Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates defeating Kei Nishikori of Japan during their men's quarterfinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday July 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Djokovic, Barty Win Wimbledon Single’s Titles

Tennis stars Novak Djokovic and Ashleigh Barty have reached the top of the mountain. Djokovic rallied against Matteo Berrettini to take the Men’s Single crown. Meanwhile, Barty edged out Karolina Pliskova to be the Women’s Singles champion.

This is Djokovic’s sixth Wimbledon title, giving him 20 Grand Slam Men’s Singles titles. Barty, in her own right, wins her first title. She puts herself in good company by winning as the first seed. She is the first first-seed to win it all since Serena Williams in 2016.

Never hurts to be in the company of the legendary Serena Williams.

Roads to the Title

Djokovic had to battle through seven rounds to win.

  • First Round: Jack Draper (4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2)
  • Second Round: Kevin Anderson (6–3, 6–3, 6–3)
  • Third Round: Denis Kudla (6–4, 6–3, 7–6(9–7))    
  • Round of 16: Christian Garin (6–2, 6–4, 6–2)
  • Quarterfinal: Marton Fucsovics (6–3, 6–4, 6–4)
  • Semifinal: Denis Shapovalov (7–6(7–3), 7–5, 7–5)
  • Final: Matteo Berrettini (6–7(4–7), 6–4, 6–4, 6–3)

Djokovic admitted the nerves were higher than usual.

It certainly showed, as lost the first set. But after that, he cooled down and settled in to win out the remaining sets. He even said he felt the shift in his favor.

Barty went through a hard-fought seven rounds as well.

  • First Round: Carla Suarez Navarro (6–1, 6–7(1–7), 6–1)
  • Second Round: Anna Blinkova (6–4, 6–3)
  • Third Round: Katerina Siniakova (6–3, 7–5)
  • Round of 16: Barbora Krejkcikova (7–5, 6–3)
  • Quarterfinal: Ajla Tomljonovic (6–1, 6–3)
  • Semifinal: Angelique Kerber (6–3, 7–6(7–3))
  • Final: Karolina Pliskova (6–3, 6–7(4–7), 6–3)

She said there was no feeling like winning Wimbledon.

Barty said keeping control of her service game was key, and she believes she did just that.

What’s Next?

Originally, Djokovic said going to the Olympics at the end of the month was a no-brainer. Now, he’s not so sure given the new restrictions.

Guess we’ll find out soon enough.

About Harrison Smajovits

Harrison is a sports coordinator at ESPN 98.1 FM/850 AM WRUF. He served as a beat writer for Florida Gators football for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. He also contributes to WRUF's Gainesville Sports Center segments and makes appearances on the Clash on Harp on Sports. Harrison has been a content writer for WRUF since January 2019 as well.

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