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Cape Town - The 2016 Wimbledon concluded on Sunday with the Andy Murray claiming his second Wimbledon title and Serena Williams gaining her historic 22nd Grand Slam title on Saturday.
This year, there was no shortage of controversy with a few upsets, a few tempers raised and some eyebrows raised at the All England Club. And in case you missed any of the action, not to worry, Sport24 has you covered as we’ve rounded up SIX talking points from the tournament.
1. Djokovic's shocking defeat
Here’s an obvious one that you may know (unless you were living under a rock these last two weeks) when No 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic crashed out in round three to world No 41 Sam Querry.
The American ended Djokovic’s open era record of 30 successive wins at the majors and his streak of 28 consecutive Grand Slam quarter-finals. In a nutshell, it was one of the biggest upsets in sporting history, as Djokovic was heavily pinned as favourite to win the tournament.
2. Muguruza's exit
Besides Djokovic’s and Stan Wawrinka's (another favourite who left earlier) shocking exits, the women also had some unexpected departures, mainly from world No 2 and 2015 Wimbledon runner-up Garbine Muguruza. The French Open champion was knocked out in the second round by world No 124 Jana Cepelova in a match that only lasted 59 minutes.
Muguruza, along with tournament runner-up Angelique Kerber and Svetlana Kuznetsova, was one of the only players who had a chance of actually defeating world No 1 Serena; however it was all in vain as Williams notched up her seventh Wimbledon title on Saturday.
3. Kyrgios comments
Tennis’ bad boy Nick Kyrgios made headlines again for the wrong reasons with some entertaining play and controversial comments. The 22-year-old was fined in his first round game for unsportsmanlike behaviour and was warned by umpires after taking a swipe at them during his second round win over Dustin Brown.
Nothing came close to the criticism he drew after his fourth round loss to Andy Murray, where the Australian called the match ‘pathetic’ and went on to say that he does not love the game. He also further said the way he prepared for the match against Murray was by playing computer games and drew criticism from former three-time Wimbledon champion John McEnroe, who called the Aussie ungrateful for not trying hard enough.
4. Troicki's epic rant
If you thought Kyrgios went a little crazy this year, think again, as Serbian Viktor Troicki went on a full tirade in his second round defeat to Albert Ramos Vinolas.
Troicki attacked umpire Damiano Torella after he over-turned an ace against the Serb. He provoked the umpire by advancing towards him and asking him to look for chalk dust on the ball. He then went on to say that Torella was “the worst umpire in the world” and called him an “idiot”. It was really hectic! Click here to view the entire rant.
5. Bathroom break controversy
There was a bathroom situation at Wimbledon this year... In a doubles match Marcel Granollers and Pablo Cuevas were up against Jonny Marray and Adil Shamasdin, where things took an ugly turn when Cuevas threatened to urinate into a ball can after he was refused permission to take a bathroom break.
After a second warning and point penalty, Granollers and Cuevas staged a 10 minute sit-down protest after their opposition finally clinched a victory. Granollers and Cuevas was fined by Wimbledon organisers £5800 and £7000 respectfully.
6. Nike's lingerie dress
Some of the ladies this year were experiencing some wardrobe difficulties, when Nike’s dress caused a stir among players and audience members, as some were deeming the all-white dress to look like lingerie.
Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard and Czech Republic’s Lucie Hradecka were among the handful of players donning the loose fitting outfit with many spectators and players uncomfortable over the design and length of the dress. Numerous players tried to wear additional clothing to hide or restrict the dress, while others have altered the dress for a more comfortable length. Read more to see how the players and spectators responded to the dress.
