Wimbledon 2011 Results: 10 Most Impressive Performances at Championships so Far

We’ve had nearly a whole fortnight of riveting tennis at the All-England Club, and there have been the typical winners and typical losers at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. Along the way, however, there have been upsets, masterclasses and downright thrillers.

On both the men’s and women’s sides there have been amazing tennis matches, to put it short. This is the human spirit at its best, on a tennis court.

There have been tense epics and dazzling blowouts. Here are 10 of them.

Feliciano Lopez vs. Andy Roddick

Feliciano Lopez was probably the tournament’s first unexpected winner. Coming up against three-time finalist and established grass-court master Andy Roddick, he looked a likely loser. Instead, he came up with the best tennis of his life, fine serving, stainless hitting, to stun Roddick, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4. 

Venus Williams vs. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez

When Venus Williams came up against Martinez Sanchez in the third round. she must have known it wasn’t ever going to be easy—the serve-and-volleying Spaniard had downed former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic in the first round. In response, Williams took service returns well within the court, to destroy Martinez-Sanchez’s serve, game and will. The final score: 6-0, 6-2.

Robin Soderling vs. Lleyton Hewitt

Lleyton Hewitt was probably the first player who was not supposed to lose. Up two sets to love, and controlling play against Robin Soderling, the 2002 champion looked poised for an upset win. Instead, he let the Swede back into the match, allowing him to slowly dominate the points, and the match, in the final three sets. It was an incredible victory of sheer power over the renown tenacity of Hewitt, 6-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.

Fernando Verdasco vs. Radek Stepanek

At the first moment of asking, Wimbledon offered. Fernando Verdasco’s encounter with Radek Stepanek in the first round, who had beaten him the last three times, was a veritable epic. The Czech’s wily play earned him the first two sets, although the Spaniard fought hard to level the match. An initially unlikely fifth set ensued, in which Verdasco hung tough saving a couple of match points away. Then, at 8-7, he broke Stepanek decisively, for an epic 2-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 9-7 victory.

Marion Bartoli vs. Serena Williams

People leading up to this match had questioned Serena Williams’ match toughness, having endured several testing rounds to this point. Bartoli brought out all the questions and more in a dazzling display of aggressive tennis that rocked the defending champion. It was a classic display of Seles-like power hitting, with Bartoli dominating the majority of rallies and leaving Williams stranded. At the end of the second set Williams looked to regain some of her former majesty, with some tennis of the Serena of old. It wasn’t enough, however: Bartoli won, 6-3, 7-6.

Venus Williams vs. Kimiko Date Krumm

With more than 70 years between them, Venus Williams and Kimiko Date-Krumm’s second round encounter seemed like a battle of the oldies. For the most part, in fact, it was—a remake of the late 1990s clash between the power baseliner and the speedy, flat-hitting lightweight. It was a remarkable concoction, and Venus was pushed to the very brink. She found that something extra when she needed it, though, winning 6-7, 6-3, 8-6.

Sabine Lisicki vs. Li Na

French Open champion Li Na entered Wimbledon feeling, for the first time in her career, something of the trans-Channel pressure heaped on the victor at Paris. She managed the first round, but bumped into the Graf-like Sabine Lisicki, who gave it all, on just about all, balls. It was a thrilling encounter, but the young German just had that something more and stunned the French Open champ, 3-6, 6-4, 8-6.

Maria Sharapova vs. Laura Robson

Maria Sharapova remarked after her defeat of the teenage Laura Robson that the Brit had a great future ahead of her. It was an apt appraisal of the closeness of the match that had ensued between them, as Sharapova found just that little extra—experience—to overcome her feisty young opponent, 7-6, 6-3. Robson, who won the girl’s title here a couple of years back, clearly is a name to watch out for in the next few years. 

Bernard Tomic vs. Robin Soderling

Wimbledon 2011 in many ways saw the emergence of our newest talents, and Bernard Tomic is clearly one of the brightest among them.

He hails from Australia, and, following in the footsteps of Hewitt, Rafter and the great Aussies of the 1960s and '70s, was seeking to be the youngest man in the Round of 16 when he faced Robin Soderling. The gigantic serve, and pounding groundstrokes of the Swede should have been too much for the light frame of Tomic, but the latter’s arrhythmic and creative game caused Soderling to stumble too often. The young talent, for the day, overcame a member of the established order, in a rocking 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 win.  

Jo-Wilfred Tsonga vs. Roger Federer

This match may well go on to be one of the highlight moments of this tournament thus far, and certainly in this decade.

The first time Roger Federer squandered a two-set lead at a slam? Jo-Wilfred Tsonga’s quarterfinal victory, 3-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in 2011.

It was a most disconcerting and unusual return from the abyss. Federer raced to a two-set lead, and looked in an indomitable position. But the Frenchman rocketed serves and cracked forehands everywhere to stun, and then force the Swiss into submission. Few matches like this have we

witnessed in the last 10 years, and most of all, on Centre Court at Wimbledon. It is the seat of tennis history, and in Tsonga’s win over Federer the witness to one of the more remarkable of victories, ever.