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Wimbledon 2006 Grand Slam Tennis Championship | Tennis Wagering

Wimbledon 2005 Review

4 July 2005

In Roger Federer and Venus Williams, the 119th Championships embraced two familiar figures as Singles champions. Federer triumphed in the Men's Singles for the third successive year, while Williams, whose form and ranking sank to a depressing low after injury, pulled off a spectacular comeback as the 14th seed to collect her third Ladies' title in six years.

Despite poor weather towards the end of the second week, the tournament was completed on time, with Federer's stunning, straight-sets victory over Andy Roddick the highlight of the culminating day. The world No.1 has now won 36 consecutive matches on grass, just five short of matching Bjorn Borg's record, and he has also now won the last 21 finals in which he has played. The winner's cheque of £630,000, while obviously welcome, was of secondary importance to him, as was evident by his reactions at the end - tears of joy.

With every match, Federer is setting new standards for his peers to attempt to emulate, and the portents for those labouring in his wake are not promising. "This is the best match I have ever played," he said after beating Roddick 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. Asked where he went from here, the American said, "Home, fast."

The success of Williams in an all-American final against Lindsay Davenport restored the women's trophy to US hands after Maria Sharapova's success for Russia in 2004. The previous five years had all gone the way of American women, with the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, claiming two each and Davenport becoming the last champion of the 20th century.

On her way to Centre Court, Williams had to pass beneath the famous Rudyard Kipling quote in the All England Club's main hall about triumph and disaster "and treating those two impostors just the same". Certainly she flirted with disaster before claiming triumph in the shape of the aptly-named Venus Rosewater Dish and prize money of £600,000. She faced match point in the third set and half a dozen times stood just a couple of points from defeat, only to claw her way back to win 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) 9-7.

Perhaps the surprise of The Championships was the victory in the Men's Doubles of Stephen Huss and Wesley Moodie, who became the first qualifiers ever to capture the Wimbledon title in only their second tournament together. The Australian Huss and South African Moodie. defeated seeded opposition in five consecutive rounds, culminating in a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3 over the American twins, Bob and Mike Bryan, who have now lost in the final of all three 2005 Grand Slams.

The Ladies' Doubles championship went to the Zimbabwe/South Africa pairing of Cara Black and Liezel Huber, who scored a surprisingly easy 6-2, 6-1 win over Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amelie Mauresmo, the Russian/French combination who were unseeded as a doubles pair but are among the leading lights of the women's singles rankings.

There was a popular victory in the Mixed Doubles for Mary Pierce, runner-up at the French Open and a singles quarter-finalist in here, and Mahesh Bhupathi. The French-Indian duo were the last of the trophy winners on the final day, completing a 6-4, 6-2 victory over the Ukraine's Tatiana Perebiynis and Paul Hanley of Australia.

There was disappointment for the 48-year-old Martina Navratilova in her bid to break Billie Jean King's record of 20 Wimbledon titles. Victory in either the Ladies' or Mixed doubles would have seen King's long-standing mark eclipsed, but Navratilova was beaten in the semi-finals of the Ladies' event and the quarters of the Mixed.

The Boys' Singles honours again went to France, with Jeremy Chardy defeating Holland's Robin Haase 6-4, 6-3, while the Girls' champion was a Pole, Agnieszka Radwanska. She beat Austria's lone female entrant at The Championships, Tamira Paszek, 6-3, 6-4.

The United States, represented by Jesse Levine and Michael Shabaz, captured the Boys' Doubles with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Samuel Groth of Australia and Britain's Andrew Kennaugh. The Girls' Doubles was won by Viktoria Azarenka of Belarus and Agnes Szavay of Hungary. They defeated the New Zealand-Romania pairing of Marina Erakovic and Monica Niculescu 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-0.

The winners of the Ladies' 35 and Over Doubles were two former Grand Slam singles champions, Tracy Austin and Jana Novotna, while the Men's event went to Ellis Ferreira and Paul Haarhuis.

Johan Kriek and Kevin Curren won the Gentlemen's 45 and Over Doubles for the third year in a row, beating Peter McNamara and Paul McNamee in a third set tiebreak.

The total attendance for The Championships was 467,188.

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Federer the Flawless

Roger Federer said after beating Andy Roddick in straight sets in the Wimbledon final today: "It is a pity for him. I really did play my best tennis. This is very special to me. This was easier than defending the title a second time."

When BBC TV presenter Sue Barker pointed out to Federer after he received the trophy that he had now joined a group of three-times Wimbledon Champions that included Fred Perry, Pete Sampras and Bjorn Borg, the Swiss said: "That's a nice group. To be in with those guys is very special. But I hope it will not stop at three. Grass is good for me. I was quite confident before the semis and final. This is huge for me."

Federer admitted that he was very tense as he headed into the Wimbledon final as he tried for that third title. "This was a very big tournament and match for me today - to get the fifth Grand Slam and also the third Wimbledon. I knew the importance of this one so I was pretty tense going into it. After the first set I started to feel so good that I got so confident. Obviously for the next few years I'll definitely be a huge favourite for the tournament."

He paid tribute to Roddick, saying: "It's hard for him because I really played a fantastic match - one of the best of my life. The biggest most important moment is in a Grand Slam final and I would consider this even bigger than the US Open final I played. So this is my best match maybe I ever played. Today it seemed like I was playing flawless. Everything was working.

"I can't answer how consistent I am playing. I amaze myself how I use my talent to win. Those who followed me since I was a youngster knew I had potential. But I don't think anybody would have thought it would be this extreme, basically dominating the game, winning three Wimbledons. One you think, wow, that's fantastic. When you end up winning three, you are really starting to wonder. What have I done right in my career that this has happened to me? I'm very, very proud because this is the most important tournament."

Federer said he was impressed with his start in the final. "I remember the way Andy came out in the finals last year. Now it was me this time because I felt really good on the serve, and on the return as well. I think that was definitely big, big for me to get that under way. Even though I was down a break in the second, I knew I would have my chances again to break against Andy."

Looking ahead, Federer said: "I'll take match by match, day by day, year by year. So far I have been lucky not to have any injuries, to be able to play at the level I am. But it is very draining and hard to keep that up all the time. Wimbledon and the grass have definitely been very good to me over the last few years. I'll try to carry that even longer the next year."

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