Andy Murray’s 2nd men’s singles Wimbledon trophy is the icing on the cake to Britain’s successful run at the Wimbledon 2016. The UK’s representatives also won at the mixed doubles, men’s wheelchair singles, men’s wheelchair doubles, and women’s wheelchair doubles.
Wimbledon Singles
After beating Canadian Milos Raonic, Murray became the only second male tennis player from the UK to win multiple Wimbledon titles since Fred Perry. “I’ve had some great moments here and some tough losses and obviously the win is extra special because of the tough losses. So I’m proud to have my hands on the trophy again,” he told the media after his win on 10th July. Defending champion Novak Djokovic was the favourite to win this year. However, American Sam Querrey gave him his early exit and his first defeat in a grand slam event this year.
On the other hand, Serena Williams lived up to expectations after beating Germany’s Angelique Kerber. This is Williams’ 22nd grand slam title and only the first one this year after failing at the Australian Open and French Open. Kerber beat Williams in Melbourne earlier this year. “I have definitely had some sleepless nights with a lot of stuff, coming so close and feeling it and not being able to get there,” Williams said. She also added: “This tournament I came in with a different mindset. In Melbourne I thought I played well but Angelique played great, and better. So I knew going into this one I needed to be calm and be confident and play the tennis I’ve been playing for well over a decade.”
Wimbledon Doubles
Serena teamed up with her sister Venus Williams and won their 6th Wimbledon women’s doubles title. This is also the Williams sisters’ 14th doubles win at all grand slam tournaments.
Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert claimed the men’s double title and triumphed at the first all-French doubles final. The two defeated their French compatriots Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Julien Benneteau.
Great Britain’s Heather Watson teamed up with Finnish Henri Kontinen and bagged the mixed doubles. The duo beat Colombian Robert Farah and German Anna-Lena Gronefeld. Watson could not stop smiling and told the media she and Kontinen gelled well even if they only played together for the first time last week. She thanked her partner for everything, saying she couldn’t have chosen a better player to share this wonderful moment.
Wimbledon Wheelchairs
Wimbledon had started featuring wheelchair tennis since 2001 but this is the first time that men’s and women’s were featured. Scotland’s Gordon Reid is a big Wimbledon winner after he took home both the wheelchair men’s singles and the wheelchair men’s doubles titles. Reid defeated Sweden’s Stefan Olsson. He then paired with fellow Brit Alfie Hewett to beat France’s Stéphane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer.
Aniek van Koot of the Netherlands became the first wheelchair women’s singles champion when she defeated second seed Yui Kamiji of Japan. Kamiji paired with Jordanne Whiley from West Midlands England and won the women’s wheelchair doubles. The duo garnered their third consecutive Wimbledon title after defeating Dutch pair Jiske Griffioen and van Koot.