It is the end of the final Sunday. The champions are heading to their celebration dinner up in town, the courts have been covered for the last time this year and even the petunias have been stood down after a valiant fortnight’s work (lovely little bloomers, those petunias). It is all over. We may be sad but there is always the thought that we can have a lie in and then do some laundry. No more tennis but we will have clean socks. Oh, the glamour.

So what have we learnt from the past two weeks in SW19?

Grass is gluten free
The 129th Championships ended as many expected it would with Novak Djokovic crowned as champion for a third time. The world No.1 was not to be beaten – he was just too strong, too fast and too good for Roger Federer and won 7-6(1), 6-7(10), 6-4, 6-3. In order to dominate the circuit and the rankings, Djokovic does everything he can to make himself fitter and stronger and he is famously fussy about what he eats. But every time he wins here, he takes a few blades of the Centre Court grass and chomps away merrily. “It's gluten free,” he said, “it's not processed, completely organic and natural and I could eat it.” Who knew?

30 is the new 20
They say that professional sport is a young person’s game, but they lie. In a matter of weeks, Roger Federer will turn 34 and in a couple of months, Serena Williams will do likewise. And they are both playing better than ever. Serena collected her sixth Wimbledon title and her 21st Grand Slam trophy in all on Saturday and the mighty Fed reached his 10th Wimbledon final. And let us not forget Martina Hingis who, at the age of 34, added another two titles to her collection by taking the ladies' doubles with Sania Mirza and the mixed doubles with Leander Paes. And to think – Martina has already retired twice during her career.

History is bunk
Wimbledon is steeped in tradition; Djokovic called the place “the cradle of our sport” and this is where tennis history started. But at the risk of being banished from the grounds and exiled forever, history does not matter one jot, not while Serena Williams is still in business. No sooner is the ink dry on another chapter in the annals that she wins another title or smashes another record. When she won her 18th major trophy at the US Open last September, she claimed that Steffi Graf’s Open era record of 22 grand slam titles was beyond her. By winning here just 10 months later, she has completed her second non-calendar year Grand Slam and collected her 21st major trophy. Should she win again at the US Open, Steffi’s record will be matched and Serena will complete her first calendar year Grand Slam. No one has managed that since Steffi herself in 1988. And Serena does not see herself stopping any time soon.

Time gentlemen, please…
May we respectfully suggest that those awfully nice people at the ATP and those ever so sensible people at the Grand Slams get together over a cup of tea and decide just how long a chap can take to serve? At the four major championships, 20 seconds are allowed; on the regular tour, 25 seconds are allowed. And there is no clock on the court to show the players how long they are taking. The umpires are only doing their job when they pull a chap up on his tardiness but when that chap has just run his legs down to the knees in a 35-stroke rally in the blistering sunshine and then is distracted by the lady in the bright frock and the large hat jumping around to mop up the ice cream she has just dropped down her décolletage, he does not always remember to count “eighteen, hippopotamus; nineteen, hippopotamus…” to make sure that he pings in his first serve on time. It’s just a suggestion.

It never rains in Southern California – or in South West London, for that matter
As ever, we are first with the breaking news and here it is: tennis is so much better in the sunshine. It’s official. We had the warmest – let’s be honest, hottest – day ever at The Championships in the first week and save for a scattered shower here or there, the sun has been splitting the trees almost every day. Personally, I blame the Centre Court roof. Since the most famous court in the world got a hat, it has not rained nearly as much. Go figure.

He’s behind you…
Last year, we were all hailing the changing of the guard at the top of the men’s game. Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov made their way purposefully to the semi-finals only to be beaten by Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic respectively. Ah, but how long could the establishment stay in power? The younger lads – both semi-finalists were just 23 last summer – are ready to lead the revolution. And who did we have in the final again this year? Messrs Federer and Djokovic. Meanwhile, Dimitrov and Raonic never made it out of the first week and both lost in the third round. Worse still for the supposed next wave of stars, Raonic was beaten by 20-year-old Nick Kyrgios, the leader of the next-but-one wave of champions. The Australian is up to No.29 in the rankings with his 19-year-old compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis following up behind at No.71. Add in the likes of Borna Coric from Croatia (ranked No.40 in the world order and aged just 18) and the new wave looks likely to be overtaken by the newer, younger wave – and it may happen sooner than you think.

Quiet, please…
On the subject of Kyrgios, tennis has found itself a star in the making. Sure enough, he was beaten in the fourth round this year but his ability to bring his big game to the big stages has marked him out as the man to watch for the future. But it is his personality that has also proved to be a shot in the arm for the sport. Unashamedly his own man, he is still learning about the business of fame, and he has made a mistake or two along the way, but the fact that he does his own thing, his own way will give us all plenty to watch and enjoy in the next 10 years. And if he can just persuade the broadcasters to turn down the on-court microphones just a smidgeon, he might not get into trouble for showing quite so much of his big personality in his biggest matches.

Whither Rafa
Alas, we have become used to Rafa Nadal leaving early in the past few years. Plagued by knee problems, the swift adjustment from the clay of Roland Garros to the slick lawns of SW19 was just too much. This year, though, was different. Fit, injury free and with plenty of time to prepare thanks to the extended grass-court season and to losing in the quarter-finals in Paris, he still could not get past the second round and was duly thrashed by an inspired Dustin Brown. It was yet another chapter in a deeply depressing season for the Spaniard. In Madrid, just a few weeks before, he was upbeat despite losing to Andy Murray in the final. He thought then that it was only a matter of time before his confidence was restored – maybe weeks, maybe months, but it would all work out all right. But when he left here, he had never sounded so down. “Last year and this year, no problems at all with my knees,” he said, looking glum. “So I was ready to compete. I lost. I don't know if I will be back to the level of 2008 or 2010 or 2007 or 2006 or '11.”

Famous Five
The Gang of Four, that most elite of elite clubs at the top of the men’s game, is going to have to expand. For years, Federer, Djokovic, Nadal and Murray have been winning the Grand Slam trophies and appearing in the finals. But now Stan Wawrinka has earned his place in the gang. By winning the French Open last month, he proved that he was no ‘one slam wonder’ (he had won the Australian Open last year) and by reaching the quarter-finals here for the second year running, he underlined the fact that he is a serial and serious threat on any surface. Come the US Open, The Gang of Four will be no more and the Famous Five will march on Flushing Meadows.

Cricket’s loss is football’s gain
If you think this is a gratuitous mention of David Beckham then you are quite right. It has been a long old fortnight in the press bunker and some of us are tired. We need a little treat to get us through and any chance to use a picture of the lovely Becks is to be seized (yes, we know he is a very happily married man and is densely populated with four beautifully behaved and immaculately turned out children but we can dream, can’t we?). Watching the Gentlemen’s Doubles semi-finals on Thursday, a ball skied over the Royal Box and was perfectly fielded by the tattooed superstar. If England need any help in their bid to reclaim the Ashes, they know where to come.