As the dust settles on Wimbledon for another year, it is Jannik Sinner who will be celebrating after his four-set defeat of Carlos Alcaraz.
It was a sun-drenched and often scorching two weeks at the All-England Club as a heatwave engulfed SW19.
Along the way there were some terrific highs and some rather forgettable low points at tennis’ most storied Grand Slam.
From the brilliantly-performing Brits to the farce surrounding the lack of line judges, this year’s Wimbledon had it all.
And so, with proceedings now brought to a close at Wimbledon for 2025, the grass that has been churned into dust along baselines can now rest once again.
Here, Mail Sport’s Matthew Lambwell takes a look at the biggest highs from this year’s tournament.
Mail Sport’s Matthew Lambwell takes a look at the biggest highs from this year’s tournament
Highs
Sonay Kartal and Cam Norrie
For all the attention on Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper, it was two less fashionable Brits who stole the show. Kartal reached the last 16, showing that you do not have to be from a wealthy background, or a child prodigy, or tall and willowy to be a top British tennis player.
As for Norrie, after the worst 18 months of his career when it looked as though the game might have passed him by, he played some of the finest tennis of his life to reach the quarters. His competitive spirit burns as fiercely as ever.
The magnificent seven
The super Tuesday on which seven Brits won through to the second round was the high watermark from a parochial perspective. Leading the way were a corps of US college boys whose progress we will follow keenly.
Oliver Tarvet, who came through qualifying and acquitted himself well against Carlos Alcaraz in the second round, was most impressive.
The first Tuesday of the tournament saw seven British players win their respective matches
Aryna Sabalenka
This has been a poor tournament overall but it is no coincidence two of the matches that will live in the memory involved the Belarusian world No1. Her tight third-round win over Emma Raducanu and her semi-final defeat by Amanda Anisimova were packed with tension and incident.
Where some players can seem robotic she is so vibrantly human – from her screams of exertion, triumph or frustration to her frank admission to being ‘p****d off’ by Anisimova’s behaviour.
Lows
The same old faces on commentary
Given this was the first Wimbledon fully under the auspices of BBC head of sport Alex Kay-Jelski – he took over just before the last edition – we expected more of a shake-up in the commentary box.
Instead it was the same old faces. There are valid reasons why Nick Kyrgios was not retained by the Beeb but some fresh blood from more recently retired players is needed.
The BBC would benefit from freshening up its commentary team for next year’s event
The heat
We should not complain too much about a fortnight with only one day of serious rain but the heat was unbearable for much of the start and end of the fortnight.
The courtside seats on Centre were sparsely populated simply because it was impossible to sit in 30C sun with no shade for that long. As the climate crisis continues this is only going to get worse.
If the mooted shakeup of the tour ever transpires, there is a good argument for shifting Wimbledon back by a few weeks – when it is usually slightly cooler – to create a genuine grass court swing.
Electronic line calling
The players’ complaints over its accuracy are simply not grounded in reality but there is no doubt the system was a disaster on its first outing at Wimbledon.
Amid the malfunctions, the most consistent issue was how difficult it was for fans and even players to hear the calls, especially on the noisy stadium courts.
Next year Wimbledon should introduce some visual signal – as we always had with line judges. IN or OUT could be displayed on the screens.
And here’s an idea – for very close ones, instead of announcing the call straight away, do a zoomed in replay on the big screen, in the style of the old challenges which added such drama.
The electronic line calling system needs some tweaking after suffering notorious failures in its first year at SW19
Best match
Women: Amanda Anisimova bt Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 (semi-final).
Men: Carlos Alcaraz bt Taylor Fritz 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (semi-final)
Best shot
Corentin Moutet against Francisco Comesana. The Frenchman dummied to hit an overhead then let the ball bounce and hit a half-volley drop shot – through his legs.
Most dramatic moment
Two sets to the good and four games away from check a first victory over a world No1 for 12 years, Grigor Dimitrov collapsed to the court with a scream of pain, clutching an abdominal muscle which had torn with the effort of another huge serve. What a let-off for Jannik Sinner.
