Petra & Nole win Wimbledon

Petra Kvitova and Novak Djokovic won their first ever Wimbledon titles at this year’s Championships. Tough weekend for me as I was rooting for the other players. It felt a whole lot like Melbourne earlier this year. Well, that only means New York will be good to me, right?

Props must be given to the winners because their titles were well deserved. No flukes but great tennis and hard fought battles from both.

What else is there to say about Petra’s first grand slam title except incredible? She was a semifinalist here last year so this run to the finals did not come as a surprise to most. The only question going into the championship match was if Petra would be able to hold her nerve and play her game as well as she can. Well, she shattered that question into bits by the second game of the opening set. After getting broken to start, she broke back at love and never looked back. She played fearless tennis and went for her shots like she was the one who’s been there multiple times before. Wimbledon finals? No big deal.

Um.

Petra flat out beat Maria Sharapova for the title. Masha could not hit her off the court- groundies just did not penetrate like usual and that allowed Petra to control the rallies. Sure, it was part nerves and tightness but it also had a lot to do with how aggressive Petra was playing. Too good.

With the composure she showed during the finals, I’m almost positive Petra won’t disappear into the night after a slam win. I like her game and would be thrilled to see her stay at that top tier of women’s tennis. This next few months will be an interesting transition for her, her team best be ready.

Nole’s only lost one match this year. ONE FREAKING MATCH IS ALL. He is also the new World Number 1. I think I actually saw some of that confidence dripping out of Nole’s pockets that Janko Tipsarevic was talking about. Except for that error-filled third set in today’s championship match, he looked as sharp as he has all year.

At the elite level of professional sports, it is all mental, I heard someone say last week (or was it a line from a TV show?). Boy, ain’t that the truth. Rafael Nadal is the last person I would think of if asked about mental midgets in tennis. But Nole is in Rafa’s head so much that he causes the 10-time Grand Slam champ’s game to surprisingly collapse under pressure. Rafa played the most horrendous game late in the fourth set that eventually gave Nole the title.

Of course, this is all cumulative for both Nole and Rafa. Getting beaten and beating the same guy 4 (now 5) straight times will have that effect. I’m interested to see what changes Rafa will make and how Nole will handle them as this rivalry progresses. It’s been an exciting change for men’s tennis this year, can’t wait to see more.

Masha and Rafa are both having a relatively great year. They’ll have more shots at the big ones and getting over their respective humps. (hahamashplease) They’ve been there before and understand more than you and me what it takes to get it again. So, you no worry about them. I think.

All right, The Championships, Wimbledon. You’ve been good, so close to being amaaazing, to me this year. Thank you for the sleepless nights and making me go through that rollercoaster of emotions… until next year!

Images via Getty