Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz retained his Wimbledon title, emphatically beating seven-time Champion Novak Djokovic again, this time in straight sets to win his fourth Slam at the tender age of 21. Last month he beat Alexander Zerev in five sets to win the French Open at Roland-Garros to become the youngest player in history to win the ‘Surface Slam’, with titles on the three surfaces- hardcourt (US Open in 2022),grass and clay. Victory at SW19 on Sunday also meant he is the youngest man in the open Era to win the ‘Channel Slam’.
Carlos signed my sketch at this year’s Cinch Championships at London’s Queen’s Club. He collected £2,700,000 for winning The Championships. Nice pay day for seven matches in a fortnight.
Babora Krejcikova, the 31st seed, won the Wimbledon Ladies’ Singles with a three-set triumph over Italian Jasmine Paolini to collect her second Major singles title, having won the French Open in 2021. As a result the Czech player returns to the Top 10 in singles rankings, having been as high as No 2 in 2022.
She has won all four Grand Slam titles with her compatriot Katerina Siniakova, winning the 2018 French Open and Wimbledon, the French Open again in 2021, and the Australian, Wimbledon and US titles the following year to complete a career grand slam. They reached No 1 in the world rankings and won the Women’s Doubles gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Babora has also won three Australian Open Mixed Doubles titles with Rajeev Ram (twice) and Nikola Mektic.
A poignant and emotional moment came when Babora was showed the honours board after Saturday’s final with her name already added as the 2024 champion alongside that of the late Yana Novotna who won in 1998 and was Babora’s mentor and coach, who sadly passed away in 2017. The tears flowed-both now linked in history.
Babora signed my drawing at Wimbledon in 2022, when she and Katerina won the Ladies’ Doubles.
Carlos Alcaraz won his first title on grass and regained the world number one ranking with an impressive victory over Alex de Minaur in the Queen’s Club final on Sunday. His 6-4 6-4 triumph means he moves above Novak Djokovic and will be the top men’s seed at Wimbledon, which starts on 3 July.
The 20 year-old Spaniard, who was playing only his third grass-court tournament, has won five titles this season. The US Open champion will now set his sights on a Queen’s-Wimbledon double.
However, he needed a final-set tie-break in his first round match to escape with a narrow victory against French qualifier Arthur Rinderknech, before surging to the title without losing a set for the rest of the week. I met him at the players’ entrance after that opening match, where he kindly signed my sketch.
The 2020 French Open was postponed from May until the end of September and early October due to the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Paris in Autumn is a lot different to Paris in the Spring. The famous red clay at the Stade Roland Garros was damper, the temperature colder and the balls heavier with a lower bounce – ideal conditions for Polish teenager Iga Swiatek to excel and dominate the women’s singles, winning her maiden WTA and first Grand Slam singles title, easily defeating Sofia Kenin from the US in straight sets in the final. Her all-court play with a crushing forehand, ability to defend stoutly, ruthless determination and her quick transition onto attack were all characteristics that contributed to her victory.
Eighteen months later, the 20 year-old is now world No 1, after winning the Miami Open final last weekend and the shock retirement of the former top ranked player, Aussie Ash Barty. After winning back-to-back titles at Doha and Indian Wells Iga has now won her past six finals, extending her winning streak to 17 matches. She entered the top 10 last May after winning the Italian Open and any thoughts of becoming the world’s best player was a possibility “in a few years”. It was obviously accelerated by Ash’s decision, but given her form this year, including reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open, she may have very well taken the number one spot anyway.
I drew this quick sketch of Iga, after watching her French Open triumph and sent it to her via the Polish Tennis Federation. It came back signed and dedicated within a fortnight.
It’s been a breathtaking year for the young Russian tennis ace and former World Junior Champion Andrey Rublev, admist the mayhem caused by the global pandemic. In a disjointed season that was partially suspended with a hiatus covering several months, the 23 year-old headed the ATP Tour with a remarkable five titles, ahead of world number 1 Novak Djokovic (4).
He broke into the top 10 for the first time, where he is currently ranked at 8, reached the quarterfinals at both the French and US Grand Slams and as a result make his debut at the season-ending, spectator-less ATP World Tour Finals, which featured the world’s top eight players, at London’s O2 arena. The year started brilliantly for the ‘ hyper-aggressive baseliner’ with a big forehand and dangerous serve, winning back-to-back titles at his first two tournaments – the Qatar Open and the maiden Adelaide International. After the season resumed he won the Hamburg European Open in September followed by victories at St Petersburg and finally the Vienna Open, which included a win over local hero Dominic Thiem and qualified him for the elite London event. Andrey’s seven career titles also includes the Croatia Open (2017) and the Kremlin Cup (2019). He was a member of the Russian team that reached the Davis Cup semis in Spain last year, in which he was undefeated.
The ATP Tour Finals have been staged at the 02 on the Greenwich Peninsula in London for the past twelve years. I have been there for all of them, except, for ‘obvirus’ reasons this year, which is the final time at before moving to Turin for the next five years. The players were all confined to their ‘bubbles’, accommodated at the InterContinental Hotel next door and playing in the vast arena, that usually holds 17,000 spectators, but sadly empty this year. So the usual opportunities to get graphs in person was non-existisant, but I posted my sketch to Andrey at the hotel, and was very pleased to receive it back, signed and dedicated.
The season-ending ATP Finals at London’s O2 Arena gathers the world’s top men’s tennis players in singles and doubles in the final showdown of the year. The top 8 ranked singles players were all present this year plus two alternates in case of injury. They are not always the No. 9 and 10 ranked players, but this year was an exception.
Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut and the flamboyant Frenchman Gael Monfils filed the reserve positions respectively. It can be a thankless task, practicing everyday and staying match fit, but not getting to play a match in the unique arena. At the time of writing with one day to go in the pool play before the weekend’s semis and final, neither alternates have been required. Oh, they do get paid for the week’s work – $US116,000 and if they did get to play and win a match, then an extra $US215,000 is deposited into their bank account.
It’s been a great year for Roberto. At 31 and given the young ages of half the field, he’s almost in the veteran category. The quick counterpuncher with a consistent all-court game with nine ATP tour titles broke into the world’s top 10 for the first time, with an impressive set of results, winning the Qatar Open and reaching the quarters at the Australian Open and the semi-finals at Wimbledon.
He signed my drawing yesterday after arriving at the North Greenwich pier for yet another practice session, resigned to the fact he probably wasn’t going to get a match, but knowing he’s finished the season as the 9th best male player on the planet.
The 23 year-old Italian tennis player Matteo Berrettini was ranked outside the top 50 men’s single players at the beginning of the year, but played his way up the rankings to become world No. 8 and secure the last spot in the singles field at this years ATP Finals at London’s O2.
The tall, all-court player with a strong serve and forehand had his dazzling momentum momentarily stopped during Wimbledon, after making it to the second week, only to meet Roger Federer, who dismantled the young Roman in little over an hour. While congratulating him at the net, Matteo jokingly said to the Swiss maestro, “Thanks for the tennis lesson, how much do I owe you?” He obviously was a good student and learnt fast.
In only his second full year on the ATP Tour he has won three singles and two doubles titles and reached the semis at this years US Open, losing to eventual winner Rafa Nadal.
Matteo signed my sketch outside the O2 Arena before the team photo was taken last Friday.
Rising tennis star Daniil Medvedev is one of four singles players, 23 years of age and under at this year’s season-ending ATP Finals at London’s O2 Arena. The 6′ 6″ Moscow-born right-hander with a double-handed backhand possesses superior lateral movement and excels from the back of the court.
He is currently ranked No. 4 in the world, reaching six consecutive tournament finals this year, winning 29 of his past 34 matches including his first two ATP Masters 1000 titles in Cincinnati and Shanghai, a crown on his home soil in St Petersburg and a maiden Grand Slam Final at the US Open, losing to Rafa Nadal in five sets.
Daniil signed my sketch last Friday after the team photo was taken outside the O2 Arena.
Half the singles players in this years ATP Finals at London’s O2 Arena are under the age of 23. The youngest is 21 year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece, who is currently ranked No. 6 in the world. The tall, aggressive baseliner won his opening pool match yesterday against fellow Finals debutant and even taller Daniil Medvedev, the first time he has beaten the Russian in six match-ups.
Born into a tennis family in Athens, Stefanos started taking lessons at the age of six, becoming the worlds No. 1 junior. In 2016 he won the Wimbledon Championships Boys’ Doubles title with Estonia’s Kenneth Raisma. Last year he won the Next Gen ATP Finals and reached three tour-level finals, winning his first title at the Stockholm Open. This year he reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open and reached No. 5 in the ATP world rankings.
Stefanos signed my sketch after a practice session last Thursday at the O2 Arena.
The season-ending ATP Finals are underway at London’s O2 Arena. It’s the 50th edition of the singles tournament with the top 8 ranked men’s players participating. The one and only Roger Federer holds the record for the most appearances. He has made 17 consecutively since 2002, winning a record six.
The thirty-eight year-old, often nicknamed G.O.A.T – Greatest of all-time – holds the third highest number of Guinness world records within one discipline with 30, 18 performance based, including 20 grand Slam titles. Eight of those are Wimbledon Championships, winning his last in 2017 with a victory over Marin Cilic in yet another record-breaking 11th appearance in a men’s singles Final, surpassing the seven won by Pete Sampras and William Renshaw. His sponsors at the time, Nike, designed a commemorative logo incorporating the numeral 8 into his christian name.
Jimmy Conners is quoted, “In an era of specialists, you’re either a clay court specialist, a grass court specialist or a hard court specialist… or you’re Roger Federer.”
Roger signed my sketch last Friday before a photo call and media sessions at the O2 Arena.
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