It was a match very much deserving of a final, and as the curtain fell on the 2012 edition of the Championships, Lisa Raymond and Mike Bryan had done just enough to deny the battling pair of Leander Paes and Elena Vesnina in the Final of the Mixed Doubles in three entertaining sets, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
The contest had been a bit of a mismatch right from the start, with veteran Indian superstar Leander Paes' serve under threat right through the contest, while his male counterpart on the other side of the net, the imposing Mike Bryan sent down bullets at will. What Paes lacks in serving pace, he more than makes up with a keen tennis brain, and lightning quick reflexes, which means that unlike most mixed doubles matches, his female partner - Elena Vesnina's serve - was not quite as much under threat with him all over the net.
There are certain qualities that distinguish champions from challengers. One of those that tend to stand out is the ability to win matches even when you are not playing your best. For the better part of the first two sets of today's Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Andy Murray, the young Scot appeared to have the legendary Swiss' number. Federer was overpowered, outhussled and simply over run by a hungry Murray, who barely put a foot wrong. After going an early set down, Federer hung on for dear life late in the second, and when the opportunity presented itself, snuck in a late break, winning four points in a row to level the match at a set apiece despite having been decidedly second best.
If there was ever any doubt about Serena Williams' place among the true legends of women's tennis, all such concerns were erased today as the younger Williams sister claimed the 14th Grand Slam title of her career, and her first in two years to spark what one can only believe to be her second coming in the sport. Only Steffi Graf, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova have won more Grand Slam titles that Serena, and with the 30-year old making a triumphant return to the world stage after an injury plagued couple of seasons, who is to say that she will not knock off the four more majors she needs to go level with Chris and Martina.
After having been served up an appetizer in the form of Novak Djokovic vs Roger Federer, it was now time for the lucky few inside Center Court at Wimbledon to feast on the main course as local boy Andy Murray attempted to become the first Briton since Bunny Austin in 1938 to play in the Men's Final at Wimbledon. Standing in the way of the world no.4 was the charismatic 5th seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who had just the solitary win to show for his 6 previous cracks at the 25-year old Scot. The match proved to be a rather scrappy rather than artistic affair with Murray managing to ease through the first two sets without much opposition. A slight dip in concentration cost the Briton the third set, but Murray righted the ship in the fourth, holding his ground in some intense and decisive service games to earn his spot opposite Roger Federer in Sunday's final with a solid 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 triumph.