Wimbledon 2015: Results, Scores, Winners and Tuesday Twitter Reaction
The top story at Wimbledon on Tuesday was actually a carryover from Monday, as Novak Djokovic completed an epic comeback against Kevin Anderson to keep his hopes for a third title at the All England Club alive.
Djokovic won the last three sets against Anderson for a 6-7, 6-7, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 victory that puts him in the quarterfinals.
That was the only men's singles match Tuesday, as the ladies' quarterfinals were on the main stage. Top-ranked Serena Williams dropped the first set against Victoria Azarenka before settling in to win another three-set match. She will be joined by Maria Sharapova, who needed three sets against CoCo Vandeweghe, along with Garbine Muguruza and Agnieszka Radwanska.
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With the men's quarterfinals and the women's semifinals set, here's a look back at how they got to this point.
Tuesday's Men's Singles Results
| Round of 16 | No. 1 Novak Djokovic | No. 14 Kevin Anderson | 6-7, 6-7, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 |
Tuesday's Women's Singles Results
| Quarterfinal | No. 1 Serena Williams | No. 23 Victoria Azarenka | 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 |
| Quarterfinal | No. 4 Maria Sharapova | CoCo Vandeweghe | 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 |
| Quarterfinal | No. 13 Agnieszka Radwanska | No. 21 Madison Keys | 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 |
| Quarterfinal | No. 20 Garbine Muguruza | No. 15 Timea Bacsinszky | 7-5, 6-3 |
Djokovic's victory over Anderson was odd because of how it happened. As ESPN Stats & Info noted, the South African star was an ace machine against the top-ranked player:
However, Anderson's serve would betray him when it counted the most. He had a chance to recapture the lead when it was 5-5 in the fifth set, but a double-fault put Djokovic back in the lead and allowed him a chance to serve for the match.
After the match, Djokovic praised Anderson's serving ability and how it affected his game, per Chris Bevan of BBC Sport: "Kevin served exceptionally well. This was one of the most difficult matches I have played at Wimbledon in my career. At times I was helpless with my return—it was very difficult to read his serve. I was two sets down and coming back to win gives me great satisfaction and confidence for my next challenge."
This comeback, while spectacular in its own right, is nothing new for Djokovic. Christopher Clarey of the New York Times shared the stat to prove it:
Djokovic has been a machine this year. He boasts a 41-3 record in 44 matches and has five singles titles. Last year, he had eight losses in 69 matches and seven titles. In a sport designed for players to fail once they reach their late 20s, Djoker is getting stronger.
Major tournaments have been even better for Djokovic, as ESPN Stats & Info noted it's been a long time since he's missed out on the quarterfinals:
In his quarterfinal matchup, Djokovic will be taking on No. 9 Marin Cilic, who has struggled through the first four rounds. He's needed at least four sets in each of his past three matches and has gone to five sets twice, including a marathon against John Isner that ended with a 12-10 final set.
For the women, Sharapova secured a spot in the semifinals with a three-set win over unranked American Vandeweghe. It was the first match this tournament in which the No. 4 seed has lost a set, dropping the second, though she was able to rebound in the third set.
Vandeweghe deserves credit for even getting to the third set, as Sharapova was up 5-4 in the second set and was serving for the match. Vandeweghe would get a break point to even things up before pulling away in a tiebreaker.
This is a notable step forward for Sharapova at Wimbledon, as ESPN Stats & Info pointed out:
In the previous three Wimbledon tournaments, Sharapova lost in the fourth round twice (2012, 2014) and in the second round once (2013). She hasn't won here since getting her first major victory in 2004.
Williams returns to the semifinals at Wimbledon for the first time since winning the event in 2012. She looked to be in serious trouble early, as Azarenka came out on fire with a 6-3 first set win.
Yet, even when Williams was down to Azarenka, there was reason to think the No. 1 seed wasn't in trouble, as this stat from WTA on Twitter indicated:
Williams, who was previously taken to three sets by Heather Watson in the third round, continues to elevate her performance when she has to.
The third set saw Azarenka win a game to cut her deficit to 4-2 and build some momentum, but Williams responded with three consecutive aces and a winner to take the seventh game of the set and needed one more for the match.
Even though Azarenka isn't happy with the result, ESPN's Pam Shriver did provide some solace by talking about what happens when the 25-year-old meets Williams:
Radwanska also needed three sets to take her match over Madison Keys, though it was the young American who gave away a huge number of chances, per ESPN Stats & Info:
Wimbledon has been Radwanska's best major event, reaching the finals in 2012 and the semifinals in 2013, so if she is going to win a tournament this year, this one would certainly be among the top contenders.
Carl Bialik of FiveThirtyEight.com also noted that Radwanska has been magnificent on grass courts dating back to last summer:
In the fourth quarterfinal match, Muguruza did something that hasn't been done in 18 years with a win over Timea Bacsinszky, per ESPN Stats & Info:
The 21-year-old has far surpassed her best Wimbledon performance—she previously reached the second round in 2013 before losing her opening match last year—and she has been steadily building toward this kind of breakthrough over the past 12 months. Muguruza made it to the fourth round of the Australian Open and the quarterfinals of the French Open each of the last two years.
She has a chance to take things even further, as she is matched up with Radwanska in one semifinal with Williams vs. Sharapova in the other.
This is a great spot for women's tennis to be in, as it has the marquee showdown between two of the biggest stars in one matchup and one rising star going against an underrated veteran in the other.
Williams remains the obvious favorite to walk away with her 21st career major victory, but the diverse field of challengers presents plenty of hurdles for the world's top-ranked player to get through.
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