ITF

ITFWORLD SUMMER 2017 15 www.itftennis.com The second set of the final notwithstanding, the women mostly stole the show at Wimbledon thanks to an overflow of action-packed tussles. Muguruza and top seed Angelique Kerber, for example, sparkled in the fourth round. Then there was the sojourn of Johanna Konta, who came within two matches of becoming the first British woman to win Wimbledon since Virginia Wade in 1977. The muffin-baking Konta engineered sweet, dramatic victories over Donna Vekic, Caroline Garcia and Simona Halep prior to running into Williams in the last four. This while compatriot Andy Murray stumbled in the men's quarterfinals against Sam Querrey, hampered by a lingering hip injury. Hours later, Novak Djokovic would retire against Tomas Berdych with a longstanding elbow injury. Djokovic and Murray were easily the standout men's performers in 2016 though their hectic schedules might now be catching up with them. Murray's older brother Jamie won the mixed doubles title for a second time. He and Switzerland's Martina Hingis eliminated 2016 champions Heather Watson of Britain and Finland's Henri Kontinen 64 64. Federer opted to skip Roland Garros to prepare for the grass, a masterstroke as it turned out. Last year Nadal himself withdrew from Roland Garros in the first week due to the wrist issue, but with his body in good shape this year, the left- hander powered past three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka 62 63 61 to become the first player in the Open era to win the same major 10 times. Nadal was presented with a special trophy on court to mark those 10 titles, handed to him by his uncle and longtime coach Toni who is expected to stop travelling with him in 2018. "It's true that this one is gonna be one of the more special ones for the number, for what happened in the ceremony after the final, for so many things," said Nadal, who was bundled out in five sets and five "I'm incredibly surprised how well this year is going, how well I'm feeling, how things are turning out to be on the courts... I knew I could do great again maybe one day, but not at this level. So I guess you would have laughed, too, if I told you I was going to win two Slams this year. I also didn't believe that I was going to win two this year." - Roger Federer Andy Murray was a Roland Garros semifinalist before his injury-hit Wimbledon Johanna Konta was the first British woman in the Wimbledon semis for 40 years Injury forced Novak Djokovic to retire in the last eight Sam Querrey was Murray's conqueror at Wimbledon

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