Wimbledon: Simona Halep stuns Serena Williams to win second Grand Slam

Simona Halep lifted the Wimbledon championship on Saturday after beating Serena Williams in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 at London’s All England Club.

It is the second Grand Slam title for Halep, her first coming at last year’s French Open.

The seventh-seeded Romanian got out to a roaring start in the first set, breaking Williams twice in the first three games.

Williams, who was attempting to tie Margaret Court’s Grand Slam singles title record, battled back in the second set, holding serve to take a 2-1 lead. But the seven-time Wimbledon champion fell apart after that, with Halep breaking serve twice more before holding serve to clinch the championship.

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“She really played out of her mind. It was a bit of deer in the headlights for me,” Williams said in an interview on Centre Court afterward. 

Williams finished the match with 25 unforced errors, the final of which handed Halep the victory. Halep, meanwhile, was nearly flawless, committing just 3 unforced errors in the victory.

When asked if she has played a better match in her career, Halep said: “Never. It was the best match.”

• Six reasons why Wimbledon is the best Grand Slam

  Tradition, grass, technology

  Wimbledon is the world’s oldest tennis tournament and is held annually at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club in Wimbledon, London. In 2009, its Centre Court was fitted with a retractable roof to lessen the loss of playing time due to rain. There are 18 courts used for the Championships (and 22 practice courts) and it takes 15 months and nine tonnes of grass seed to prepare the courts.

• Six reasons why Wimbledon is the best Grand Slam

  Wearing white

  In modern sports, where advertising dominates team kits and color is everywhere, there is something brilliant about the fact that the kits of Wimbledon players must be 90 percent white. White does not include cream or off-white, just white. Originally, it was to avoid sweat showing. Andre Agassi’s wild taste was tamed in the 90s, while Roger Federer’s orange-soled shoes weren’t part of the code.

• Six reasons why Wimbledon is the best Grand Slam

  Tough job

  It might look like good fun being a ball boy/girl at Wimbledon, but training for those in charge of the balls and the towels is perhaps tougher than any other tournament. The 14 to 18-year-old school children train for five months and from 700 applicants, only 250 end up on the coveted grass. The average age is 15 and most spend two years as a ball boy/girl.

• Six reasons why Wimbledon is the best Grand Slam

  Strawberries and cream

  Apart from the green of the grass and the white of the kit, the other color often seen at Wimbledon is red. Strawberries and cream are the tournament’s favorite dish. During the tournament, 28,000 kilograms of strawberries and 10,000 liters of fresh cream are eaten. Add to that the 320,000 glasses of Pimm’s, 29,000 bottles of champagne and 25,000 scones then it’s no surprise Wimbledon is awesome.

• Six reasons why Wimbledon is the best Grand Slam

  Diving volleys

  One thing about grass that other tournaments can’t offer is more remarkable shots. A 17-year-old Boris Becker made it famous when he won hearts and the Wimbledon trophy in 1985, but his famous dive carried on even after he stopped played. In 2011, Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had an incredible rally of diving shots, while Dustin Brown did the same against Lleyton Hewitt in 2013.

• Six reasons why Wimbledon is the best Grand Slam

  The best trophy?

  Both the men’s and women’s trophies are some of the finest in sport. The Rosewater Dish, the trophy for the women’s single champion, has a mythological theme and has the Roman goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare (Minerva) etched around the rim. The champions receive a three-quarter size replica with all the previous champions engraved, as well as the $2.8 million both winners receive.

dv/ftm (AP, Reuters)

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