Wimbledon Tennis 2012: 6 Things We Learned from This Year's Tournament

What did we learn from the championships, Wimbledon 2012? Oh, not much. Just that it was the best freaking Wimbledon tournament ever!

There were remarkable upsets, tight matches galore and more drama than even TNT would know what to do with. 

This wasn't just a tournament, it was a thrill ride. If you watched even a couple minutes, it assuredly had your heart pumping faster than a Stephen Strasburg fastball aimed straight at your noggin. 

If you haven't caught my drift yet, shame on you! Just know this: The championships provided more lessons than we could ever hope to explore. 

So let's keep it short and sweet. I'm at a loss for words anyway. 

Literally Anybody Can Win at Anytime

See Lukas Rosol, first and foremost. He of course was the 100th-ranked player in the entire world when he defeated the world's best player (in the opinion of many), Rafael Nadal, in the second round of this year's tournament. 

On the ladies' side, 79th-ranked Elena Vesnina took out five-time champion Venus Williams in the first round. 

Those were the most notable of the upsets in this year's tournament, but certainly not the only ones. 

The Reverse: Anyone Can Lose at Any Time!

Maria Sharapova wasn't close to the only one to get upset at Wimbledon. 

As already mentioned, the great Rafael Nadal went down in the second round. Venus Williams too. 

Li Na (or is Na Li?) was in the group who went down early. And Samantha Stosur had a disappointing tournament, losing in the second round as well. 

There was a lot of disappointment from the game's best players in this tournament. 

You Can Go Back Home—or to the All England Club

More than any other tennis tournament in the world, past champions are glorified at the All England Club. 

Roger Federer and Serena Williams both seemed to take a time machine back to 2008 when they were dominating tennis and specifically Wimbledon. 

Even just getting to the finals for either of them at the age of 30 was quite impressive. That both won, and did so in dominant fashion, is that much more impressive. 

The two channeled their inner 20-somethings and played as well as they've played in years.

Let's Play Two...Ain't No Thang!

Saturday afternoon began with Serena Williams winning her fifth championship at Wimbledon (tying her with her sister Venus). By 10:45 p.m. ET, she had played five sets of tennis and won a second Wimbledon title. 

The second, of course, was with her sister, as they played together and won for the first time in two years in the doubles competition. 

Once again, impressive. 

Brits Can Have Success at Wimbledon After All

Just moments after a disappointing loss in the finals to Roger Federer amid great applause, Andy Murray uttered a joke: "I'm getting closer." 

There is no doubt that Murray's approach in this tournament and in the final was emblematic of a great player. He simply ran into a buzzsaw on Sunday afternoon. 

But a Brit did something in this tournament that a Brit hadn't done since 1936: win a doubles championship. Along with Frederik Nielsen, Jonathan Marray helped capture that crown for the first time in over 75 years.

All tennis fans on the British Isles were hoping Marray's win would be a good omen for Murray. But Marray's victory was much less expected, as he and Nielsen came from seemingly nowhere to capture the 2012 Wimbledon doubles crown.  

Roger Federer Is the Best (Of All-Time? Maybe)

With Roger Federer's dominant performance in the 2012 Wimbledon final, he tied Pete Sampras for the most Wimbledon titles ever. He also became the No. 1 player in the world again.

Though he is 30 years old, he has every opportunity to continue playing the way he has been for at least another year or two. 

He could win here again in 2013 if he is able to maintain this level of play. But after this match, Federer talked about it being "magical" and was very happy to have his family join him for this historic win. 

It is historic because Federer can now stake a realistic claim to the best-player-of-all-time label. Only Sampras and one or two other players are even in play for that title now. 

Let the speculation begin. But it's clear now: Wimbledon 2012 has been all Roger Federer's show, and everyone else is just watching it. 

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