Many would argue that the French Open final between Alcaraz and Sinner was the greatest tennis match of all time. They may well be right. Even though it's been a month since the Spaniard miraculously saved three match points, turned the match around and won, the match is still fresh in the memory. It probably will be for a long time.
But Wimbledon has also had its memorable moments. And although I could have mentioned most of the finals from the 2000s, and players like Edberg, Becker, Sampras, Graff, Djokovic, Serena Williams and Murray should have been on the list, these are the ones that ended up on the list. In random order;
- Although I wasn't born, and the match may not be best remembered for its fine play, it's worth mentioning the time Arthur Ash surprisingly beat a Jimmy Connors who hadn't dropped a single set on his way to the final. And what made this match extra special was that Connors had sued Ash for $5,000,000 for defamatory claims just before. Perfect build-up to a final.
- The longest women's final of all time was played in 2005. That in itself is memorable enough, but it was also a match for a bunch of comebacks. For one thing, Venus Williams had fallen to 16th in the world rankings, and was ranked no. 14 in the tournament. But Lindsay Davenport was also leading 4-2 and 40-15 in the deciding set. In addition to having match point at 4-5 on Williams' serve. But then Venus pulled out an incredible backhand down the line, and after that she never looked back, winning in two hours and 45 minutes.
- The 2001 final is well remembered. And it was also a special final for so many different reasons. For one thing, it was won by a player who was not seeded. Goran Ivanisevic was not really supposed to be there, but was given a wildcard in advance. But the man who had participated in three previous finals had something unsettled. And in 2001 he achieved what he had always dreamed of. But the final was also remembered for its enormous atmosphere. Patrick Rafter had attracted young Australians to the stands, and while the majority of fans in previous finals came from the upper echelons of society in England, this time there were 10,000 young Australians in the stands. Silly hats and inflatable kangaroos dominated the stands, and the atmosphere was electric. And when two players with such good serve-and-volley styles met, it had to be five sets. And the Croatian won 9-7 in the deciding set.
- When talking about Wimbledon, there are two people you can't ignore. Two who have managed to win the tournament back-to-back. And the first man out is the Swedish legend; Bjørn Borg. And while several of the finals were memorable, it was probably the final in 1980, against John McEnroe, that stands out as the greatest. Much because of the legendary tiebreak in the fourth set. A tiebreak that consisted of 34 points, and which only lasted five minutes shorter than the entire first set. The match also had breakpoints, setpoints and matchpoints both ways, before the Swede took home the match in five sets.
- Choosing a final involving Federer is not easy. Like Bjørn Borg, the Swiss also won five Wimbledons in a row, out of a total of eight titles. The first in 2003 and the last in 2017. But the 2008 final against Nadal is hard to miss. Four hours and 48 minutes of epic tennis, where the Spaniard overturned the hegemony and took his first Grand Slam on grass. This was also the longest Wimbledon final for a long time before Federer lost again in 2019, then against Novak Djokovic.
- As an article writer, I have certain rules to follow, but I also have certain rights. And that's why I'm listing the final that shaped me and my interest in tennis. So we're going back to 1992. The year Agassi beat Ivanisevic was actually the year Michael Stich was going to defend his title. In addition, Jim Courier was going to try to take "The Surface Slam" after winning both the Australian and French Opens earlier in the year. And even though the 1992 tournaments marked the end of the careers of legends like Connors and McEnroe, it was a long-haired rebel from Las Vegas who stole all the headlines. And back home in Haugesund, a 13-year-old boy sat crying.
The uniqueness of grass
A bit of a stretch, I tend to compare gravel and grass with slalom and downhill. Or 500m and 10,000m on skates. Very few can master both. But we have a bunch of athletes who have won both the French Open and Wimbledon, and players like Laver, Borg, Nadal, Djokovic, Federer and Alcaraz have even done it during the same calendar year. On the women's side, there are far more, and Steffi Graf should be highlighted, as the only one who has managed "The Golden Slam" during the same calendar year. That is, the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open and the Olympics. And to understand the magnitude of that achievement, one must understand the properties of grass.
Because you can forget the eternal exchanges from Philippe Chatrier. Or the neutralizing effect of the gravel on a heavy serve inside Suzanne Lenglen. On the gravel, being big and strong doesn't help. You have to be stable. Endurance. And athletic. A hint of working class in a sport stolen from under the noses of the bourgeoisie.
But when we check in at SW19 we are once again part of the nobility. Once again the high and mighty shall triumph. There are white suits, strawberries and cream, astronomical ticket prices and two weeks of English upper class. And the grass is as green as it was when the sun never set on the British Empire.
And not only green, it's also incredibly fast. So fast is the grass that Goran Ivanisevic has been to four finals, finally winning here in 2001, Raonic was in the final in 2016, Berrettini in 2021, Kyrgios in 2022 and Isner still stands in gold writing in the Wimbledon history books. And we know Cilic, Mpetshi Perricard, Hurkacz, Opelka and Fritz and others have been looking forward to this tournament since July last year.
So is all hope lost?
Absolutely not. Although I was actually genuinely worried that the sport I love so much would be taken over by two-meter-tall serving cannons a few years ago. But fortunately they struggle to reach all the way up. The backhand is fast, which speaks to their advantage when they put all their weight behind the shots, and when they get the most out of the angles because of their height, but the backhand is also low. And that does not speak to their advantage.
In addition, we have some players with an incredible return game, like Federer, Djokovic, Nadal, Murray and Alcaraz. 220 km/h doesn't bite as well on these, as on others. And that's why the best almost always win in the end. And this year is probably no exception, in that respect.
But the Grand Slam is so much more than the final day itself. We will go through a whole bunch of matches, both on the men's and women's side, and our experts will follow every stroke, and give you free odds tips and analysis, every single day. We will look at form and playing style against the characteristics of the surface, and we will look at the characteristics of the players against each other. In addition, we will do our best to find the betting suggestions that offer the best value in a myriad of options. Our routine and expertise will be put to good use, and we feel confident that this year's third Grand Slam will be as profitable as the previous two.
Do we dare to think alternatively?
At the risk of repeating myself; it is almost always the best who win a Grand Slam. Because while bad luck, lack of concentration and overconfidence can result in a loss in a three-set match, the margins are all but gone when we are talking five-set matches. And the French Open showed us exactly that. No. 1 met No. 2 in the men's final, and No. 1 met No. 2 in the women's final.
But Wimbledon in particular has thrown up some surprises in recent years. Not necessarily in terms of who wins in the end, but Raonic, Berrettini and Kyrgios usually don't quite live up to their usual standards. But on grass, such players have a huge advantage.
So can we get any surprises this year? Yes, of course. Draper can easily stand in a final here. And if anyone is going to challenge Sinner, Alcaraz and Djokovic, it's him. With a heavy serve, good groundstrokes and home court advantage, he is a nice outsider at 10.00 in odds. And both Fritz at 21.00 and Medvedev at 31.00 are fun alternatives. The latter has two semifinals behind him already, and showed in Halle that he masters the surface this year too. And even though our own Casper Ruud has never been further than the 2nd round at Wimbledon, and had no chance left this year either, it was very sad to read that he will not be able to participate due to a knee injury.
On the women's side, it's hard to imagine anyone other than Sabalenka taking home the trophy, even though her build-up to Wimbledon hasn't been optimal. She only has one tournament on grass in her bag, and even though she beat Rybakina, she fell just short against Vondrousova. But with losses in the finals of both the Australian Open and French Open, you'd have to be pretty cold not to give her the win. And if that happens, we'll be paid back 3.75 times the stake. But if I were forced to name someone else, it's hard to avoid the aforementioned Rybakina, at 6.00 odds.
We will follow every beat
We are now three writers covering tennis at 90minutefamily, and I don't think you'll find a larger collection of tennis expertise focused on odds in Norway. And both Patrick, Vebjørn and myself look forward to giving you free analysis, odds tips and exciting live bets from the first to the last stroke of the ball.
And although we are limited to pre-match betting on the website, tennis is an optimal sport to bet on live. Especially on grass. A break of serve is even more expensive on grass, compared to other surfaces, and these, together with general momentum shifts, mean that live odds can suddenly become playable.
So follow Wimbledon, minute by minute, in our Discord server here
