Final Round-up: Highlights of Tennis in 2010 Part II
This second instalment of highlights from the courts in 2010 lists five more events which kept the tennis world abuzz throughout the year. With the season drawing to a close, such a list is a useful way of recapping the happenings of the year.
6. Roger Federer named in gambling fiasco
The last few weeks of Federer’s 2010 run were somewhat scarred by the many rumours floating around which linked him to a gambling scandal in connection with the chairman of IMG, Ted Forstmann. The IMG is Federer’s managing group.
Forstmann allegedly placed bets on the Swiss Maestro to win a match against Rafael Nadal at two Roland Garros title matches, with Federer’s help. However, there is no place and the accusation has not been proven. Federer himself professed that he was “disappointed”
to have his name mentioned in an incident he had no control over. However, he has been fully supported by the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour.
7. Serena Williams drops out halfway with glass injury
Former World Number 1 Serena Williams bulldozed her way through the Australian Open and the Wimbledon championships, comfortably winning two Grand Slam titles for herself. She clinched the All England Club title without losing a single set throughout the
tournament.
After that, the champion disappeared. A bizarre foot injury kept her out of the rest of the year’s tournaments, and she will also be missing the beginning of the 2011 campaign. While she has maintained a mysterious level of secrecy about her injury, it is
clear that the WTA needs the best tennis player in the world back.
8. Federer freezes at Roland Garros and the All England Club
2010 also marks the year in which Roger “the Swiss Maestro” Federer lost his record of reaching 23 consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals at the French Open. However, he was not expected to repeat the mistake at Wimbledon (generally considered his best surface).
However, Czech Number 1 Tomas Berdych challenged the Swiss player by fighting the match of his life to push Federer down to World Number 3 after a four-set defeat. He got in the way of a Federer-Nadal final yet again; in fact the Big Two only played two
matches through the year, and none of them were Grand Slam meetings.
9. The Longest Match in the History of Tennis
This was one match which only die-hard fans were interested in; an opening round Wimbledon match held between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut in one of the lesser courts. However, by the time the match ended, the two players had the entire tennis world captivated.
This was because the match lasted three days, shattering all records.
American player Isner eventually won the match with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68 after over 11 hours of play. The match consisted of 186 games, and is the longest in terms of both time and games. It also held the most aces and had the longest set.
10. Rafael Nadal completes career Grand Slam
After multiple attempts to score a victory at the US Open, Rafa finally succeeded in 2010. He produced a spectacular win over World Number 3 Novak Djokovic, and joined the seven tennis greats who have successfully completed the coveted career Grand Slam.
Throughout the tournament, Nadal dropped only one set, and that too in the final against Djokovic.
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