Wimbledon 2026: all change

This year’s Wimbledon was one of the best for many years. Both Singles Finals were dramatic and the competition was full of surprises. Obviously, the success of the British wild card, Arthur Fery, was (among other things) a great advertisement for the American college circuit. But perhaps more striking was the rise and rise of the Canadian third seed, Felix Auger-Aliassime, just 25, and surely a star in the making, with a particularly powerful serve. Only one of the top six women’s seeds, Jessica Pegula, made it to the Quarter-Finals.

But it’s worth reflecting on the bigger picture. Recent years have shown the continued rise of European tennis, both among men and women. The four Singles finalists were all Europeans: Sinner from Italy, Zverev, a German with Russian parents and both the women finalists were Czechs. Eleven of the top fifteen Men’s seeds were European. Ten of the top thirteen Women’s seeds were also European.

Go back to the  1950s and 1960s annd you can see a more dramatic  change at Wimbledon. Wimbledon resumed in 1946,  after the war. Between 1946 and 1972, 24 times the Men’s Singles Champion was either American or Australian, including famous players like Lew Hoad, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver and John Newcombe. It was an extraordinary period of domination. The last Australian to  win  the Men’s Singles at Wimbledon was Lleyton Hewitt in 2002. Then there was a second wave  of American dominance: 14 Men’s champions between 1974-2000. But the last American man to win it was Pete Sampras in 2000. Since then the Europeans have ruled the roost: Federer (8 times), Nadal (twice), Djokovic (7 times), Murray (twice), Alcaraz (twice) and now Sinner (twice).  No Australians. No Americans.

It’s not just the men. It’s the same story with the Women’s champions at Wimbledon. Almost 40 Americans and Australian champions between the Second World War and the late 1980s. Then came the Williams sisters: 12 wins between 2000-16.  But since then it’s been the Europeans again: one Spanish player, one Romanian, one German, one Pole and now three Czechs. It’s true, none have dominated like the Williams sisters, or before them Billie-Jean King (6 wins), Chris Evert (3) and the greatest of them all, Martina Navratilova (9 wins). But it was Navratilova’s long reign (1978-1990) that inaugurated the rise of the Eastern Europeans at Wimbledon.

This is a huge change in men’s and women’s tennis. And no sooner has the great European triumvirate of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray passed on (and does anyone seriously expect Djokovic to win again?), than Alcaraz, Sinner and now (perhaps) Zverev have succeeded them, all still in their 20s.

These kinds of  shifts aren’t the sort of thing BBC pundits like to talk about. But to be fair the quality of tennis commentary is superior to what we get during the World Cup. With some obvious exceptions (Gary Neville and Roy Keane), football pundits like Ian Wright, Alan Shearer and Lee Dixon are no match for former tennis stars like John McEnroe, André Agassi, Tim Henman and Tracy Austin, or before them, Boris Becker and Jimmy Connors. These tennis stars are more articulate, smarter and are just more interesting. They know more about more. Given this paucity of  first-rate analysis of the World  Cup, one might ask what’s happened to excellent pundits like Martin Keown, Jamie Carragher and Graeme Souness, let alone top European pundits like Thierry Henry and Jürgen Klinsmann?

The last weekend of Wimbledon this  year felt like the turning of  the tide at the BBC.  Farewell John Lloyd and Andrew Castle, following soon after  Sue Barker. No  explanation. Just a few brief, emotional farewells. Asked about his departure, live on BBC1, Castle responded: “Yes, I am a bit sad about it, of course. I have fabulous memories, even working with John [Lloyd]. And John is finishing as well, we’re being put out to grass, I mean that’s it. Booted.” Who will replace them?

It suddenly feels like the end of  an era, on court and off. No more Djokovic, the last of the great four European musketeers, all born in the 1980s. Now it’s the turn of the twentysomethings: Sinner, Alcaraz and Zverev. There could be hard times ahead for the BBC execs, once the great old American and  Australian champions hang up their mikes.

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