Updated

Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 13

Wimbledon 2026 Salutes Arthur Fery and Linda Noskova, With Djokovic's 5-Hour Epic Named Best Match

Updated

Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 13

Wimbledon 2026 Salutes Arthur Fery and Linda Noskova, With Djokovic's 5-Hour Epic Named Best Match

Q: With Djokovic's defiance of age and Sinner's rise, are we witnessing a definitive power shift in men's tennis?

Yes — Wimbledon 2026 strongly suggests the balance of power in men’s tennis has shifted, even if Novak Djokovic remains a major threat. The clearest evidence is Jannik Sinner. He won back-to-back Wimbledon titles, claimed his fifth Grand Slam, and beat Djokovic in the semi-finals before defeating Alexander Zverev in the final. That is not a symbolic rise; it is control of the biggest stages. The wider context matters too: Sinner is world No. 1, has built a dominant 2026 season, and has shown he can recover from setbacks, including his French Open collapse, without losing momentum. Djokovic’s tournament showed something different: not decline into irrelevance, but a transition from ruler to exceptional survivor. At 39, his five-hour quarter-final win over Felix Auger-Aliassime was extraordinary and underlined that his conditioning and competitive instincts remain unmatched. But he no longer looks like the central force around whom the tour revolves. He is still capable of deep Slam runs, yet Sinner and the younger elite are increasingly setting the standard. This is also bigger than one tournament. The top of the sport is now defined by players in their early-to-mid 20s, especially Sinner and, beyond Wimbledon, Carlos Alcaraz. Djokovic can still disrupt that order, but he is no longer the default favorite across the calendar. So the shift looks real: Djokovic has not disappeared, but men’s tennis is now being led by Sinner’s generation rather than merely challenged by it.

3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 13

Wimbledon’s end-of-tournament awards put Arthur Fery’s surprise semi-final run at the center, calling the British wildcard’s breakthrough the Championships’ best story.
Linda Noskova’s women’s title run supplied the biggest drama after the 21-year-old recovered from leading 6-2 5-2 to needing a deciding set before beating Karolina Muchova.
Novak Djokovic’s quarter-final win over Felix Auger-Aliassime was picked as the best match after the 39-year-old won the longest Wimbledon quarter-final in history in nearly 5 hours.
The retrospective also highlighted Naomi Osaka’s kimono as best outfit and Fery’s emotional celebration after beating Grigor Dimitrov to reach the quarter-finals.
Broader tournament notes included Serena Williams’ comeback as a favorite storyline, though a knee injury forced her out of doubles with Venus and became the biggest disappointment.