The Wondrous Wimbledon: Tournament Recap
- therookiereporters
- Jul 11
- 8 min read
Wimbledon can be argued to be the best Grand Slam in Tennis, and so far this week, it has not disappointed in the slightest. We have seen heroics from newcomers, magic from the old faithful using their experience to full advantage and some absolute quality tennis from the current top players of the sport, making this one of the most entertaining first weeks of Wimbledon in recent history.
Early Tournament Exits
Wimbledon has created a wave of shock this tournament with a record breaking feat of most top 10 seeded players eliminated in round 1 of a single grand slam in the open era at 8 between the men and women’s draws but also the most seeded players defeated by round 2 in 36 between the men and women's draws. Further shocks also followed us throughout the tournament. Here is a list of them:
Grass-Court Chaos: Men
Zverev (3) - 4 set defeat to Rinderknech - R1
Musetti (7) - 4 set defeat to Basilashvili - R1
Rune (8) - 5 set defeat to Jarry -R1
Medvedev (9) - 4 set defeat to Bonzi - R1
Draper (4) - 4 set defeat to Cilic - R2
Tiafoe (12) - 4 set defeat to Norrie - R2
Paul (13) - 4 set defeat to Ofner - R2
Furthermore, many other seeds or big names also fell by the wayside in the first few rounds with names like Popyrin, Berrettini, Tsitsipas, Mensik, Machac, Lehecka, Shapovalov and Bublik all falling to surprise defeats in context. This opened up the draw greatly for many of the non-seeds (below the top 32) and qualifiers who made some great runs in the tournament.
Grass Court Chaos: Women
Gauff (2) - straight sets defeat to Yastremska - R1
Pegula (3) - straight sets defeat to Cocciaretto - R1
Zheng (5) - 3 sets defeat to Siniakova - R1
Keys (6) - 3 sets defeat to Ruse -R1
Badosa (9) - 3 sets defeat to Boulter - R1
Muchova (15) - Straight sets defeat to Wang - R1
Ostapenko (20) - 3 sets defeat to Kartal - R1
Paolini (4) - 3 sets defeat to Rakhimova - R2
Rybakina (11) - straight sets defeat to Tauson - R3
Furthermore, a large percentage of seeded players were eliminated after round 3, sitting at 20/32. Names like Schnaider, Krejcikova, Haddad Maia, Vekic, and Kenin were all defeated by non-seeded players and qualifiers who advanced beyond them. The draw opened up greatly, with only 4 top 10 players advancing further in the tournament as well.
Shockwave stories at SW19: Men
Norrie - Norrie had a tournament filled with great promise for the Brit. Although not his furthest Wimbledon run, it was arguably the toughest. He beat former Wimbledon semi-finalist Bautista Agut in round 1 before taking out the world No. 12 Tiafoe - a performance of class coming from a set down. His next 2 victories came against Bellucci and Jarry, both of whom defeated well-seeded players earlier in the tournament. Norrie was undone by Alcaraz's next-level game, but nevertheless, it was a memorable run in front of his home crowd.
Cobolli - A player whose breakthrough was anticipated but not expected here at Wimbledon, due to Cobolli's questionable grass court form coming into Wimbledon with a loss to Fearnley in the round of 32 at Eastbourne. The Italian ace defied the odds in reaching his first quarter-final in a major grand slam. Wins against upcoming youngster Mensik and high-flying Cilic are the standouts of his 2025 Wimbledon journey. A valiant performance against Djokovic in the quarter final, although going a set up on tiebreak wasn't enough to ruffle the feathers of the Wimbledon 7-time champion as he came through in 4 sets to the semi final for a record-breaking 14th time.
Cilic - A former grand slam winner over a decade ago at the US Open, you would expect a player, in the twilight of his career, to be petering out, but not for the resilient Croatian. Regardless of his huge injury struggles in the past few years leaving him off the tour for 2 years, Cilic came to Wimbledon with a purpose about him and knocking out the top seeded brit in Draper was a wake up call to everyone that Cilic hadn't lost much of his hitting power or ability around the court. He followed this victory with a win against the tricky Spaniard Munar before 2 high flyers of the tournament met where the conditions were tough - Cilic complained may not have suited his game in which he fell to a 4-set defeat to Cobolli. Although a disappointing end, this tournament proved no matter your setbacks and challenges, there's always a way out and with enough drive and determination, you can work your way back to the top
Jarry - The Chilean player had a great run at Wimbledon this year, reaching his joint best grand slam result in reaching the 4th round once more. The quality of the players he defeated is definitely to be admired. He started off with an incredible comeback win from 2 sets down against the Danish Dynamite of Rune with his explosiveness, in which he overcame in fine style, creating one of the sets of the tournament. Jarry followed this up with wins against Tien, the Brazilian talented youngster in Fonseca, until he fell to Home hero Norrie in round 4.
Shockwave Stories at SW19: Women
Bencic - Bencic got a favourable early tournament draw which allowed her to avoid the carnage of the opening rounds after she went to work beating two seeded players, with the biggest scalp being the talented player of Andreeva, who was on for a strong result having the same ambitions of the semi finals or further. This Wimbledon run equals her best ever run in a grand slam, in which she previously also reached the semi-finals at the US Open. This year's semi-final appearance at Wimbledon is her best since her return from giving birth. Unfortunately, she fell to Swiatek in the Semis in straight sets.
Siegemund - Once again, she received a favourable draw but she took full advantage and when the pressure mounted in a third-round tie against Madison Keys, she prevailed, defeating the 6th seed. This allowed her to progress to the quarter finals which is her equal best finish in a grand slam and her best since the 2020 French Open at Roland Garros. Mainly a successful doubles player, Siegemund really defied the odds to go far at Wimbledon this year in a respectable performance. She even managed to get a set up against world No. 1 Sabalenka before being defeated in 3 sets.
Pavlyuchenkova - A former junior prodigy and in the twilight years of her career she ran back the years with a great Wimbledon performance in which she equalled her 2nd best ever grand slam finish. She defeated a seeded player in Krueger but also had to take down a rebounding Osaka who had a decent tournament up to that point and her best result in recent history. Probably her hardest challenge to defeat was a high-flying home prospect in Kartal, who was having her best ever grand slam performance and was riding a wave of momentum. Pavlyuchenkova shut down this successfully to reach the quarter finals after a controversial line call but this was in jeopardy but she ultimately prevailed. She was eventually defeated by finalist Anisimova who was a stronger player.
Tauson - The strong Danish challenger had quite a successful Wimbledon in which she equalled her best grand slam result of round 4, where she was defeated by Swiatek in hot form at the moment. Her highlight of the tournament was beating former Grand Slam champion Elena Rybakina to reach the round of 16. She also had some opponents who could surprise you on their day on the run up to that tie like Kalinskaya and Brit Watson.
Kartal - She became the Brit who had the longest run in the tournament, even surpassing the likes of Raducanu, who was tipped to go furthest out of the home faithful. Kartal reached round 4 of a grand slam for the first time and her standout performance of beating former grand slam champion Ostapenko in round 1 set up her tournament nicely. Afterwards, she played two non-seeded players in which she brushed aside in straight sets. Ultimately, she succumbed to a round of 16 exit to Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets where the nerves got the better of her but we will definitely see more of her and this is just the beginning.
Fun fact - Amongst the shocks and surprises we got in the early Wimbledon rounds, the home faithful recorded a joint record 10 victories in round 1 in which they would advance to round 2. This feat was only equalled in 1976, 50 years prior.
Quarter Finals Round Up: Men
Fritz vs Khachanov - 6-3,6-4,1-6,7-6 - After being two sets up and with being close to set points in the 4th set, it headed to a tiebreak which Fritz's class shone through to get over the line stopping the momentum Khachanov was building and even overcame a dodgy line call.
Alcaraz vs Norrie - 6-2,6-2,6-3 - A comfortable match for Alcaraz where Norrie did his best but Alcaraz is constantly improving throughout this tournament and was far too much for the Brit in the end.
Sinner vs Shelton - 7-6,6-4,6-4 - Both with powerful served it became a chess match which Sinner was able to manipulate Shelton's poor return rate and the odd Serving inconsistency to edge out a close game in 3 sets.
Cobolli vs Djokovic - 7-6, 2-6,5-7,4-6 - Cobolli started of the stronger and found the extra bit of brilliance to go 1 set up but like in the previous round Djokovic didnt let that get to him and mentally found another level which increased his performance which Cobolli couldn't match making too many unforced errors.
Quarter Final Round Up: Women
Anisimova vs Pavlyuchenkova - 6-1, 7-6 - A game of fine margin, especially in the second set after the first was plagued with serving issues for Pavlyuchenkova. The second set both broke each other leading to an intense tie break but Anisimova just had enough to advance.
Sabalenka vs Siegemund - 4-6,6-2,6-4 - After Siegemund came out soaring, taking the first set, Sabalenka started to find her rhythm. Due to Siegemund's disruptive game it took a while to get used to but Sabalenka dominated the second set. The third set truly showed Sabalenka's mentality as she came from break down twice to recover and win in a nail-biting finish.
Andreeva vs Bencic - 6-7,6-7 - A game in which Bencic's solid all-around game allowed her to exploit Andreeva's aggressive game, forcing many unforced errors which made the difference. In the crucial moments, her experience helped her keep her cool, coming through in straight sets after two entertaining tiebreaks.
Swiatek vs Samsonova - 6-2,7-5 - A relatively comfortable win for Swiatek who is just too strong at the moment and the pressure she put on Samsonova through her smashing returns of serve and powerful forehand winners leading to plenty of points. Swiatek's improved movement on grass was also a factor in this win.
Women's Semi-Final Result
Anisimova vs Sabalenka - 6-4,4-6,6-4
Bencic vs Swiatek - 2-6,0-6
Semi-Final Spotlight: Looking ahead to the Men's
The men's Wimbledon semi-finals are set to be blockbusters with in-form Fritz, who has come through one of the challenging draws in flying colours vs Alcaraz who started the tournament shaky but has recently started to find his feet again. In this semi-final, I would put Alcaraz favourite but if Fritz gets in his head and plays his game with the unforced error count down he could cause serious problems for Alcaraz. I predict Alcaraz to Win in 5.
Then we have the semi-final clash of Sinner vs Djokovic with the definition of an immovable object in Djokovic being the best returner in the game against an irresistible force in Sinner, whose game is based on a powerful serve and hitting power playing on the front foot. Both competitors with possible injury concerns could make for an interesting watch. This match is too close to call to make a valid prediction.
In this prestigious arena of champions, where legacy meets ambition as these 4 fierce competitors lock horns again in another chapter in tennis folklore. Whether you're a timeless titan with history beckoning or a driven young prodigy waiting to create his own legacy all these players will desperately want to have a chance to win Wimbledon and get their hands on the iconic trophy and prestige associated with it. Are we ready for the Men's Wimbledon Semi-Finals?
Article written by Taegan Hignett
