After 2 weeks of scintillating tennis that was laced with thrillers and upsets, the final day of Wimbledon is upon us. We already have a deserving champion in Women’s singles but now it’s time for the coronation of the Men’s champion. Sentimental favourite Andy Murray will battle Milos Raonic at Centre Court on Sunday afternoon and it promises to be a refreshing and intriguing match.
Murray has a woeful record in Grand Slam finals – losing 8 out of 10 he’s reached so far. But to be fair to him, he has never faced somebody other than Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic in a final. That is precisely why he must seize the moment this time – FedEx is out. so is Djokovic. Raonic, a first-time finalist, stands in his way and the 29-year-old might not get a better chance to win his 2nd Wimbledon title.
Raonic, on the other hand, has been making rapid strides forward under the tutelage of Carlos Moya and mentorship of John McEnroe. The way he kept his wits about him after going down two sets to one against Roger Federer was commendable. The 25-year-old took the master by surprise with his measured hitting in the 4th and 5th set. Of course, his big serves helped. But more than that, Raonic seems to be mentally stronger but it remains to be seen if the pressure of the final gets the better of him.
Murray has been impressive in the past 2 weeks, none more so than in his semifinal demolition of Tomas Berdych in straight sets. The red hot favourite also has the recent record on his side. Murray met Raonic on grass last month in the final of the Queen’s club invitational where he beat the Canadian in 3 sets. Murray also leads Raonic 6-3 in head to head meetings. The stats bring good tidings for Murray but he will have to find an answer to Raonic’s rocket serves – he has hit more aces (137) than anyone and the fastest serve (144 mph).
Raonic, who has made his country proud by becoming the first Canadian to reach a Grand Slam final, knows that a win today is not beyond him. If he serves as well as he has done for 2 weeks, it will be hard for Murray to dominate him. But Raonic will also have to improve his game during rallies. Murray will mix it up with slices, drop shots and even lobs (if he wanders to the nets).
One thing is for sure – Whoever gets their hands on the trophy today would have richly deserved it.
What happened yesterday?
The Centre Court witnessed history being made on Saturday when Serena Williams, the ageless champion, won a record-equalling 22nd Grand Slam title at the expense of Angelique Kerber. The German 4th seed was overpowered 7-5 6-3 by the 34-year-old in a display of clinical tennis. Her 7th Wimbledon title helped her match Steffi Graf’s Open-era record of 22 titles and puts her within reach of Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24.
She could have matched Steffi much earlier. She was denied by Kerber in Melbourne before Muguruza turned up in Paris. But this time, she was not to be denied. A focused and clinical Serena raised her game a notch at vital points in the match even as the gritty Kerber tried valiantly to make a game of it.
Serena struck 39 winners and was so dominating that she faced a break point just the once, which she promptly saved with an ace. In the first set, Kerber did well to match up to a determined Serena to take it to 5-5. But a couple of unforced errors at 5-6 gave the first set to Serena. That was the German’s undoing. Serena has never lost a Grand Slam final after winning the first set. So it proved as Serena broke her at 4-3 and then held serve to love to finally lift a huge load off her back.
After the match, Kerber graciously said that Serena was a champion and truly defeated her. Indeed she did. Some champion she is. She was not done though. After prancing around proudly with the ‘Venus Rosewater Dish’, she was back on Centre Court again to pair her sister Venus in the Women’s doubles final. Fittingly, the Williams sisters defeated Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3, 6-4.
The Men’s Doubles final also took place yesterday. In an all-French final, Pierre-Hugues Herbert & Nicolas Mahut defeated Julien Benneteau & Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-4 7-6 6-3.
Here’s a complete list of fixtures for day 13 of the championships:-
Men’s Singles Final:
| Time (IST) | Fixture |
| 18:00 | Milos Raonic (CAN) [6] v Andy Murray (GBR) [2] |
Mixed Doubles Final:
| Time (IST) | Fixture |
| 18:00 | Robert Farah (COL) / Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) v Henri Kontinen (FIN) / Heather Watson (GBR) |
Fans across the world can tune into the following networks to catch all the action live on television:
ARQ (NOVA/CET 21) – CZECH REPUBLIC & SLOVAKIA
B92 (RTS) – SERBIA
BEIJING TV-CHINA
beIN SPORTS-FRANCE, MIDDLE EAST
CCTV5-CHINA
CTV/TSN-CANADA
ESPN-UNITED STATES
EUROSPORT-RUSSIA, UKRAINE, BALTICS, LATVIA, LITHUANIA, ESTONIA, MOLDOVA, ARMENIA
FOX-NETHERLANDS
FOX ASIA-PAN-ASIA
FOX SPORTS-AUSTRALIA
GLOBOSAT/ESPN-BRAZIL
HRT-CROATIA
I.K.O (SPORT KLUB)-BOSNIA, CROATIA, MACEDONIA, MONTENEGRO, SERBIA, SLOVENIA
JIANGSU TV-CHINA
KENTRON TV-ARMENIA
MOVISTAR+-SPAIN
NHK-JAPAN
SETANTA-REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
SEVEN-AUSTRALIA
SKY DEUTSCHLAND-GERMANY & AUSTRIA
SKY ITALIA -ITALY
SPORT TV-PORTUGAL
SPORTS CHANNEL-ISRAEL
SRG-SWITZERLAND
STAR INDIA-INDIA
SVT-SWEDEN
THE TENNIS CHANNEL-UNITED STATES
TV3 (VIASAT)-DENMARK
TVNZ-NEW ZEALAND
Fans can also catch the action on the internet via live streaming in websites www.wimbledon.com and www.starsports.com.
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