'Best day of my life' – Hewett wins singles and doubles
Alfie Hewett completes a career Grand Slam by lifting the Wimbledon men’s singles title before defending his doubles crown.
Alfie Hewett completes a career Grand Slam by lifting the Wimbledon men’s singles title before defending his doubles crown.
Alexander Zverev is set to compete on home soil at the Hamburg Open, where he is the defending champion and top seed. Here are five reasons why the 27-year-old is the man to beat at the ATP 500 clay-court event in Germany.
1. He Snapped Germany’s 30-year Hamburg Duck
Twelve months ago, Zverev did not drop a set en route to the title in Hamburg, where he beat Laslo Djere in straight sets in the final. By triumphing, he became the first German to win in Hamburg since Michael Stich in 1993.
“At the end of the day, this is my home, this is where I grew up, and this where I started playing tennis,” said Zverev at the time. “It was incredible for me, incredibly emotional. I can’t describe it in words, I’m just super happy right now.”
2. Happy At Home
The German has an impressive record on home soil. Zverev, who has also reached two other semi-finals in Hamburg aside from his title run, won in Munich in 2017 and 2018 and triumphed twice in Cologne in 2020.
After his triumph last year, the 22-time tour-level titlist is 12-5 in Hamburg. He will begin trying to improve that record this year in a first-round clash against Dutch qualifier Jesper de Jong.
[ATP APP] 3. In The Groove On Clay
Zverev has produced some of his best tennis this year on clay, highlighted by his title run at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome in May. The German dropped just one set en route to the crown, his second triumph in the Eternal City after he also won there in 2017.
The 27-year-old then advanced to his second major final and first on clay at Roland Garros. Zverev, who lost to Carlos Alcaraz in five sets at the Paris major, is 16-4 on the surface this year. Can he extend that winning record further in Hamburg?
4. Back To His Best
Zverev’s title run in Hamburg in 2023 was extra special, with it being his first since he suffered a horrific ankle injury at Roland Garros in 2022. Zverev was forced to retire during his semi-final with Rafael Nadal at the clay major that year. He suffered the injury at the end of the second set of an enthralling encounter with nearly three hours already on the clock, and it caused him to miss the rest of that season before he returned to tour-level action in Australia in January 2023.
Since then, Zverev has gone from strength to strength. He returns to his hometown this year as the No. 4 in the PIF ATP Rankings, having added ATP Tour titles in Chengdu and Rome to his tally since his Hamburg triumph last year.
5. Frontrunner
Zverev is 29-3 in matches where he has won the first set this year, having proven himself to be a difficult man to reel in if he gets ahead in a match.
One of the biggest reasons for Zverev’s record as a frontrunner is his serve, which is one of the biggest on Tour. The German has a first-serve average speed of 128mph this season, according to TennisViz, 14mph faster than the Tour average of 116mph. The World No. 4 backs up his pinpoint first deliveries with powerful groundstrokes to dictate.
Zverev’s longevity in rallies is also key to his success, particularly on clay. The 27-year-old acts as a brick wall at times to win lengthy exchanges, having this year won 54 per cent of points that last between five and eight rally shots on all surfaces.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Novak Djokovic walked onto Centre Court to face Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon on Sunday aiming to win a record-extending 25th major crown. Two hours and 30 minutes later the Serbian was left with a look of helplessness on his face after the Spaniard outplayed him to earn a straight-sets win.
“Just overall the way I felt on the court today against him, I was inferior on the court,” Djokovic said. “That’s it. He was a better player. He played every single shot better than I did.
“I don’t think I could have done something much more. Try to pump myself up maybe. Get the crowd involved. That’s what was happening in the third. That got me going a little bit. He wasn’t also allowing me to have many free points on my serve. He was reading the serve. He was playing with a lot of variety. I’ve never seen him serve that way, to be honest.”
Alcaraz improved to 3-3 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series and now holds a 2-0 record against Djokovic at the grass-court major.
[ATP APP]Djokovic arrived in west London just fewer than three weeks ago having undergone knee surgery in early June. The Serbian is pleased he was able to be so competitive at Wimbledon.
“I did all I can to prepare myself for this match and this tournament in general,” Djokovic said. “If someone told me I would play Wimbledon finals three, four weeks ago, I would take it for sure. Where I was three, four weeks ago, where I am now.
“Of course, I do feel disappointed. It’s a bitter taste to lose the finals the way I did today. It has to be a success at the end of the day with me and my team playing Wimbledon finals and losing to the best player of the tournament.”
Djokovic, who has earned seven Wimbledon crowns, first trained on grass six days before the tournament started on 1st July. The No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings shared further insight into how his preparation was hampered in the lead-up to the event.
“My preparation for Wimbledon wasn’t as I would have it normally, usually or commonly to prepare myself,” Djokovic said. “There was hindrance obviously because of the injury. I had to kind of create a hybrid program of training between the rehab, specific exercises for the knee, and the actual pre-Grand Slam fitness training and tennis training.
“That probably had an effect, particularly in the opening rounds. But as the tournament progressed, I felt better and better. I reached the finals. In some matches I played some really good tennis. Some matches I kind of battled my way through. Today I was just half a step behind him in every sense.”
Djokovic leaves west London holding a 23-7 record on the season. He is still searching for his first title and his first Top 10 win in 2024.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Watch highlights as Britain’s Alfie Hewett & Gordon Reid beat Takuya Miki & Tokito Oda to be crowned men’s wheelchair doubles champions on Court One at Wimbledon.
Watch Carlos Alcaraz’s reaction as he beats Novak Djokovic in straight sets to win consecutive Wimbledon titles.
Watch highlights as Carlos Alcaraz beats Novak Djokovic 6-2 6-2 7-6 (7-4) to win his second Wimbledon title on Centre Court.
Watch Novak Djokovic’s reaction as he’s defeated in straight sets by Carlos Alcaraz in the men’s singles final on Centre Court at Wimbledon.
Watch the moment Carlos Alcaraz secures his second Wimbledon title as he beats Novak Djokovic 6-2 6-2 7-6 (7-4) on Centre Court.
Carlos Alcaraz powers to victory over an out-of-sorts Novak Djokovic to retain his men’s singles title at Wimbledon.
Watch the top five shots from Wimbledon 2024 featuring Coco Gauff, Carlos Alcaraz and Lorenzo Musetti.