Williams sisters win 6th Wimbledon doubles title

The Willams sisters

Serena Williams on Saturday put the icing on the cake of another magnificent Wimbledon campaign by teaming up with sister Venus for a sixth doubles crown.

The win was Serena’s second Wimbledon title within five hours, with victory earlier in the women’s singles at the All England Club.

The pair won 6-3 6-4 against Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova to claim their sixth Wimbledon doubles title and 14th doubles Grand Slam.

The win is their first in Grand Slam doubles since Wimbledon 2012.

The Williams sisters tally of 14 titles means now only Martina Navratilova and Pam Schriver have more as a pair.

Serena’s 7th Wimbledon win equals Graf’s 22 Grand Slam titles

Serena Admiring her trophy

Possibly, the greatest female tennis player of all time, Serena Williams, has equaled Steffi Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slam titles.

Serena equaled the German’s record on Saturday as she defeated Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-3, in what was a tense final.

It was third time lucky for the 34-year-old American, who had earlier in the year reached the Australian Open final, where she lost to Kerber.

In May, she also lost the French Open final in straight sets to Garbine Muguruza.

But even with 15 unforced errors in the first set that went to a tiebreak, Serena held her nerve to win 7-5. 

Andy Murray carries hopes of nation into third Wimbledon final

After winning his semi-final in straight sets, Murray will face Milos Raonic … and he won’t be the only Scot contesting a final

 

Djokovic has gone, Federer has fallen and after a display of focused efficiency on Centre Court on Friday evening, Andy Murray will contest the Wimbledon final on Sunday as the favourite to reclaim the title he first won three years ago.

Murray defeated the Czech No 10 seed Tomáš Berdych in straight sets – 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 – in less than two hours. His opponent will be the Canadian Milos Raonic, who had earlier beaten Roger Federer in a marathon five-set battle.

With the departure earlier in the tournament of the previously all-conquering Novak Djokovic, Murray will carry the hopes of the nation into his third Wimbledon final, though the big-serving Raonic, the world No 7, will present a formidable challenge.

Andy Murray reaches Wimbledon final with straight-sets win over Berdych

• Murray cruises past No10 seed with 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 victory
• Scot will take on Milos Raonic in Sunday’s final

Andy Murray celebrates after a straight sets win over Tomas Berdych. Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian

Sunshine bathed Centre Court on Friday evening to embroider a win by Andy Murray that catapulted him into the Wimbledon final for a third time, a couple of hours after Roger Federer had departed under a cloud.

He has now reached 11 finals in the four grand slam tournaments, one more than Fred Perry. The History Man is on the move again. Meanwhile the Swiss’s defeat over five sets by Milos Raonic earlier in the afternoon no doubt dismayed everyone from Sir Alex Ferguson in the Royal Box to that fabled author of fiction, Jeffrey Archer, consigned to the paid seats – but Murray’s win over the world No7, Tomas Berdych, was a thing of joy, an uplifting conclusion to a ragged day’s entertainment.

Milos Raonic beats Roger Federer in five sets to reach Wimbledon final

Milos Raonic will be the first non-European male finalist at Wimbledon since Andy Roddick in 2009 after seeing off Roger Federer. Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian

Roger Federer lies face down on the floor after of a slip during his semi-final defeat. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

As he became the first Canadian man to reach a grand slam final, Milos Raonic appeared not to know whether to laugh or cry. John McEnroe, acting as a coaching consultant to the big-serving Raonic, who secured victory over Roger Federer in five see-saw sets, had called on his charge to be more expressive on court. Yet when he finally clinched a 6-3, 6-7, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory on Centre Court of courage, power and no little skill he could manage no more than a shy smile.

Angelique Kerber defeats Venus Williams to reach Wimbledon final

 

Angelique Kerber proved to be the ultimate party-pooper as she ended the run of the five-times champion Venus Williams with a 6-4, 6-4 victory to reach the Wimbledon final for the first time. The 28-year-old German, who won her first grand slam title at the Australian Open in January, was too solid and had too much energy for the 36-year-old American, whose superb run came to an end in an hour and 13 minutes on Centre Court.

Williams was appearing in her first grand slam semi-final for six years and her first semi-final here for seven, a doubly impressive achievement because she suffers with Sjogren’s syndrome, an auto-immune disease that causes chronic fatigue and muscle soreness. But the No4 seed Kerber is made of strong stuff and after a shaky start from both women, she pulled away to set up a final against Serena Williams, who demolished Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-0 in the first semi-final.

Novak Djokovic knocked out of Wimbledon by Sam Querrey

• Sam Querrey wins 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 against Novak Djokovic in third round
• World No1’s calendar grand slam hopes ended in four sets by American

Sam Querrey is congratulated by Novak Djokovic after his upset win

So he is mortal after all. Novak Djokovic’s bid to win a fourth Wimbledon title, a fifth straight grand slam crown and the third leg of the coveted calendar year grand slam came crashing down in a barrage of aces on Saturday as he was beaten 7-6 (8-6), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) in the third round by the American Sam Querrey. It is the first time Djokovic has gone out before the quarter-finals in a grand slam since the 2009 French Open and with the world No1 gone, the men’s title is there for the taking.

Querrey, the No28 seed, had gone past the third round here only once, in 2010, and even though he was leading by two sets to love overnight, most believed that Djokovic, who had won 30 grand slam matches in a row, would somehow find a way to win. Last year, he recovered from two sets down to beat the South African Kevin Anderson in round four but Querrey, a former winner at Queen’s, smashed 31 aces and kept going for it to record the best win of his career while simultaneously blasting a massive hole in the top half of the draw.

Radwanska safely moves into the Wimbledon second round under the Centre Court roof

Yet another Agnieszka Radwanska's match was accompanied by rain, but this time there was no room for frustration, as the Pole's rained-delayed Wimbledon first-rounder, originally scheduled for No.2 Court on Tuesday, got the privileged roofed Centre Court on Wednesday and in just over an hour the third seed comfortably progressed into the second round with a win over Kateryna Kozlova, while rain suspended play on all other courts.

The 97th-ranked Kozlova, making her main-draw debut at SW19, broke Radwanska's serve once in the first set, but that improved her score just from 0-4 to 1-4 and the Ukrainian lost the set shortly afterwards. In the second set, the underdog won just one game and the final score reads 6-2 6-1 for the 2012 Wimbledon finalist Radwanska.

Radwanska's opponent in the second round will be the winner of the match between Italy's Karin Knapp and Croatia's Ana Konjuh.

Serena Opens her Titile Defence with a Win

Serena Williams opens her title defence with a 6-2 6-4 victory over Amra Sadikovic - it's her 80th win at #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/FDwgDA3fzG

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) 28 June 2016

Reigning champion Serena Williams won her 80th match at Wimbledon, beating Swiss qualifier Amra Sadikovic 6-2 6-4 in the first round.

The scoreline is straightforward, but in the post-match interview Serena emphasized that she doesn't underestimate her opponents and that the encounter was not easy. At moments it looked like Serena was not playing to win the match, but not to lose it, and her serve was off and slow for her standards, which was quite discussed on Twitter, my favorite comment being: "Did Serena rent out her serve this year?"

Anyways, a win is a win, and Serena twirled on her way to the net for a lovely handshake with the 27-year-old Sadikovic, who had retired in 2014 because of financial problems and lack of drive to play tennis, only to come back 13 months later.

In the second round, Serena is set to face Christina McHale.