Woodbridge sets record, then loses
WIMBLEDON, England — Australia’s Todd Woodbridge earned a record ninth Wimbledon men’s doubles title Sunday when he teamed with Jonas Bjorkman for a 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over Julian Knowle and Nenad Zimonjic.
Woodbridge had a chance for an 11th Wimbledon title, but he and Alicia Molik failed to convert on six match points and then lost to Cara and Wayne Black in the mixed doubles final.
Cara Black won two championship matches and a semifinal on Sunday, teaming with Australia’s Rennae Stubbs to win the women’s doubles before joining her brother for a 7-5, 7-5 mixed doubles semifinal win over Americans Bob Bryan and Lindsay Davenport.
The siblings from Zimbabwe returned later on Centre Court and rallied from 2-6 in a second-set tiebreaker to beat Woodbridge and Molik 4-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4.
In the men’s doubles, Woodbridge and Bjorkman were defending champions and seeded No. 1. The pair have combined for three Wimbledon doubles titles. Woodbridge won six times with Mark Woodforde.
With Sunday’s win, Woodbridge surpassed siblings Laurie and Reggie Doherty for most Wimbledon men’s doubles titles. The Doherty brothers won their last Wimbledon title in 1905.
In the women’s doubles, Black and Stubbs beat fifth-seeded Liezel Huber and Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 7-6 (5).
It was the fourth Grand Slam title for Stubbs, who also won the women’s doubles at the Australian Open in 2000 and Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2001. Black’s only previous Grand Slam title came when she claimed the 2002 French Open mixed doubles.
He’ll bring the suds
Andy Roddick was upset about losing the Wimbledon final to Roger Federer, partly because it meant missing out on attending the champion’s dinner with Maria Sharapova.
Roddick said he wanted to see what Sharapova wore at the gala.
“Will it be short? Is it going to be long? Disappointed I won’t get to see that,” Roddick said. “I might just sneak in and crash the party. I’ll bring the beer, man. Let’s go.”
After her victory over Serena Williams in the women’s final Saturday, the 6-foot Sharapova said one of the most exciting rewards was the champion’s ball.
She got that slightly wrong. After the last ball in 1977, formalities were revamped and the function became the champion’s dinner.
At the ball, the women’s and men’s champions danced together as part of the official program. Federer wasn’t expecting to re-institute the ritual.
“You should know there’s no more dancing,” he said.
Olympic ideals
Now that he’s got three Grand Slam titles, Roger Federer will focus on winning an Olympic gold medal for Switzerland.
“It’s been a dream of mine to represent my country, to win a medal there once,” Federer said. “I came so close four years ago. I’m really going over there to maybe do one step better.”
Federer lost a bronze-medal match to Frenchman Arnaud Di Pasquale at the Sydney Olympics.
She’s Ova the top
Maria Sharapova’s upset win over Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final gave British headline writers plenty of fodder, and pictures of the young Russian filled front and back pages of most Sunday newspapers.
The Independent called her “Sharapova the supernova” while the Daily Mail, which had photos of her on the first three and the back three pages, reported: “Siberian Express steams into Wimbledon.”
Sharapova, born in Siberia, moved to the United States when she was 7.
The News of the World described her meteoric rise as “A czar is born,” while its tabloid rival the Daily Star said the win was “Ova the top.”