Johan Eliasch, chairman of tennis racquet manufacturer Head, defends his company’s backing of Maria Sharapova.
The Russian was last month given a two-year ban for using meldonium, which she has used since 2006 for health issues but became a banned substance on 1 January.
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Herbert/Mahut to face Benneteau/Roger-Vesselin
There are few certainties in life beside death and taxes, but one can be sure that the Wimbledon doubles title will be claimed by an All-French team for only the second time in the Open Era.
Top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, the 2015 US Open doubles champions, and unseeded Julien Bennteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who won the 2014 Roland Garros title, will play for the coveted trophy on Centre Court Saturday. The other French duo to capture the Wimbledon title was Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra, who pipped Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan for the crown in 2007.
“It’s good for French tennis,” said Mahut. “We know they are a really good team. They won Roland Garros already. Every time they play together they have some success. Hopefully we are going to win.”
“The final is going to be special for sure,” said Benneteau. “They have had a very successful year so far, they are second in the race and very strong. We know each other very well and we will have to stay focused on our game and forget who is on the other side of the net.”
Herbert and Mahut lead the teams’ FedEx ATP Head2Head matchup 1-0, having won in three sets in the 2015 Australian Open quarter-finals. Saturday’s winners will snap a streak of 11 Grand Slam championships won by different doubles teams.
| Event | Winning Team |
| 2014 Roland Garros | Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin |
| 2014 Wimbledon | Pospisil/Sock |
| 2014 US Open | Bryan/Bryan |
| 2015 Australian Open | Bolelli/Fognini |
| 2015 Roland Garros | Dodig/Melo |
| 2015 Wimbledon | Rojer/Tecau |
| 2015 US Open | Herbert/Mahut |
| 2016 Australian Open | Murray/Soares |
| 2016 Roland Garros | Lopez/Lopez |
The final will be an intriguing one, as both teams know each other’s games inside and out. Benneteau and Mahut, born a month apart, enjoyed a successful partnership in the junior ranks, winning the 1999 US Open juniors doubles together and being named the year’s ITF Junior Boys’ Doubles World Champions. At tour-level, Benneteau and Mahut won two ATP World Tour titles and reached two US Open semi-finals (2004 and 2007) while Mahut/Roger-Vasselin captured four ATP World Tour titles as a team between 2012 and 2013.
Herbert and Mahut have been on a roll since winning their first Grand Slam title together at the 2015 US Open. The pair swept this year’s first three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events, at Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo, before winning the Aegon Championships prior to Wimbledon. In addition to reaching their maiden Wimbledon doubles final, the pair also enjoyed successful runs in the singles draw. Mahut edged Herbert in four sets to reach the Last 16 for the first time at in a Grand Slam singles draw, while Herbert’s third-round showing matches a career best set at the 2016 Australian Open.
When asked why Herbert and Mahut have been so successful, former World No. 1 Mark Woodforde, who has been working with the top seeds, told ATPWorldTour.com, “Confidence plays a big part, belief and the drive about wanting to be the best.
“Pierre-Hugues and Nico have the attributes to be one of the best teams. They have climbed that mountain this year and now it’s not just about getting to the very top, but it’s about pushing yourself higher. Because if you plateau when you’re No. 1, the only way you’re going to go is down.
“That’s what I’ve been helping them with, telling them that the ride up to the top is terrific. They play serve and volley tennis and aggressive tennis as singles players. In being singles player, it can help them to become a very good doubles team. They’ve won big events and they built an aura for themselves.”
Benneteau and Roger-Vasselin renewed their partnership earlier this year after Benneteau recovered from an adductor injury which kept him out of action for nearly a year. The pair are into their second Grand Slam final, having beaten Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez in front of a home crowd in Paris two years ago. They are looking for a third tour-level title as a team (2014 Marseille).
Herbert and Mahut come into the final as the slightly fresher team, having spent three fewer hours on court than Benneteau and Roger-Vasselin (10:12 to 13:21). Both teams have put up identical returning stats, winning 27 per cent of first-serve return points and 47 per cent of second-return points. The top seeds have been slightly more aggressive on serve, hitting their first deliveries harder (119 mph to 114mph) and firing more aces (38-22) during the fortnight.
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HERBERT/MAHUT |
|
BENNETEAU/ROGER-VASSELIN |
|
d. Adrian Mannarino/Lucas Pouille 64 ret. (Mannarino – elbow) |
1st Round |
d. Marc Lopez/Albert Ramos-Vinolas 63 63 |
|
d. Stephane Robert/Dudi Sela 61 63 |
2nd Round |
d. No. 9 Dominic Inglot/Daniel Nestor 76(0) 64 |
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d. Sam Groth/Robert Lindstedt 75 36 76(4) 63 |
Round of 16 |
d. No. 8 Vasek Pospisil/Jack Sock 64 36 67(3) 75 64 |
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d. No. 10 Henri Kontinen/John Peers 64 67(6) 64 76(8) |
Quarterfinals |
d. No. 3 Jamie Murray/Bruno Soares 64 64 67(11) 67(1) 108 |
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d. No. 12 Treat Huey/Max Mirnyi 64 36 67(3) 64 64 |
Semifinals |
d. No. 11 Raven Klaasen/Rajeev Ram 75 64 57 76(5) |
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“You just do the normal things in that moment; towel yourself down, look for the two best balls and get ready. But your heart is pounding in your chest that much faster, the adrenaline takes over
“I looked down at my left hand. For the first time I could remember in the middle of a tennis match, it was shaking. Shaking pretty violently.
“I sensed that if I lost this point it might all be over, the opportunity completely gone.”
In tennis, not all points are created equal. There are big points in matches – at 30-30, at deuce, at game point – and there are big points in lives, points where wobbling nerves turn into real physical tremors.
That was what Andy Murray discovered before, at the fourth time of asking, converting match point against Novak Djokovic in the 2013 Wimbledon final.
So, how do you play the biggest point of your life? Wimbledon’s official data supplier IBM has crunched the numbers on the past 12 years of championship points in Wimbledon men’s and women’s finals to tell us more.
The finish line is one clean connection and a fraction of a second away.
The serve is the only shot you play on your own terms. It is the opportunity for a clean kill, to escape the tension, seize your chance and snuff out your opponent.
You bounce the ball, cut out the crowd and try to strip Centre Court down to a familiar pattern of lines.
One last look down the other end. Toss the ball overhead and, as it hangs at the apex of its arc, swat it down towards destiny.
It is an intense situation. And one that men and women react to differently.
On championship point in the men’s final, the first serve finds the mark 57% of the time. That compares to a hit rate of 67% for other points in the final.
In the women’s final, however, the trend is in the opposite direction.
When it comes to championship point, their accuracy jumps, with 86% of first serves landing in play compared with 65% through the rest of the match.
The contrast may be different calculations of risk and reward.
Men hit more aces than women. Milos Raonic leads the men’s tournament stats, having hit 137 at this year’s Wimbledon.
Serena Williams, owner of the most fearsome serve in the history of the women’s game, has chalked up 61. Russian Elena Vesnina, second in that category, managed just 31.
The jackpot of ending the match in one stroke is tantalisingly close for the men. It is not desperation but simple logic that dictates they go for broke.
For women players, an ace is a more distant prospect.
Instead, exposing your second serve on such a crucial point becomes the greater concern.
There is also a gender divide on where to hit your serve on championship point.
It seems men shift their sights out wide – possibly hoping if their opponent does claw back a return they will be open to the classic sucker-punch shot across court.
However, serving out wide is another high-risk, high-reward option. If a receiving player is able to hit an attacking shot, angles have opened up for them across court or down the line.
Women – generally more vulnerable to a counter – are instead more likely to go down the middle which ensures are well positioned for the third shot of the rally.
Your first serve has missed.
The possibility of a double fault – your chances ended at your hand – looms.
Your priority now is to make sure you engage the enemy. Slice, spin and kick are all decorations. The ball just has to clear the net and land in the service box.
Under the crushing pressure of championship point, both men and women make doubly sure of at least getting into a rally on second serve.
Men’s second serves average 92.3mph on championship point – 4.4mph down on the rest of the final.
The drop-off in pace in women’s second serves is even more pronounced. At 79.7mph, their second serve is 10% shy of what it registered in the rest of the final.
The point is live. You and your opponent fighting for space, angles and depth over a 78ft-long strip of hallowed grass.
How aggressive can you be?
Do you seize the day and go for a winner? Or play it safer and hope your opponent crumbles first and concedes an error?
Yet again it seems men opt for the more aggressive mindset.
Rallies on championship point in their finals are shorter than those in the rest of the final, perhaps reduced by that death-or-glory approach to serving.
In the women’s finals, play tends to continue for a whole shot longer on championship point.
What is the shot that clears the net, lands in and never comes back, the last one this side of lifting the trophy?
There are no easy answers here.
| Women’s winning moments | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service winner | Groundstroke winner | Volley winner | Opponent into the net | Opponent wide/long |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
It comes in all shapes and sizes. And there is no tactic to favour on gender grounds.
Over the past 12 years, Venus Williams, Marion Bartoli and Petra Kvitova won titles with unreturnable serves, bettering the total managed by the men over the same span.
| Men’s winning moments | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service winner | Groundstroke winner | Volley winner | Opponent into the net | Opponent wide/long |
| 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
Years of training, a fortnight of graft and a lifetime of dreaming have crystallised in this one moment.
You have conquered the highest summit in the game. Your name is now indelibly added to a roll call of champions stretching back to 1877.
And, after wrestling to keep control of mind and body through pressure and fatigue, you have won.
How do you react?
The classic image of the Wimbledon champion spread-eagled in ecstasy on Centre Court has become rarer in recent years.
After five of the previous six winners celebrated be getting up close and personal with the Wimbledon turf, in the past three men’s finals the winner has stayed standing.
| Men’s Wimbledon champions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Champion | Celebration |
| 2015 | Novak Djokovic | Standing, fist pump |
| 2014 | Novak Djokovic | Standing, arms aloft |
| 2013 | Andy Murray | Walking, fist pump |
| 2012 | Roger Federer | Fall to the floor |
| 2011 | Novak Djokovic | Fall to the floor |
| 2010 | Rafael Nadal | Fall to the floor |
| 2009 | Roger Federer | Jumps and runs to net |
| 2008 | Rafael Nadal | Falls to the floor |
| 2007 | Roger Federer | Falls to the floor |
In the women’s game, the trend never really caught on, with only two of the past 10 winners ending up on the court floor.
Instead, four different players have knelt in celebration in the past 10 years – a winning pose absent from the past decade of men’s finals.
| Women’s winners | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Champion | Celebrations |
| 2015 | Serena Williams | Walks to net |
| 2014 | Petra Kvitova | Fall to floor |
| 2013 | Marion Bartoli | Drops to knees |
| 2012 | Serena Williams | Fall to floor |
| 2011 | Petra Kvitova | Drops to knees |
| 2010 | Serena Williams | Standing, racquet thrown |
| 2009 | Serena Williams | Drops to knees |
| 2008 | Venus Williams | Standing, arms aloft |
| 2007 | Venus Williams | Standing, arms aloft |
| 2006 | Amelie Mauresmo | Drops to knees |
After the pleasantries at the net, it is no longer necessary to scale the commentary box rooftops – as Pat Cash famously did after winning in 1987 – to get to friends and family in the players’ box.
Wimbledon installed a gate in 2014 to allow champions a less perilous route to their connections.
Novak Djokovic has shown you can always start new traditions. The three-time champion has chewed the Centre Court cud after each of his triumphs, picking some blades of grass to eat.
He also danced with Serena Williams at last year’s Champions Dinner in a nod to the previously customary twirl with the women’s champion.
Canadian will play in first Grand Slam final
Milos Raonic took advantage of some rare shaky serving from Roger Federer to take the fourth set and even their semi-final contest 6-3, 6-7(3), 4-6, 7-5 on Friday at The Championships.
The winner will play second seed and 2013 champion Andy Murray or No. 10 seed Tomas Berdych, the 2010 finalist.
It seemed all but assured that the fourth set would head into a tie-break. Federer was serving at 5-6, 40/0. But Raonic hit a forehand winner and Federer donated two double faults to bring the game to deuce. On his third set point opportunity, Raonic struck a backhand pass to force a decider. He celebrated with a scream and a fist pump to his team.
The Canadian had consistently dug himself out of trouble in the fourth set, coming back to hold in four of his six service games and saving three break points. Until the last game, Federer hadn’t faced a break point since 1-2 in the first set. But Raonic came through to even the contest.
Federer had been riding the momentum he had earned in the third set, during which he landed more first serves and kept Raonic at the baseline and in rallies. The Canadian saw only seven net points in the third set after approaching 26 times during the first two sets.
The third seed had evened the match at one-set apiece after Raonic double faulted at 3/3 in the second-set tiebreak.
The sixth seed couldn’t have requested a better start to the Wimbledon semi-final. Raonic controlled the opener with his serve and forehand, successfully avoiding rallies with Federer. The Canadian won eight of his 12 net points. He also benefited from a Federer double fault on the set’s lone break point and had a one-set lead after 35 minutes.
Raonic is looking to make his first final at a Grand Slam championship and also is out for a bit of revenge. He lost to Federer 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the 2014 Wimbledon semi-final.
Federer leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 9-2. Raonic, however, won their most recent contest at the Brisbane International in January.
At 34, Federer is aiming to become the oldest Wimbledon finalist since 39-year-old Ken Rosewall finished runner-up in 1974. The last man older than Federer to reach any Grand Slam final was 35-year-old Andre Agassi, who fell to the Swiss at the 2005 US Open.
Andy Murray defeats Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to reach his third Wimbledon final.
Britain’s number one will now face Milos Raonic in the final on Sunday.
Watch coverage of the men’s Wimbledon final from 13:00 BST on Sunday.
Watch more action from Wimbledon here.
Angelique Kerber hit the shot of day ten on match point of her semi-final against Venus Williams on Centre Court.
WATCH MORE:Angelique Kerber v Venus Williams highlights
Watch more action from Wimbledon here.
Andy Murray will be heavily favoured to make his third Wimbledon final on Friday afternoon when he takes on Tomas Berdych.…
It has been said a few times since he won Wimbledon in 2012 but if there was ever a time that Roger Federer has the chance to…
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During two weeks in early summer, about half a million spectators converge on a corner of south-west London to watch a spot of tennis.
Here we discover some of the more unusual facts and characters that make Wimbledon a uniquely British sporting occasion.
A distinctive sight greets travellers as they head out of Southfields tube station, about a 15-minute walk away from the grounds of the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
Tony Sedgwick is a taxi driver and a grandfather. He has also transformed his usual greying locks to bright yellow so that his head resembles a tennis ball. Only at Wimbledon.
“I got a number two haircut, bleached it myself and then one of the other cabbies colours it in with face paint,” said the 51-year-old.
Cafes, pubs, restaurants and other local businesses get into the spirit of Wimbledon fortnight with special displays and decorations.
Charity shops are a good place to snap up some SW19 bargains – official programmes from previous years can be bought for as little as 99p, in some cases five times less than their original prices.
“The best free campsite in Britain,” the attendant chuckles as punters flood into Wimbledon Park, across the road from the main venue and its 19 grass courts.
While members of the public can enter a public ballot for tickets in September, those who miss out can queue for tickets early in the tournament, with the first 500 guaranteed a spot on Centre Court.
Dozens camp overnight as the park becomes a mini festival, with burgers, coffee and ice cream among the food and drink for sale during the day and into the evening.
Tennis fan Chris Fava travelled more than 5,000 miles from his home in California to visit what he calls the “hallowed ground” of Wimbledon.
“Venice Beach is crazy, but this is bananas,” said the 40-year-old dressed as a strawberry.
The creative director’s creations at previous tournaments included coming in fancy dress as “Sky Man, a daisy, and Mister Sunshine”.
To play tennis, you need balls. And in Wimbledon’s case – more than 50,000 of them.
“We order 57,600 which covers qualifying, practice and the tournament matches, and probably use 53,000,” says Brian Mardling, manager of ball distribution.
The balls are stored in a temperature-controlled room at 20C (68F) and used balls can be snapped up by spectators for £3 a can of three.
Yellow balls were introduced for the first time in 1986. The balls are changed after the first seven games, and every nine games after that.
Delays caused by rain have receded since Centre Court welcomed a retractable roof in 2009. In that first year, Andy Murray beat Stan Wawrinka in a match that ended at 10.39pm.
Murray was also involved the latest ever finish at SW19 when he beat Marcos Baghdatis in 2012 in a match that concluded at 11.02pm.
The grass at Wimbledon is maintained at a height of 15mm during the winter and 12mm in the summer, except during the tournament when it is trimmed to 8mm.
It is a gradual reduction so that the grass does not “go into shock”.
Every day of Wimbledon is an early start for bird scarer Rufus the Hawk, who flies from 5am to 9am.
Falconer Imogen Davis says his optimum weight is 1lb 6oz – perfect for chasing pigeons.
“He’s king of the Centre Court,” says Imogen, who has helped look after the bird, aged nine, since he was 16 months old.
There are 350 match officials at the tournament – umpires, chair and line judges – and each is kitted out in identical gear.
If you like their sunglasses, you can pick up a pair for £99 in the Wimbledon shop, but you will need £650 if you fancy a lady umpire’s blazer.
It is estimated 150,000 glasses of Pimm’s, 17,000 bottles of champagne and 112,000 punnets of English strawberries are sold during the tournament.
A portion of strawberries (minimum 10 berries) and cream is priced at £2.50, a large glass of Pimm’s is £8.30 while a pint of Stella Artois lager costs £5.20.
Like a hot roast? That will set you back £7.30. Worth noting it is ‘slow cooked pork in Artisan Focaccia Romana bread’.
Towels are a topic of conversation at Wimbledon, where they retail for £29.
The All-England Club provides two towels – green and purple for the men, pink and orange for the women – for each match, which the players are told to leave behind.
But about 2,500 towels mysteriously “disappear” each year, at a cost of over £60,000.
Fifteen staff work in the referee’s office, monitoring the play, schedule and scores.
Did you know? Tennis scoring is thought to come from the face of a clock with its four quarters – 15, 30 and 45 (shortened to 40).
Last year, the men’s final drew a peak TV audience of more than nine million on BBC One, with others following online and on BBC Radio 5 live.
Wimbledon has its own TV and radio station. The official website, which had over 540m page views in 2015, also has a dedicated Chinese version.
History hits you at every turn at this tournament, which first took place back in 1877.
There is an extensive museum on site, which boasts its own library and a stunning new virtual reality experience.
A poster from the 1893 tournament has been restored after being found 12 years ago by a member of the public and posted to Wimbledon. It had been at the back of a mirror for 110 years.
Left to right are the trainers of players from 2015: Martina Hingis (shoe size 6.5), Caroline Wozniacki, Heather Watson, Leander Paes, Nick Kyrgios, Horia Tecau and Ivo Karlovic (size 16).
Murray and Berdych to follow
Roger Federer is two wins away from securing his 18th Grand Slam title, but an in-form Milos Raonic looks to stop the Swiss star with a blend of power and guile.
Previewing the two semi-final matches…
[6] MILOS RAONIC (CAN) vs. [3] ROGER FEDERER (SUI)
FedEx ATP Head2Head: Federer leads 9-2
Despite overcoming a two-set deficit and saving three match points in an epic quarter-final match against Marin Cilic, Federer comes into the semi-finals having spent two fewer hours on court during the tournament than Raonic. The Swiss has only dropped two sets this fortnight, both against Cilic. Raonic came back from 0-2 down for the first time in his career against David Goffin in the fourth round and edged Sam Querrey in four sets in the quarter-finals.
Raonic, seeded No. 6, is a match away from reaching his first Grand Slam final. He’ll be out for revenge as Federer beat him in the same stage of The Championships two years ago. The Canadian has never won a grass-court title and has yet to win a set against Federer in a Grand Slam championship, but did win the pair’s most recent meeting in the final of Brisbane 2016.
At 34, Federer is aiming to become the oldest Wimbledon finalist since 39-year-old Ken Rosewall finished runner-up in 1974. The last man older than Federer to reach any Grand Slam final was 35-year-old Andre Agassi, who fell to the Swiss at the 2005 US Open.
[2] ANDY MURRAY (GBR) vs. [10] TOMAS BERDYCH (CZE)
FedEx ATP Head2Head: Murray leads 8-6
Murray has not lost to Berdych in nearly three years, but has never faced the 2010 Wimbledon finalist on grass. The 2013 champion has swept the pair’s past four meetings, three of them in straight sets. Coming into the semi-finals, Berdych is the fresher of the two, having dismissed first-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist Lucas Pouille in just under two hours while Murray needed a fifth set and nearly four hours to see off Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his previous match.
With a semi-final win, Murray will reach his 11th Grand Slam final and take sole ownership of the record for most appearances in a Grand Slam final by a British man. He currently shares the record with Fred Perry. Only three active players (Federer, Nadal and Djokovic) have more Grand Slam final appearances than the Brit.
Berdych is looking to become the first Czech man since Ivan Lendl, Murray’s current coach, to reach multiple Wimbledon finals. He is on a 17-match losing streak against players in the Top 2 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. His last win came against Murray in Cincinnati 2013.
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