Tennis - Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova lead the new breed to Wimbledon titles
Last updated 7/10/2011 3:28:06 PM
Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova lead the new breed to Wimbledon titles
Old, revived Eastern Europe is ready to take over tennis – if it hasn't done so already!
Serb Novak Djokovic won the Wimbledon Men's Singles title while Petra Kvitova from the Czech Republic annexed the women's title, with both claiming £1.1 million in prize money from the All England Club.
It was first time for both tennis players, although they have been on the fringe at Wimbledon for the past year or so.
American's were notable by their absence in both, as were Australians and the shift is definitely towards names ending in "ova" or "ic".
To be quite frank the women's tournament did not live up to expectations although runner up Maria Sharapova is shrieking her way back to her best and only her service game, disrupted by surgery to her shoulder, is holding her back from challenging for the World Number One spot currently held by Caroline Wozniacki whose excellent all round game is not good enough for Wimbledon – yet!
While the last eight of the women had even rabid tennis fans scratching their heads, the only surprise in the latter stages of the strong men's lists was the exit of Roger Federer in a five set thriller against Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, leading up to a classic final between the now depose champion Rafa Nadal and the new World Number one and Wimbledon Champion Djokovic, a worthy winner in every way.
It left Britain's great hope Andy Murray floundering once again in the semi finals to Nadal who, after dropping the first set, took him apart.
But Murray is getting closer. He is maturing as a person and learning from his defeats and he is not going to go away in the remaining Masters this year.
Djokovic, for one, says the British number one has the talent to win a Grand Slam title and Murray himself believes that his old friend is good enough to wreck the old order, so is he.
Djokovic said: "Andy has proven he has the quality of being one of the best. He just needs to make that final step.
"I know it's not easy, winning my first one was a big relief for me and I'm sure it would be for him."
The Serb, who beat Murray in the Australian Open final in January, became world number one after his performance at Wimbledon, continuing a fantastic 2011 for him.
He is now targeting a period of rest before embarking on a bid to win his third Grand Slam of the year.
"I think I still haven't had enough time to realise the success I've had," he said. "I slept overnight but I'm about to celebrate - I haven't had time to celebrate the right way.
"Now, I think I'm going to dedicate some time to myself and rest because it's been a great, great seven or eight months but very exhausting and I will have some weeks to relax and celebrate and then prepare for the upcoming hard court season."
Djokovicv, since changing his diet and his training regime, has lost just once all year and that to Federer in the French semi finals.
He is one of only four men to win a Grand Slam title in the past six years, but he believes Nadal and Roger Federer, who have dominated the sport over the past few years, will come back even stronger.
He added: "I don't see it as the end to Federer and Nadal or their rivalry. They are still the two most dominant players in the game - Federer is still playing great, he showed that in the French Open.
"I'm sure Federer wants to come back and win more majors. Nadal is still on top of his form and Murray in the last three or four months has been a real contender for a Grand Slam title.
"Now, more than in the past five years, more players are able to win majors and are candidates for the top spots. It feels good for the sport to have so many faces."
Djokovic celebrated his win by kneeling down and eating some of the grass on Centre Court - and he hopes it is not the last taste of success he has at Wimbledon.
"I will taste the grass every year I win - it's going to become a tradition," he said.