Wimbledon 2023 Recap
Let’s recap Wimbledon 2023! This tournament was incredibly historic and eventful for tennis in the 21st century—let’s discuss why.
ATP
I was 100% correct! Here’s what I said in last week’s post:
“If anyone’s taking down Djokovic, it’s Carlos Alcaraz…I think if Alcaraz brings the
level against Berrettini to Djokovic’s level against Hurkacz, the Spaniard wins.”
Alcaraz brought that level and much more. Here’s why this win is historic: 1), it’s the first time a non-Big 4 player has won Wimbledon in over two decades. 2), It’s Djokovic’s first time losing on Centre Court in ten years. 3), It seems to be an actual “changing of the guard” moment that tennis fans love to talk about (but rarely see as often as they say. Tsitsipas beating Federer at the Australian Open in 2019? Really?) This win actually seems to represent a real shift in generational momentum within the ATP—even though Sinner lost, there is a new, dominant, truly excellent force on the tour—one good enough to beat Djokovic in five sets in a slam final. Additionally, the level of both players during the final was insanely high and insanely fun to watch. Here are some other thoughts that are unrelated to the final but are still relevant:
Alcaraz completely dismantled Medvedev. I think a lot of that had to do with the Russian’s deep returning position, but Alcaraz was also playing inspired attacking tennis. I’ve heard some call Medvedev a “gatekeeping player,” meaning you have to play a certain level of offensive tennis to be able to beat him—I really like this term and will be using it in the future.
Jannik Sinner needs to improve his serve! His first serve percentage dropped drastically in the second week of the tournament, and I feel like a strong and consistent serve is what he is missing in his game currently.
Additionally, Sinner was completely unable to be clutch in the match against Djokovic. That is something that he needs to learn quickly to be able to actually win titles. I feel like he is somewhat overrated nowadays: people see clean ball striking and good movement and expect a lot when he is clearly not a fully formed mental player.
I just cannot expect Rublev to be a slam contender. He is unable to maintain his ceiling in the best of five format, and he is not a “plan B” kind of player—he either needs more nuance in his game or to be able to maintain his high-aggression tennis for longer periods of time in matches.
WTA
As seen in my last post, I really didn’t expect Marketa Vondrousova to win this title. She doesn’t have a lot to her name regarding prior accomplishments. I think she played excellent tennis in the final, but I also think Jabeur totally collapsed. She hit way too many unforced errors—the match was over quickly with an almost routine 6-4, 6-4 scoreline. After Jabeur’s nightmare draw (and revenge tour), I honestly expected her to easily win the final against Vondrousova. While I do think Jabeur still has the potential to win a slam, especially Wimbledon, she needs to find her footing in these major finals. Losing three must be devastating. Here are some other thoughts unrelated to the final:
Swiatek could have gone farther—she really imploded in the third set against Svitolina, in my opinion—but there is no shame in making it to a quarterfinal of a major. I think she will come back from the off season with a somewhat improved serve, and when that happens she will be a serious contender for the title.
Sabalenka made some really poor decisions in the match against Jabeur, but that wasn’t why she lost. Jabeur was playing insanely well.
Rybakina was doing well defending her title until she ran into Jabeur. And while she was okay in her match against Jabeur, the Tunisian player must have read my older post: she was using all of the tricks I wrote on how to beat Rybakina! She moved her around, focused on holding her serve, and kept the ball low. She made the Kazakh player uncomfortable on the court and executed her game plan perfectly.
Throughout the tournament, Vondrousova showed excellent, varied play. I think she will win more titles—maybe not slams, but titles for sure.