Andy Murray back on to a good thing
The Lendl Effect has earned itself its own tongue-in-cheek hashtag such is the frequency with which it is bandied about. But the steely Czech’s stabilising influence on Andy Murray cannot be ignored. Having guided the Scot to his first two Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold medal, the pair parted ways in 2014 before reuniting after this year’s French Open. Murray was already in sterling form but the Lendl Effect has at the very least been a lucky omen. Murray claimed a fifth Queen’s title before landing an emotional second Wimbledon title on the final Sunday.

Serena Williams states her case to be the greatest
Three times her bid to equal Steffi Graf’s Open Era record of 22 slams hit a snag. A fourth straight blip would have sown more seeds of doubt. As great champions so often do, however, Williams found a way to shake the funk, producing her best match of the tournament to avoid a second upset loss to Kerber in a major final this year. The 34-year-old extended her record as the oldest woman to win a major in the Open Era and having reached the final in seven of the past eight Slam finals – and winning five of those – it is hard to see Williams not taking sole ownership of that record soon.

Milos Raonic is a bona fide Grand Slam force
It was an understandably nervous debut in his outing on the final Sunday of a major, but Milos Raonic sounded a warning that he is more than a lumbering, robotic big server. While that monster serve will always be his go-to weapon, the Canadian’s improved movement, net approaches and a rising self-belief place him in the box seat to challenge the big guns who dominate the honour boards. The first Canadian man into a Slam final, he came back from two sets down for the first time in his career to deny David Goffin in the fourth round and played his best match of the tournament to deny a late-fading Roger Federer an 11th appearance in the decider.

Angelique Kerber’s Australian Open run was no flash in the pan
A second Grand Slam final this year was the perfect elixir to a dismal French Open showing for the new world No.2. After stunning Serena Williams in the Australian Open final, Kerber earned a rematch with the world No.1 in the ladies’ singles decider. The straight-sets scoreline did little to reflect the high-quality shoot-out, which went the way of Williams, but it was enough to suggest the gutsy German lefty is ready to become a regular name at the serious end of the majors.

There’s still life in the old dog yet
Producing arguably his greatest comeback from two sets down, a soon-to-be 35-year-old Roger Federer stood a point from defeat three times in the match of the men’s draw to see off Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals. After knee surgery, a bout of the flu and a back ailment this season, the Swiss great admitted he surprised even himself in reaching the semi-finals. There he stumbled to a five-set defeat against Raonic. Despite injuring his knee in the fifth set, Federer was adamant his wave to the Centre Court crowd was not a final farewell.

The curse of the first Slam strikes again
When French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza was humbled in straight sets by Slovak qualifier Jana Cepelova in the second round, she became the ninth first-time Grand Slam women’s champion in succession not to have featured in the quarter-finals of the following major. She joined Angelique Kerber (first round), Flavia Pennetta (retired), Marion Bartoli (retired), Victoria Azarenka (fourth round), Samantha Stosur (first round), Petra Kvitova (first round), Li Na (second round) and Francesca Schiavone (first round) on the list.

Novak Djokovic is not super human
Fresh from becoming the first man since Rod Laver to hold all four majors in succession, there was no reason to suspect the world No.1’s dominance would come to a premature end on the lawns of the All England Club. Big-serving Sam Querrey had other ideas, taking down a notably flatter Djokovic in a monumental third-round boilover. It was the first time Djokovic had crashed out before the quarter-finals at a major since the 2009 French Open.

Marcus Willis earns himself a beer
It took seven-time champion Roger Federer to end his fairytale run but there was no denying the feel-good story of the first week was that of unheralded Brit Marcus Willis. The world No.772 was the lowest-ranked player into the qualifying wild card play-offs. He won through that and three rounds of qualifying at Roehampton before sending world No.54 Ricardas Berankis packing in the first round. “I’ve earned myself a beer, I think. It was incredible – not my standard Wednesday,” he joked. “It was surreal when I bounced the ball and looked up and saw Roger Federer.”

Venus takes it to infinity and beyond
The timeless 36-year-old fends more questions about retirement than opponents’ serves these days. Having dealt with more than her share of health problems, the five-time Wimbledon champion went some way to silencing her doubters, reaching her first slam semi-final since 2010. She later combined with sister Serena to claim a 15th Grand Slam doubles crown. “People in general have this infinity inside of them. None of us feel old,” Williams said. “Sometimes the body doesn't agree, but ... at this point my infinity is still agreeing.”

The del Potro forehand packs a punch again
The last time the big Argentine left the court at Wimbledon he came out on the wrong end of a classic – a marathon four-hour, 43-minute semi-final with Novak Djokovic in 2013 – a match which the Serb described as “one of the best matches I’ve been a part of”. This was a man contesting his first Grand Slam in two and a half years so the joy at just being back on court was the overriding emotion from the 27-year-old. Never did he expect to take down No.4 seed Stan Wawrinka en route to a third-round showing.