Top Tennis moments from 2022: Part III -Wimbledon bans Russians; Del Potro, Tsonga retire; Canada wins Davis Cup

The 2022 tennis season had everything. From epic battles to emotional farewells of some of the biggest names, it was a year like no other.

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART FOUR

Before the 2023 season begins with the United Cup in Australia, here is a quick look at part three of the top 40 tennis moments of 2022:

Djokovic reigns supreme at Wimbledon

After him missing the Australian Open, losing his World No. 1 ranking and a defeat to Nadal in the French Open quarterfinals, many would have thought whether the limited number of tournaments left to play due to his COVID-19 vaccination status had affected Djokovic. However, the Serbian cleared all doubts with his seventh Wimbledon title at the All England Club to reduce the gap in the Grand Slam race between him and Nadal to one.

Amid ban on Russians and Belarusians, Russia-born Rybakina wins Wimbledon

After Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February, various sporting bodies either banned Russian and Belarusian athletes or forced them to play as neutrals. While Roland Garros and US Open chose the latter option, Wimbledon opted for the former, a decision heavily criticised by the other tennis bodies. As it turned out, Russia-born Elena Rybakina, who switched her nationality to Kazakh in 2018, became the women’s singles winner at The Championships and received the coveted Venus Rosewater Dish from Kate Middleton, a member of the British Royal family.

Yuki-Saketh pair enters top 100

While Indian tennis fans waited for glory at the Grand Slams, two predominantly singles players quietly went about their business in doubles on the Challenger circuit. Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni began 2022 with respective doubles rankings of 890 and 328. However, two ITFs and five Challenger titles later, both managed to enter the top 100. Watch out for the duo in 2023.

Del Potro, Tsonga say goodbye

Argentine Juan Martin del Potro and Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga too retired from the sport in 2022. Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, lost 6-1, 6-3 to Federico Delbonis in the first round of the Argentina Open and bid an emotional farewell to his fans, leaving his headband hung on the net afterwards. Tsonga went down after putting up a tough fight against Ruud in the first round of the French Open with shoulder pain eventually ending his challenge. Post his match, he was greeted on the Philippe Chatrier court by all of his former coaches and his parents wearing a ‘Merci Jo’ t-shirt, as well as his children. His former Davis Cup team mates Richard Gasquet, Gilles Simon (who himself retired after Paris Masters) and Gael Monfils also came onto the court to embrace him.

Alexander Zverev’s year

Germany’s Alexander Zverev hits the umpire’s chair with his racquet after his double match against Britain’s Lloyd Glasspool and Finland’s Harri Heliovaara in Acapulco on February 22, 2022. | Photo Credit: Handout via REUTERS

Alexander Zverev’s 2022 season began with a fourth-round exit at the Australian Open after loss to Canadian Denis Shapovalov in straight sets. In February, the German beat American Jenson Brooksby in the first round of the ATP500 event in Acapulco in what was the record latest match ever played, finishing at 4:55AM. However, he was disqualified from his second-round singles match after violently and repeatedly hitting the umpire’s chair with his racquet in a doubles match. After being fined $40,000 and forfeiting more than $30,000 in prize money, along with all of the rankings points he earned at the Mexico Open, Zverev was docked $20,000 each for verbal abuse and unsportsmanlike conduct by ATP, the maximum on-site penalty for each violation.The ATP eventually put him on a one-year probation. At the French Open, Zverev gave Nadal the toughest fight of the tournament before being forced to retire after rolling his ankle before the second set tiebreak. Zverev could not play for the rest of the year.

Champions assemble at Center Court Centenary celebrations

This year, Wimbledon had a special ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of Centre Court. The ceremony had a host of Wimbledon champions that preceded the programme of matches on middle Sunday, established from this year as a permanent feature. While men’s winners included Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Andy Murray and Goran Ivanisevic, the women’s champions included Billie Jean King, Margaret Court, Petra Kvitova, Martina Hingis, Chris Evert and Venus Williams. Nine-time champion Martina Navratilova was unable to join the parade due to testing positive for Covid-19.

There’s a new Davis Cup champion in town

Auger-Aliassime put the disappointment of the ATP Tour Finals behind him to lead Canada to its first-ever Davis Cup title in Malaga, Spain with a 2-0 win over Australia. Denis Shapovalov gave men in red the lead by beating Thanasi Kokkinakis in the opening singles. Auger-Aliassime ensured there was no room for a deciding doubles match as he defeated Alex de Minaur in the second singles.

Coric’s sensational run in Cincinnati

Croatia’s Borna Coric returned to the ATP Tour in March after being out of action for more than a year due to a shoulder injury. However, to everyone’s surprise, the World No. 152 had a dream run five months later at Cincinnati Masters where he beat Lorenzo Musetti, Nadal, Roberto Bautista-Agut, Auger-Aliassime, Cameron Norrie and Tsitsipas to win the title. Coric became the lowest-ranked player to ever lift a Masters trophy. The title meant that he made a massive jump from 152 to 29 in the rankings and became one of the seeded players for the US Open.

Tatjana Maria inspires

Germany’s Tatjana Maria’s semifinal-run at Wimbledon was one of the biggest stories this year. The 35-year-old returned to the WTA Tour after the birth of her second daughter Cecilia and won a 250 title in Bogota in April. In July, she beat compatriot Jule Niemeier 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 to become the oldest first-time Grand Slam semifinalist in the Open era during The Championships.

History for Chinese men’s tennis

Zhizhen Zhang and Wibing Yu made history for Chinese men’s tennis in their own ways. While Yu became the first man from the Asian nation to reach the third round of the US Open, Zhang became the first Chinese man to break into the ATP Top 100.

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