Wimbledon

Roger Federer was on the decline -- or so the thinking went.

Able to steel herself time and again, the singular-of-purpose Eugenie Bouchard became Canada's first Grand Slam finalist by beating French Open runner-up Simona Halep 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the ladies' semifinals at Wimbledon.

The silence at Centre Court made abundantly clear that Andy Murray's time as Wimbledon champion was coming to a close.

Rafael Nadal ran out of comebacks at Wimbledon, losing to a brash, big-serving, between-the-legs-hitting 19-year-old kid who might just be a future star. Maria Sharapova, somehow, seemed on the verge of a turnaround despite a flurry of unforced errors, saving six match points before finally succumbing on the seventh with -- what else? -- a missed shot.

From the lawns of Wimbledon to the lochs of Scotland, all of Britain can celebrate. Andy Murray became the first British man in 77 years to raise the trophy at the All England Club with a hard fought 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 victory over top-seeded Novak Djokovic, a fitting close to nearly eight decades of British frustration in its own backyard.

One of the strangest Wimbledons produced one of its quirkiest champions in Marion Bartoli, the winner of a mistake-filled final that left the overwhelmed runner-up in near tears during the match. Bartoli, whose power game bothered Sabine Lisicki as much as any of her notable eccentricities, won 6-1, 6-4 Saturday to capture her first Grand Slam title in her 47th appearance at a major.

For 368 points, for five sets, for a record 4 hours, 43 minutes -- most quite marvelous, all with a berth in the Wimbledon final at stake -- Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro put on a memorable show.

Trailing 5-4 in her first Wimbledon quarterfinal, Sloane Stephens already had saved two set points and was about to serve at deuce when a fairly nondescript match became anything but.

For 34 matches over 4½ months, on hard, clay or grass courts, Serena Williams was unbeaten -- and, in the minds of many, unbeatable. So it was apt, somehow, that the longest winning streak in women's tennis since 2000 would end at this memorably unpredictable edition of Wimbledon, where even five-time champion Williams looked lost at the start and, most surprisingly of all, the finish of her fourth-round match.

Wild-card entry Alison Riske is one of four women keeping American hopes alive at Wimbledon. The 126th-ranked Riske reached the third round at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time Friday, beating 44th-ranked Urszula Radwanska of Poland 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.