• Chris Wilkinson

A new era for tennis

Roger Federer has failed to reach the semi-finals two years running © Getty Images

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It's all change this week - Novak Djokovic has ended Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's eight-year dominance at Wimbledon and we have a new world No. 1.

Despite his incredible start to the season, nobody seemed to mention Djokovic as a genuine title contender at Wimbledon - we were all talking about top seed Nadal and six-time champion Federer.

Federer has just played his last grand slam as a twenty-something and I believe he has also just played his last major as the favourite. That is not to say that he hasn't got another major in him - we have learnt the dangers of writing him off. He is always in with a chance at every slam, but given the form of Djokovic and the quality of Nadal, I don't think we can consider him as the No. 1 contender anymore.

He is still a classy player and his 16 grand slams speak for themselves, but he no longer has that top gear. That aura of invincibility, even at Wimbledon, is gone, and players now believe they can beat him. Never before has Federer been beaten after being two sets up in a grand slam. So much of tennis is about belief, and believing you can win those key points. Federer was helpless to prevent Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's comeback.

In fact, I think that Andy Murray will be ahead of Federer when it comes to this year's US Open. He may have fallen at the same stage to the same player, but he is a better player than he was 12 months ago. He won the first set against Nadal and there are a lot of positives to take from the way he started that match. His game has developed hugely over the last few months - he had his best clay season and then lost just one match on grass - and that was to the world No. 1. He is serving better and things are looking positive - there is plenty to build on ahead of the US Open.

For so long now, players have been trying to work out how to beat Nadal, and Djokovic is the first man to solve the riddle. He's got Nadal's number now, and now it is Nadal who must work out what he needs to do to beat Djokovic - who put beyond any doubt who is the best player in the world right now.

I don't think it was a classic final, but it was fascinating nonetheless. Djokovic played some phenomenal tennis - the second set in particular he hardly put a foot wrong - he was taking the ball early on the backhand and he knows where to put the ball. He is the new world No. 1 and is set to stay at the top of the world rankings for some time. He has won on the hard courts, the clay and the grass this season; he has beaten all the big players this year. He deserves real credit for breaking the Roger-Rafa supremacy.

At times, he struggled to win over the fans at the All England Club, but even though the majority of the crowd on Centre Court seemed to be supporting Nadal on Sunday, I think they really appreciated what he had achieved.

Petra Kvitova has a promising future ahead of her © Getty Images

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In the women's game, Petra Kvitova winning her maiden grand slam is a great story - and she has a great future in the game. The quality of the ladies' tournament was the best for a long time - we had some fantastic matches. I think the best thing that happened was for the Williams sisters to crash out in the fourth round - it wouldn't have said much for the state of the women's game if they had waltzed back after injury and reached the final. The top seeds may have all disappeared early, but the likes of Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka, Sabine Lisicki and Maria Sharapova made for an exciting tournament.

Wilko's Wimbledon awards

Biggest surprise
Australian qualifier Bernard Tomic

Biggest disappointment
Robin Soderling

Best match
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's five-set victory over Roger Federer

Biggest upset
Either Caroline Wozniacki's defeat to Dominika Cibulkova, or Andy Roddick's loss to Feliciano Lopez

Player of the tournament
German wildcard Sabine Lisicki

Shot of the tournament
There were some fantastic moments at Wimbledon this year, but I think I would have to go for Andy Murray's through-the-legs winner against Ivan Ljubicic. The roof was over on Centre Court and the atmosphere was electric.

Chris Wilkinson is a former British No. 1

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