Wimbledon 2024 report

Wimbledon 2024: Alcaraz again too strong for Djokovic in the final

Carlos Alcaraz retained his title from the previous Wimbledon tournament at 2024. The Spanish superstar, who had defeated Novak Djokovic in five sets in the 2023 final, had significantly less trouble defeating the same Serbian opponent this year: 6-2, 6-2, 7-6. In the women's tournament, the title went to Czech Barbora Krejcikova. She defeated Italian Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in a thrilling final. It was Krejcikova's second Grand Slam title, after Roland Garros in 2021.

Sabalenka will not start on the hallowed grass after all

Even before the tournament had begun, Wimbledon had to say goodbye to one of its favorites for the women's final victory. Aryna Sabalenka was forced to miss the tournament due to injury. As if that wasn't enough, the tournament was also over for defending champion Marketa Vondrousova just hours later. The Czech was eliminated in the first round by her Spanish opponent Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. Mirra Andreeva, a Roland Garros semifinalist just weeks before Wimbledon, bowed out in the first round to Brenda Fruhvirtova, and in the men's tournament, Andrey Rublev and Sebastian Korda's good intentions quickly ended. They suffered surprising defeats to Francisco Comesana and Giovanni Mpetsi Perricard, respectively.

Three wins, three losses for the Dutch tennis players at Wimbledon

For the Dutch, however, the first round was a success. In a single day, all three of our compatriots won their first match at Wimbledon 2024. Botic van de Zandschulp defeated Britain's Liam Broady, Tallon Griekspoor defeated Daniel Elahi Galan, and Arantxa Rus pulled off a strong victory against Yue Yuan. While the first round was successful for the Dutch, the second-round results were equally dismal. Rus had to bow to Maria Sakkari, Van de Zandschulp was no match for Frenchman Ugo Humbert, and Griekspoor squandered a lead against his Serbian opponent Muamir Kecmanovic. Thus, all Dutch hopes were dashed in a single day.

Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur run aground early

The second round also marked the end for Jessica Pegula, the fifth-seeded player in the women's tournament. She lost to China's Xinyu Wang. Poland's Hubert Hurkacz was forced to retire in the decisive match tiebreak at the same stage, tied at 8-9, against Arthur Fils, and Stefanos Tsitsipas was defeated by Emil Ruusuvuori. The Greek, who had never advanced beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon, also suffered an early exit in this edition. The same applied to Iga Swiatek, the women's world number one. Swiatek, like two-time Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur, was eliminated in the third round. Swiatek was defeated by Yulia Putintseva, while Jabeur was defeated by Elina Svitolina.

The fourth round also saw a number of surprises. Coco Gauff, for example, went out after a straight-set defeat to Emma Navarro, and Alexander Zverev squandered a two-set lead against Taylor Fritz (2-3). It was one of the few round of 16 matches in the men's tournament that still had some suspense. Players like Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Alcaraz, Tommy Paul, Daniil Medvedev , and Lorenzo Musetti advanced to the quarterfinals with relative ease. The same was true for Alex de Minaur, who had been the strongest in Rosmalen a few weeks before Wimbledon. However, he had to retire after his match, meaning he didn't play his quarterfinal match against Djokovic, and the Serb, without playing, qualified for the semifinals.

Sinner surprisingly defeated by Medvedev

The men's quarterfinals that were played proved to be thrilling matches. Musetti defeated Fritz in a grueling five-setter, while Medvedev – surprisingly – managed to beat world number one Sinner. Alcaraz had to concede defeat to Paul in the first set, but then pulled things together and thus also qualified for the semifinals. In the women's event, three of the four quarterfinals ended in straight sets . Rybakina defeated Svitolina, Krejcikova defeated Yelena Ostapenko, and Paolini had little to fear from Navarro. Only Donna Vekic needed three sets to defuse her opponent, the surprisingly strong Lulu Sun from New Zealand. Vekic lost the first set but managed to pull off the victory shortly after.

Alcaraz and Krejcikova are allowed to lift the trophy

In the women's tournament, Rybakina, seeded fourth in London, seemed poised for her second Wimbledon title. However, nothing could be further from the truth: in the semifinals, the Kazakh player fell to Krejcikova: 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. The Czech player faced Paolini in the final, who proved superior to Vekic after a grueling three-setter. While the women's semifinals were exciting, the same could not be said of the men's semifinals. Djokovic defeated Musetti in three sets, while Alcaraz needed four sets to defeat Medvedev. This resulted in finals between Alcaraz and Djokovic in the men's event and Krejcikova and Paolini in the women's event.

For Paolini, it was her second consecutive Grand Slam final. A few weeks earlier, the diminutive Italian had also reached the Roland Garros final. While she failed to win the final there, her Wimbledon 2024 final was equally unsuccessful: after just under two hours of tennis, Krejcikova was victorious, giving the Czech the second Grand Slam victory of her career and Paolini once again missing out on the main prize. Alcaraz, on the other hand, was successful in both the men's finals at Roland Garros and the Wimbledon final. By convincingly defeating his rival in the Wimbledon final, he joined an illustrious list of players who have won both Roland Garros and Wimbledon in a single year. Only Rod Laver, Björn Borg, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Djokovic have previously achieved this iconic double .

Wimbledon 2024 winners
Men's singles: Carlos Alcaraz
Women's singles: Barbora Krejcikova
Men's doubles: Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten
Women's doubles: Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend
Mixed doubles: Jan Zielinski and Su-Wei Hsieh