2023 Wimbledon has come and gone, which means it is time for me to write my 10 things to take away from the two weeks that were at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Let's dive in!
#1. Carlos Alcaraz established himself as #1 in the world: Everyone thought Novak Djokovic would cruise to an 8th Wimbledon title and a 24th grand slam title, but Carlos Alcaraz had other plans, defeating Djokovic 1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in the gentlemen's singles final. I would say after the way he outplayed Djokovic and beat him in a 5th set, Alcaraz solidified himself as the top player in the world. It should also be noted that Alcaraz came in at #1 while Djokovic came in at #2, so in hindsight we should have respected Alcaraz' ranking a bit more going in.
#2. Marketa Vondrousova is a grand slam champion: Marketa Vondrousova defeated (6) Ons Jabeur 6-4, 6-4 in the ladies' singles final. It's Vondrousova's first grand slam title though it wasn't her first trip to a grand slam final. Back in 2019, she reached the final at Roland Garros, losing to Ashleigh Barty 1-6, 3-6. What makes Vondrousova's title particularly amazing is that she became the third unseeded player to ever win a Wimbledon title and the first on the women's side. She's now ranked #10 in the world as a result of her title and will enter the US Open with more pressure. It'll be interesting to see how that goes for her and then just long-term, whether or not she'll be able to win more slams. She's only 24 years old, so she's still got many years in front of her.
#3. Novak Djokovic is human: Part of this is the simple fact that he's now 36 years old, but just in general, Djokovic showed himself to be human. He got out-played by a guy who simply played better than he did. As Djokovic said, he's won some matches that he probably shouldn't have won, so now it's even-Steven. Still, while he wasn't able to win it this year, Djokovic is still a major contender at slams. He'll get #24 soon and likely walk out with even more before it's all said and done.
#4. Ons Jabeur needs to do some soul searching: Ons Jabeur came into the ladies' final as the heavy favorite. Everyone expected her to defeat Vondrousova. Jabeur was playing in her third grand slam final after reaching the Wimbledon and US Open finals in 2022. Instead of coming through and winning her first slam, she was not able to deliver the goods and lost to an unseeded player who was in her second grand slam final and first one since 2019. Not to take anything away from Vondrousova, but Jabeur should have won this match. It'll be interesting to see how she'll respond in future slams, especially in her next final assuming she gets back to one.
#5. Daniil Medvedev needs to up his game on the grass: While he did reach the semifinals, Daniil Medvedev got rolled in straight sets by Carlos Alcaraz, losing 3-6, 3-6, 3-6. As one who has won a grand slam before (2021 US Open), one would expect Medvedev to perform better in the semis. He has work to do on the grass for sure. On the positive side, this was the furthest Medvedev has gone at Wimbledon, so there's certainly hope for him to do even better next year. Still, getting waxed in straight sets is not the way he wanted this to end.
#6. Aryna Sabalenka needs to up her game on the grass: Aryna Sabalenka came in as the #2 ranked player in the world and was my pick to win the ladies' singles title. She came up a bit short in the semis, losing to Ons Jabeur 7-6, 4-6, 3-6. This was Sabalenka's second trip to the semis at Wimbledon and she just wasn't quite able to reach her first Wimbledon final, yet alone win it all. She won the Australian Open earlier this year and is only 25 years of age. She's just starting to hit her prime and will have plenty of chances. So hopefully for her this will be a really good learning experience.
#7. Jannik Sinner had a bit of a breakthrough tournament: Jannik Sinner fell to Novak Djokovic in the semis 6-3, 6-4, 7-6. This was the furthest Sinner has gone at any grand slam, so for him this was a real breakthrough tournament. Coming in as the 8th seed, Sinner had a relatively smooth run to the semis, not facing a seeded player until he faced Djokovic. So it's fair to wonder whether or not he just happened to benefit from a soft draw. Still, you have to beat the guy in front of you and you can't really control who you face, so that's certainly not a reason to diminish Sinner's run.
#8. Iga Świątek needs to figure out the grass: Progress was definitely made by world #1 Iga Świątek given that this was her first trip to the Wimbledon quarterfinals. That said, it's clear that grass is the surface she needs the most work on. She's won Roland Garros three times, making the clay her top surface and then she's won the US Open (2022) while also reaching the Australian Open semis in 2022. If she can figure out the grass and start winning Wimbledon, she'll be on path to domination in the women's game.
#9. Christopher Eubanks burst onto the scene: Christopher Eubanks came out of nowhere to reach the quarterfinals, upsetting (5) Stefanos Tsitsipas in the 4th round 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Eubanks played at Georgia Tech and hails from Atlanta, Georgia so he was truly representing the Peach State in this tournament. The furthest Eubanks had gone at any other grand slam until this year's Wimbledon was the 2nd round, so this was truly an amazing run by him. It'll be interesting to see if he'll be able to build on this and make deep run at the US Open.
#10. Elina Svitolina is knocking on the door: Elina Svitolina fell to Marketa Vondrousova 3-6, 3-6 in the semifinals. This was Svitolina's second trip to the Wimbledon semis (2019) and her third trip to a grand slam semifinal overall (2019 US Open). She's knocking on the door and keeps putting herself in position to be a threat, but she just hasn't been able to find that extra gear to reach a final or go the distance. It'll be interesting to see if she can find that next gear and win a slam in the future. She's 28 years old, so she's still got enough years ahead to make it happen.
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