- Title: The third part of the sports year ender covers tennis and golf
- Date: 4th December 2022
- Summary: BELGRADE, SERBIA (JULY 11, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF NOVAK DJOKOVIC ON BELGRADE CITY HALL BALCONY, HOLDING WIMBLEDON TROPHY, PEOPLE SCREAMING, CHEERING, WAVING SERBIAN FLAGS
- Embargoed: 18th December 2022 09:15
- Keywords: Djokovic Federer LIV Golf Serena Williams golf tennis
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: Various
- Topics: Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA00S074919112022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The tennis year saw the retirement of two legends of the game when Roger Federer and Serena Williams announced their plans for the future.
Swiss Federer won 20 major singles titles while American Williams claimed 23, the second most of all time.
The year had got off to a tumultuous start when Novak Djokovic was unable to defend his Australian Open crown and deported from the country in a long-winded saga surrounding his COVID vaccination status.
On the court, the first grand slam of the season was won by Spain's Rafa Nadal, who beat Daniil Medvedev in the final to seal his 21st major singles title. The women's event was won by Ash Barty who beat Danielle Collins to become the first Australian to win a home singles title since 1978.
Barty then shocked the tennis world by announcing her retirement in March while she was ranked number one in the world.
To nobody's great surprise, Nadal followed up his win in Melbourne by winning the French Open for the 14th time, beating Djokovic in the quarter-final before easily dispatching Norway's Casper Ruud in the final to seal his 22nd major title.
The women's event was won by Poland's Iga Swiatek, who beat Coco Gauff in the final to claim her second French Open trophy.
Djokovic made up for the disappointments of Melbourne and Paris by claiming his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title and seventh overall.
The Serb beat Australia's Nick Kyrgios in the final to move to 21 grand slam titles, one behind Nadal.
Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina took the women's trophy, beating Tunisia's Ons Jabeur to clinch her first grand slam title.
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz took the U.S. Open title, beating Ruud in the final to win his first major and become the youngest ever world number one at the age of 19 years 4 months and 6 days.
Swiatek took the women's title, beating Jabeur in the final.
GOLF
Scottie Scheffler won The Masters, the first major of the year. The American held off the final round charge of Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy to win by three shots to claim his first major.
Justin Thomas won the PGA Championship for the second time in May, fighting back from seven shots back on the final day before winning a three-hole play-off against his countryman Will Zalatoris.
Matt Fitzpatrick won the U.S. Open Championship. The Briton beat Zalatoris by one shot, resigning the American to two consecutive second place finishes at a major.
Australia's Cameron Smith won the British Open Championship, finishing one shot ahead of American Cameron Young for his first major victory.
The big golfing issue of the year was the emergence of the LIV Golf tour.
Bankrolled by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, LIV grabbed the golf world's attention with staggering prize purses totalling $255 million while luring top players like six-time major winner Phil Mickelson away from the PGA Tour with huge signing bonuses that reports said totalled close to $1 billion.
But the Saudi money has come with plenty of scrutiny with critics accusing LIV golfers of being little more than well paid mercenaries in a "sportwashing" scheme by a nation trying to improve its reputation over its human rights record.
More poaching of players is sure to dial up the feud between LIV and the PGA Tour another notch, creating more chaos within the sport.
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