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Author: Dev Vadchhedia

  • Debut Winners Galore: A review of Wimbledon 2025

    Debut Winners Galore: A review of Wimbledon 2025

    Sinner Redemption

    A month after their five-and-a-half-hour long explosive final at the French Open, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner once again squared up, this time at Centre Court, to duel for the Wimbledon trophy. Alcaraz was gunning for his third consecutive Wimbledon title, while Sinner aimed to avenge his French Open loss to the Spaniard. Sinner had defeated last year’s finalist and seven-time winner Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, while Alcaraz had the better of American Taylor Fritz en route to the final.

    While Alcaraz started strongly and won the first set, Sinner found another gear and won the following three sets with ease, winning the match with a scoreline of 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. This was Sinner’s first win over Alcaraz since the China Open in 2023, the Spaniard being a constant thorn in the Italian No. 1’s side. With this win, Sinner extended his lead at the top of the ATP rankings with 12,000 points, while Alcaraz lost ground and dropped to 8,600 points, albeit still in second place. Sinner also became the first Italian player to win Wimbledon in singles.

    Swiatek Domination

    As is tradition on grass, the WTA was filled with drama and unexpected losses from the top seeds. Reigning champion Barbora Krejcikova went out in the third round to Emma Navarro, and by the time the quarterfinalists were decided, a first-time winner was guaranteed. After the dust settled, it was former World No. 1 Iga Swiatek and American Amanda Anisimova who made the final. Swiatek defeated Swiss Belinda Bencic in the semi-final, while Anisimova upset current No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in a tight three-setter to make her first Grand Slam final. This was the third time in three Majors that an American player defeated Sabalenka.

    Critics favoured Swiatek for being a five-time Major winner and boasting an unbeaten Slam final record, but still gave Anisimova a chance due to her excellent performance against Sabalenka. However, in a surprising turn of events, Swiatek swept the rug off under the American, winning the match with a scoreline of 6-0, 6-0, with Anisimova failing to win a single game and only winning 24 points throughout the match. It was only the second time in the Open Era that a women’s final ended with this scoreline, with German great Steffi Graf defeating Natasha Zvereva similarly in the 1988 French Open final. Swiatek consoled a tearful Anisimova at the net before celebrating the win with her team.

    With this match, Swiatek overcame her trophy slump since the 2024 French Open and jumped back into the top three in the rankings. Despite the devastating loss, Anisimova moved five places up to seventh in the rankings on account of reaching the final.

    Doubles

    The British duo of Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool emerged victorious at their home slam, defeating Rinky Hijikata and David Pel in the Men’s Doubles final with a score of 6-2, 7-6(7-3). This was the first time in the Open Era that a British pairing clinched the Wimbledon trophy, as well as being the first Major win for both Cash and Glasspool.

    Veronica Kudermetova and Elise Mertens won the Women’s Doubles after triumphing over Hsieh Su-Wei and Jelena Ostapenko with a score of 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, with Kudermetova winning her first Major title while Mertens won her fifth. In the Mixed Doubles, Sam Verbeek and Katerina Siniakova won a tight final against Joe Salisbury and Luisa Stefani, winning by 7-6(7-3), 7-6(7-3). Verbeek won his first Major title with this win, while Siniakova, the world No. 1 in doubles, clinched her eleventh.

    Image Source: Image credit: Iga Swiatek on Instagram

  • Saffron Syndicate: BJP defeats AAP in Delhi

    Saffron Syndicate: BJP defeats AAP in Delhi

    Rekha Gupta was named as the next Chief Minister of Delhi as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registered a landmark victory in the capital. Winning a massive 48 out of the 70 seats, the BJP returned to power in Delhi after 26 years.

    In a similar fashion to the previous elections, the seats were divided between the AAP and the BJP, with the Congress failing to win a single seat. However, the parity between the parties completely flipped over. The AAP had won a massive 62 of the 70 seats last time out, but only managed to win 22 seats. Reports say that they managed to retain their Muslim and Dalit-dominated areas, but ultimately fell short to the BJP.

    Major controversies in the run-up to the elections were factors which led to the BJP’s landslide victory. For example, outgoing CM Arvind Kejriwal was arrested in March 2024 for his participation in a money laundering case, after his government introduced a policy to bring in private firms and enterprise companies into the retail liquor sector. He resigned in September 2024, with Atishi Marlena sworn in. The BJP also criticised the official residence of Kejriwal, dubbing it as ‘sheesh mahal’ (palace of mirrors) and accusing Kejriwal of having a wealthy makeover of the house in excess of 50 crore rupees. While the AAP categorically denied these claims, it was against the ‘common man’ image Kejriwal had created for himself and contributed massively to the downfall of the AAP.

    Freebies became a major tool used by both parties to attract voters from lower socio-economic groups. While the BJP initially criticised AAP’s policy, they brought out a similar scheme, a tool that also led to their victory in the Maharashtra state assembly elections, where they and their allies won a whopping 235 of 288 seats.

    A major factor that helped the BJP was not directly related to Delhi. The new Union Budget for 2025 was released just days before the day of voting, with the new tax brackets removing income tax for people who earn less than 12 lakh rupees in a year. This massively boosted the party’s prospects within the middle class.

    60.54% of eligible voters participated in voting on the 5th of February, albeit down on the previous elections held here. Exit polls predicted a victory for the BJP. The Election Commission of India announced the results on the 8th of February, declaring BJP as the winner by a landslide, ending the AAP’s stronghold in the capital. Major highlights included Parvesh Verma, son of former Delhi CM Sahib Singh Verma, defeating Arvind Kejriwal in the New Delhi constituency.

    After a few days of deliberation and meetings between the BJP top brass, Rekha Gupta, who was elected from the Shalimar Bagh constituency, was named as the next Chief Minister of Delhi on 19 February.