One of the biggest tournaments in tennis has just finished for another year, with fans around the world applauding the champions — Novak Djokovic and Angelique Kerber — in what was a memorable sporting event. But what were the tournament’s highlights?
Considering our range of sports umbrellas and the typical British weather even in summer, Fulton Umbrellas has perhaps a more vested interest than most in Wimbledon and the fans who gather outside to watch it! From the most intense match to the most astonishing comebacks, we’ve explored and put together a collection of the best Wimbledon 2018 highlights…
Most exciting match
Reflecting on the whole tournament, the stand-off between the Spanish player, Rafael Nadal, and Argentinian, Juan Martin del Potro, was arguably the most gripping of Wimbledon 2018. Nadal’s quarter-final victory was packed with incredible sprints for the ball, unbelievably powerful shots and expertly angled backhands. The passion and desire to win was clear for all of us to see and made for great entertainment — even debuting BBC commentator, Andy Murray, said that the ‘fifth set is one of the best sets I have ever seen’.
Biggest disappointment
For many British fans, the news that Andy Murray would not be playing in this year’s Wimbledon was disheartening. The 2016 champion unfortunately backed out of the tournament only one day before the event started, citing a lack of preparation for it due to a recent hip operation. Although many of us were still mesmerised as each competitor battled it out for the trophy, not having one-time Wimbledon winner Murray in with a chance of a repeat victory presented a different experience to the event for British fans.
Greatest shock result
Wimbledon is always full of twists and turns on and off the court, but not many of us were expecting the outcome of the quarter-final match between Roger Federer and Kevin Anderson. Almost everyone was anticipating the reigning Wimbledon winner — who has lifted the famous trophy a record-breaking eight times — to emerge victorious over South African, Anderson. However, it wasn’t to be.
Over the course of four hours and 14 minutes, Federer gradually lost his ownership of the match. Soon after a promising start, the often-unbeatable Swiss player began to make a few uncharacteristic errors that let his opponent in with a chance to steal the match. With a fighting spirit, powerful forehand and shots of more than 100mph; Anderson shocked commentators and fans alike with his eventual victory — which also meant that he was the first South African for over three decades to reach the semi-final stage of Wimbledon.
Most incredible comeback
German women’s 2018 champion, Angelique Kerber, has perhaps made the greatest comeback of the tournament. After losing her number one world ranking spot and suffering multiple first-round exits at majors in 2017, few would have put a lot of money on the 30-year-old Kerber to lift the trophy at Wimbledon 2018. However, she did just that, beating the masterful Serena Williams 6-3, 6-3 to clinch her first Wimbledon championship!
Best shot
We chose three winners for the category of ‘best shot’: Angelique Kerber, Daria Kasatkina and Rafael Nadal. Kerber and Kasatkina showed amazing poise, power and precision with their unbelievable 25-shot rally in the quarter-final match, while Nadal’s backwards, ‘through-the-legs’ shot against Alex de Minaur that went over his opponent’s head landing just inside the line was spectacular!
Clearly, this year’s Wimbledon has been an exciting one — but will Andy Murray make a return to the court next year and what else will 2019’s tournament have in store?
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