• What the Deuce

Federer's flop headlines takeaways

July 9, 2013
The end of Roger Federer's grand slam domination? © PA Photos
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The restaurants on the high street in Wimbledon Village don't operate on big-city time.

Truth is, if the matches at the All England Club run late, especially during weekdays, your dinner options can be extremely limited. Bayee Village, which offers an arresting array of Chinese food and counts Caroline Wozniacki among its regular patrons, and Thai Tho - one of Maria Sharapova's favorites - close their kitchens around 11pm.

Sometimes the best (and only) play is takeaway.

Now that the fortnight is over, here are eight Wimbledon takeaways to tide you over until the summer hard-court season begins in earnest.

No. 8: Grass can be slippery when wet: Wait, really? This was, apparently, a revelation on day three, otherwise known as Bloody Wednesday. There was a good deal of slipping and falling that day, and the media worked themselves into a frenzy. Look, it was an exceptionally wet spring and cool, too. So the grass here was more lush than usual. And don't forget that a grass plant is typically between 75 and 85% water. Of course it's as slippery as a water slide.

No. 7: It won't get better for the American men any time soon: No. 18 seed John Isner retired with a knee injury - suffered on a routine follow-through of serve - in the second round. No. 21 Sam Querrey was a victim of Bernard Tomic in the first. James Blake, at the advanced age of 33, went just as far as any other American man - the second round. It was the first time in 101 years the United States did not land at least one man in the third. With Mardy Fish and Brian Baker still ailing, it could be a long summer. And a longer short-term future. When the ATP World Tour rankings came out Monday, Isner was the only American man in the top 20, at No. 19.

One for the future: Jerzy Janowicz © PA Photos
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No. 6: Jerzy Janowicz can crack it: The kid from Poland was a 21-year-old qualifier here last year and - in his first grand slam - reached the third round. This year, he came in as the No. 24 seed and blew through to the semi-finals. No one served harder in this tournament than his 143 miles per hour, and in six matches, no one had more than his 103 aces.

No. 5: Bob and Mike are the bomb: At age 35, the Bryan brothers are playing their best tennis - and, quite possibly, the finest-quality doubles the world has ever seen. With their third title here, they now hold all four grand slam trophies, plus the Olympic gold medal(s) - something that's never happened. They also remain on course for a calendar-year Grand Slam, which is also unprecedented.

No. 4: Marion Bartoli breaks through: Good for this quirky Frenchwoman. She was 14-12 coming into Wimbledon and had not advanced past a quarter-final this year. Here, she won all seven of her matches (and all 14 sets) to win her first grand slam singles title, a 6-1, 6-4 trouncing of the flighty Sabine Lisicki. How does that happen? "That's me!" Bartoli said afterward. How quirky? She is the only grand slam singles champion of the Open era to hit a two-handed forehand. This was Bartoli's 47th career major - the longest wait ever for a women's major title.

No. 3: Serena Williams (temporarily) looked her age: The way she's been blasting through women's tennis for the past year, winning 34 straight matches, it almost seemed that Serena had suspended time altogether. There were times in her surprising fourth-round loss to Lisicki that she looked all of her 31 years. Serena was, by her own admission, tentative. "I didn't play the big points well enough," she said. "I didn't do what I do best. I had a little hesitation." Her coach and special friend, Patrick Mouratoglou, put it this way: "No one is unbeatable."

Get used to Andy Murray vs Novak Djokovic © Getty Images
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No. 2: We have seen the future, and the future is… Novak Djokovic versus Andy Murray. This was the third time in the past four majors that the best two players in the game were the last two standing.

The abrupt departures of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal confirmed that their era is officially over. Djokovic and Murray, born a week apart in 1987, were once very good friends. Now, according to Murray, the relationship is a professional one. "I would hope when we finish playing, it will be different again," Murray said. "But playing in big matches, you can't be best of friends." Get used to it. They've probably got 10 to 12 slams left as the leading duo.

No. 1: This might be it for Federer: Fedologists (and the few who aren't) have been wondering when Federer would win his last major. It's possible that it already happened (No. 17) at last year's Wimbledon. Somehow Federer fell to the No. 116-ranked man in the world, Sergiy Stakhovsky, in the second round of the tournament he won seven times in ten years. That ended his amazing streak of reaching 36 consecutive grand slam quarter-finals.

"It's very frustrating and disappointing that I couldn't do it," Fed said. "I struggled on the big points sometimes like I have this season."

It was a great run.

This article originally appeared on ESPN.com

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