By out-thinking and out-hustling the charismatic Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Novak Djokovic reached the Wimbledon final for the first time in his career. Besides taking over the #1 ATP ranking after the tournament, this grants the long-standing Ozeki (=Champion) another chance at a Yokozuna (= Grand Champion) promotion [with a series W(AO)-SF (FO)-W(WB)]. He was also lacking only one win at the French Open, but at Roland Garros Djokovic was stopped somewhat surprisingly by Dai-Yokozuna Roger Federer in the semis. Thus far this is Djokovic's only defeat in 2011. In Wimbledon the man in Djokovic's way is none other than Dai-Yokozuna Rafael Nadal, Djokovic's predecessor as world #1. In 2011 Djokovic has beaten Nadal already four times. But he 0-2 against Nadal on grass, and Nadal is known for his unique mental strenght that turns him into a near-unbetable force in big matches. It should be interesting.
Were Djokovic to lose the final match, his Yokozuna run would come to an end for now - he would need at least one victory and one final at the upcoming U.S. and Australian Open to make the highest rank.
Nadal reached the final by ending once more the hopes of British Ozeki Andy Murray, who played the 7th Grand Slam semifinal of his career. Murray is arguably the best player of the open era to never have won a slam (yet). Ex-Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga enthused the audience by wrestling Federer into submission in a quarterfinal 5-setter. He returns to the sanyaku (=championship) ranks as a Komusubi (=Junior Champion II) after the tournament. Other than that, the only player with a sanyaku rank is 2010 Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych, who will be demoted to Sekiwake after the tournament for failing to reach a grand slam quarterfinal for the second tournament in a row. Ex-Sekiwake Robin Soderling drops out of the sanyaku ranks altogether.
In the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic-Murray era, there just isn't much space for many other champions.
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