Hall of Fame, Los Angeles Times, The Objective, Wikipedia

 

Acknowledgements:

BBC, SKY News, The Guardian, Wikipedia

 

Tags:

 Alexander Zverev, Andre Agassi, Andy Murray, Australia, Ben Shelton, Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker, BBC, CNN en Español, career Grand Slam, Carlos Alcaraz, Dominic Thiem, El Confidencial, ESPN Deportes, first all-British pair, first ever Pole, Flavio Cobolli, Gentlemen's Doubles, Grigor Dmitrov, Grand Slam, Iberfotos (ES), Iga Swiatek, International Tennis Hall of Fame, Ivan Lendl, Jack Draper, Jannick Sinner, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Julian Cash, Lloyd Glasspool, Los Angeles Times, Mats Wilander, Novak Djokovich, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Roland-Garros, SKY News, Sporty Sam, Stefan Edberg, Steffi Graf, Taylor Fritz, The Guardian, The Objective, Tokito Oda,  Venus Rosewater Dish, Wikipedia



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The Changing face of Women's Tennis
Thursday, July 10, 2025

When the Ladies Singles competition at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon (London), began in 1884 the competitors were all Anglo-Saxon, mainly from Great Britain, USA, and Australia.

141 years later it's a different story.

 

 

[Image courtesy of Wikipedia]      

Backstory

When the Championships started, players like Dorothea Lambert Chambers, Helen Wills Moody, Lottie Dod, Little Mo Connolly and Suzanne Lenglen were regular and multiple winners of the Venus Rosewater Dish.

They were all amateurs back then and received no prize money.

When the open era started in 1968, the game became professional. The dominant players continued to be Anglo-Saxon, although a few white Europeans also came to the fore.

Martina Navratilova, a Czech exile to the USA, won nine titles. Steffi Graf (Germany) and Serena Williams (USA) each won seven times. Serena's older sister Venus Williams won five times. Billie-Jean King (USA) four times, and Chris Evert (USA) three times.

In later years a few Europeans snaffled the odd title, including from the former Soviet Union.

 

 

Martina Navratilova [Mundo Deportivo]     

2025

The Ladies quarter-final line-up this year was dominated by players with Eastern European names, several from countries like Russia and Belarus, which are excluded as a result of the illegal invasion of Ukraine three years ago.

Those who have forsaken their home countries may play as "independents". Others have become citizens of other countries.

Aryna Sabalenka is from Belarus.

Amanda Anisimova is the daughter of Russian emigres and was born in the USA.

Belinda Bencic is Czech but her family left for Switzerland in 1968. She also has Slovak nationality

Iga Swiatek is Polish.

Mirra Andreeva, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Liudmila Samsonova are Russian.

Laura Siegemund is German.

     Mirra Andreeva [Tennis World ES]                                                  Liudmila Samsonova [Wikipedia]        Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [The Independent]                 


My view

I think it's great that so many talented female tennis players have joined the circuit.

But, did hijo de Putin, the megalomaniac president of Russia really want that to happen?

The action of these brave people who have forsaken their homelands, just expose the stupidity of isolationist nutcases like Vladimir Putin.

Why does he think that he and his handful of allies can overcome NATO, the United Nations and the West?

This is further proof that both communism and fascism (what's the difference?) have failed.

Anyway, less of the politics.

As of this afternoon we know that the 2025 Ladies Final on Saturday will be contested by Amanda Anisimova and Iga Swiatek.

    Amanda Anisimova [Wikipedia]                                                         Iga Swiatek [WTA]

USA v Poland.

Or Eastern bloc v Eastern bloc. ("Just kidding!").

I'm supporting the Russian Yank, but I fear the Pole might be too much for her.

STOP PRESS:

Oh, dear! What a huge disappointment! 6-0, 6-0 in 57 minutes. The first double "bagel" since 1911!

Iga Swiatek played superbly and became the first ever Polish winner of the Ladies Championship at Wimbledon.

Amanda Anisimova (USA), who qualified for the final after defeating the number one seed, Aryna Sabalenka, and was in a rich vein of form, simply froze on the big occasion. I'd tipped the American to win, so it was a painful watch. Anisimova got visibly upset during the second set and broke down at the end and during the presentation.

Will she get over this? I have my doubts!

    Wimbledon Ladies Champion 2025 Iga Swiatek [The Guardian]                 Runner-up Amanda Anisimova [Yahoo Sports]

As for Swiatek, she was thrilled to bits. Although she had already won five grand slams - four French and one US - she confessed that she would never get the hang of playing on grass. Well, she did, and in a emphatic way which has made history.

 

© Sporty Sam

 

Pictures:

Mundo Deportivo, Tennis World ES, The Independent, Wikipedia, WTA 

 

Sources:

Wikipedia, Wimbledon, WTA

 

Tags:

2025 Ladies Final, All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Amanda Anisimova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Aryna Sabalenka, Belarus, Belinda Bencic, Billie-Jean King, born in the USA, Chris Evert, Dorothea Lambert Chambers, Eastern bloc, German, Helen Wills Moody, hijo de Putin, Iga Swiatek, Laura Siegemund, Little Mo Connolly, Liudmila Samsonova, Lottie Dod, Martina Navratilova, Mirra Andreeva, NATO, Paul Whitelock, Poland, Polish, president of Russia, Russian, Russian emigres, Serena Williams, Slovak, Sporty Sam, Steffi Graf, Switzerland, Suzanne Lenglen, The West, United Nations, USA, Venus Rosewater Dish, Venus Williams, Vladimir Putin, Wikipedia, Wimbledon, WTA



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