Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/366594
ITFWORLD SUMMER 2014 17 www.itftennis.com F or all the promise shown by the likes of Milos Raonic, Grigor Dimitrov, Simona halep and Eugenie Bouchard, the singles titles at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon were won by previous champions. Rafael Nadal claimed an extraordinary ninth title in Paris, where Maria Sharapova triumphed for the second time in three years, while Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova staged a repeat of their 2011 double act to take the titles at the All England Club. The remarkable domination of Nadal, Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray thus continues. Stan Wawrinka's victory at the Australian Open in January suggested their rule might be ending, but the 'Big Four' have now won 36 of the last 38 Grand Slam tournaments. Given that the elite group also provided the two runners-up at the French Open and Wimbledon in Djokovic and Federer respectively, it would be a major surprise if there was any change to the established order at the forthcoming US Open, the last event of the Grand Slam year. While the generation of players just behind the Big Four have made significant progress, achieving the breakthrough at Grand Slam level is proving a tougher task. Raonic (aged 23), Dimitrov (23), Kei Nishikori (24) and Ernests Gulbis (25) have all been in the world's Top 10 this year and Raonic, Dimitrov and Gulbis have all played in Grand Slam semifinals. however, the young pretenders have yet to muster a single appearance in a Grand Slam final between them. Gulbis beat Federer and Tomas Berdych to reach the last four at Roland Garros, where he fell to Djokovic. Raonic made the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and the semifinals at Wimbledon, where he lost to Djokovic and Federer respectively. Dimitrov, having beaten Murray in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, lost to Djokovic in the semifinals. Nadal's clay-court supremacy had appeared under threat at the start of Roland Garros following his defeat by Djokovic in the Rome final, but there is nothing like a return to Paris to give the Spaniard a lift. he won his first four matches without dropping a set, came back from a set down to beat David Ferrer in the quarterfinals and reached the final with a straight-sets victory over Murray. In the final Nadal faced a familiar foe in Djokovic, who had lost all five of their previous meetings at Roland Garros, most recently in the 2012 final and 2013 semifinals. This time the Serb was chasing not only the one Grand Slam title he has failed to win but also the world No. 1 ranking, which he would have retaken from Nadal if he had won the final. The 42nd meeting between the two men, which is a record in the men's game, saw Djokovic take the first set before Nadal assumed control to win 36 75 62 64 and extend his record for the most titles won at a single Grand Slam tournament. In his ten appearances at Roland Garros Nadal has lost just once in 67 matches. This victory saw him become the first man to win the title five times in succession, while only Federer can beat his tally of 14 Grand Slam titles. For all his wonderful feats at Roland Garros, Wimbledon has proved a stumbling block for Nadal in recent times. having lost to Lukas Rosol (world No. 100) in the second round in 2012 and to Steve Darcis (world No. 135) in the first round last year, the Spaniard suffered an even more astonishing defeat this time, losing in four sets in the fourth round to Nick Kyrgios (world No. 144). The 19-year-old Australian, making his Wimbledon debut, was the first player ranked outside the top 100 to beat a world No. 1 at Wimbledon since Andrei Olhovskiy defeated Jim Courier in 1992. Kyrgios, who saved nine match points against Richard Gasquet in the second round, eventually lost in the quarterfinals to Raonic. ITFWORLD SUMMER 2014 17 Novak Djokovic's relief at ending a run of three losses in Grand Slam finals was obvious