Djokovic and Kvitova Win Wimbledon

The 125th edition of The Championships is now history, with Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova emerging as champions.

2) Novak Djokovic (SRB) def. 1) Rafael Nadal (ESP) 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3

Djokovic won his third career major title, after '08 and '11 Aussie Opens, and it appears the Federer/Nadal stranglehold on major titles may be waning since Djokovic has now won 2 of the last 3 majors and Federer hasn't won since '10 Aussie Open.  Djokovic improves to 48-1 on the year including 5-0 against the former no. 1 Nadal.  Djokovic becomes the 25th man and first Serbian male to be world no. 1, and with Nadal defending the US Open and Federer defending tons of points the rest of the year he seems very likely to become the first man not named Nadal or Federer to be the year end no. 1 since 2003 (Roddick).

Djokovic did end up with a relatively easy path to the championship after the dismissal of Federer by Tsonga as he came through Chardy, Anderson, 32) Baghdatis, 19) Llodra, Tomic, 12) Tsonga and 1) Nadal to win his eighth title of the year.  Now we can only wonder if his second half of the season will be as amazing as his first.

8) Petra Kvitova (CZE) def. 5) Maria Sharapova (RUS) 6-3, 6-4

After having a long period of time in women's tennis with few first time slam winners, Petra Kvitova becomes the third such player in the last six majors, with Schiavone and Li being the others.  However, unlike them, Kvitova is still young, and shows the promise to win several more majors.  She first broke on the scene at the '09 US Open with a third round over then-no. 1 Dinara Safina, then made the semis at Wimbledon the next year, and has had a stellar 2011 with now four titles (second only to Wozniacki) and two slam quarterfinals plus a fourth round finish at the French.  She is the first Czech to win a major since Jana Novotna in 1998.

To win her maiden slam, Kvitova defeated Q) Glatch, Keothavong, 29) Vinci, 19) Wickmayer, 32) Pironkova, 4) Azarenka, and 5) Sharapova.  She is the youngest major champion since Ivanovic ('08 French Open) and finally a young star has broken through on the biggest stage.

I'll try and get a Davis Cup preview out tomorrow or Thursday.