Category: Wimbledon

The 2012 Wimbledon final was predicted to be one-sided, but the collected Grand Slam final debutante Agnieszka Radwanska didn’t melt away and even came back from 6-1 4-2 down to win the second set. However, her fightback was bound to be short-lived given Serena Williams‘ superb level at this Wimbledon and the American got hold of her fifth Venus Rosewater Dish and her 14th Grand Slam trophy in singles.

Radwanska quickly lost the first set and found herself trailing 4-2 in the second, but then she converted the first break point she earned to level at 4-4, and then in the twelfth game of the second set she converted the second one to spice up the final with the third set. But even though Radwanska’s conversion of break points was a perfect 100%, she earned just those two chances, while Serena earned 15 and converted five, including two in the 37-minute third set to record a 6-1 5-7 6-2 victory.

The big difference between Agnieszka and Serena was also in the department of winners – Agnieszka hit 13 to Serena’s 58, and 14 unforced errors to Serena’s 36.

Serena’s Wimbledon 2012 run will definitely be remembered by her serve. She finished the tournament with a total of 102 aces, while only in the semifinal against Victoria Azarenka she scored 24 without making double faults. In today’s championship match, Acerena won the fourth game of the third set with four straight aces!

Agnieszka produced a good final, especially given her respiratory problems and runny nose, but Serena’s serve is unbeatable right now. In the post-match on-court interviews, Agnieszka said how these were the best two weeks of her life, while Serena made reference to the time she was hospitalized and how it’s a miracle that she’s back winning the biggest tennis title.

These are the players Serena defeated this fortnight: Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Melinda Czink, Zheng Jie, Yaroslava Shvedova, defending champion Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka and finally the 2005 junior Wimbledon champion Agnieszka Radwanska.

Serena will shortly get back to Centre Court and with sister Venus try to win the women’s singles doubles title against Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka.

Agnieszka Radwanska is far from a favorite in the Wimbledon final against Serena Williams and the respiratory illness that has caused her to cancel her Friday news conference is making her an even less likely Wimbledon 2012 champion.

Radwanska is not able to talk easily. Even in her semifinal win Radwanska was troubled by the ailment and her post-match conference was cut short due to her coughing. Moreover, Radwanska withdrew from women’s doubles on Wednesday also because of the illness.

It is still unclear what all this means for the final, but it is far from a positive development. (source: ESPN, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Serena Williams aced her way into her seventh Wimbledon final and will face Agnieszka Radwanska, a debutante at that stage of a Grand Slam. Will the abundance of Serena’s experience and her intimidating serve prevail or will Agnieszka’s craftiness produce the first Polish Grand Slam champion. Our guest poster Omair will look at the numbers behind their Wimbledon 2012 performance and make a statistical prediction. Enjoy!

Serena Williams will walk onto Centre Court knowing that she is into her seventh Wimbledon final and has gone 4-2 in the prior six, with the losses coming at the hands of Maria Sharapova (2004) and Venus Williams (2008), in fact only three players have been able to beat Serena in her prior 17 major final appearances (Venus – twice, Sharapova, and Samantha Stosur). Serena will no doubt be the favorite and will be highly motivated to win her fifth Venus Rosewater Dish and her first Grand Slam title in two years (her last coming here at Wimbledon in 2010).

Radwanska walks onto Centre Court knowing that she has a shot at the top spot and that she can become the first ever Polish player to win a Grand Slam and join the elite club of 13 players who have won a major at both junior and senior levels.

The pair has met twice, both meetings coming in 2008. Surprisingly, Serena was ranked sixth then as well and both went in favor of Serena in straight sets, one of those wins was in the quarters of Wimbledon.

Let us have a look at the performance of the players so far at Wimbledon 2012.

* I have used the average aces, double faults, winners and unforced errors hit by the player per match.

The stats are clearly in favor of the sixth-seeded American, the four-time Wimbledon champion. Serena has won a whopping 80% of her first serves, while Radwanska has been able to win just 68%. Serena has also won 10% more points on her second serve, compared to her title match opponent. Serena lost just one point on her first serve in the first set of her semifinal match against Victoria Azarenka, one of the best returners on the Tour, and lost a total of four points on serve in that set.