Supreme Alonso wins thrilling British Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso secured his first win of the season at Silverstone

Fernando Alonso's status has never been too high among British racing fans.

From the moment he locked horns with Lewis Hamilton when they were team-mates at McLaren in 2007, most British fans have railed against the Spaniard, with many believing him to be arrogant and his spats with Briton Hamilton have not been forgotten.

However, his supreme drive at Silverstone to win the 2011 British Grand Prix has reaffirmed his status as one of the best drivers in Formula One and those very same fans could only take their hats off to his superb racing.

Some of the criticism of him in Britain is unfair, while some of it is entirely justified (as proved in the final race of last season, with his gestures towards Vitaly Petrov after he failed to pass him), but his talent as a racing driver has never been under question. He is a world-class driver.

He has proved his talent over a period of some years now, even turning an uncompetitive Renault into a contender to win races, and he has two world titles under his belt.

The way he won at Silverstone simply underlined this again.

He certainly had some luck, with McLaren and Red Bull both having problems both with pit stops and with their cars, but Alonso always looked super-quick and always seemed the most likely winner.

There were some frustrating moments for him in the early exchanges, though.

Alonso was overtaken by old rival Hamilton on lap 15 for third place, but he kept his patience and took advantage of DRS on lap 24 to retake third.

Alonso always appeared to be in control

He then overtook Mark Webber in the pit stop phase before disaster struck for leader of the race and runaway championship leader Sebastian Vettel.

He pitted along with Alonso but, due to a problem with the team's wheel nut gun, the Spaniard leapfrogged him into the lead of the Grand Prix.

From then on, Alonso streamed away and his race win never seemed in any real doubt.

He had been very patient for his chance to lead the race and once he got ahead, he was never going to give that up.

Due to the diffuser row (which is so boring I won't even go into it), Ferrari and Alonso had been significantly advantaged over the Red Bulls and McLarens so Alonso knew he had potentially the best car and that he would get better as the race went on.

In the early phase of the race - where half of the track was wet and half was dry - he struggled, but he always seemed to be in contention and when Alonso and his car are on song, he is a very difficult man to stop.

It could be argued Vettel may have won the race if it wasn't for his pit stop troubles, but in reality Alonso would probably have overtaken him anyway.

Alonso and Vettel salute the British fans after the race

He always looked the quicker man and with DRS and KERS in full effect, it would have been extremely difficult for Vettel to stay ahead for the rest of the race.

The German will be disappointed he did not win the race but the reality is he extended his lead in the drivers' championship despite problems with his pit stop, problems with KERS and the diffuser argument, so he should be pleased he has moved one step nearer to winning a second world crown.

Formula One has been widely criticised over the last two weeks after the relatively sedate race in Valencia, but this is a superb season.

It may not be tight at the top of the drivers' championship, with Vettel 80 points clear, but the majority of the races have been exhilarating, with this Grand Prix up there with the recent race in Canada in terms of excitement.

Formula One is as exciting as it ever has been and it is about more than just the title race. The racing this season has been enthralling and that should not be overshadowed by the one-sidedness of the title race. Vettel has been driving supremely and thoroughly deserves his massive lead.

One of the major talking points after this race was the use of team orders at Red Bull, with team principal Christian Horner instructing Mark Webber not to overtake Sebastian Vettel in the closing stages despite the Australian having the quicker car.

Webber appeared set to overtake Vettel in the closing laps

Webber ignored the orders, but Vettel managed to hold him off to secure second place.

A lot of race fans are disgusted with Red Bull and Horner for their use of team orders - after they heavily criticised Ferrari's use of them last year - but they should look at the bigger picture here.

Yes, it would have been great to see the two Red Bulls racing to the chequered flag, with the fastest car coming out on top.

However, it would have been madness for the team not to order Webber to not overtake Vettel.

Webber's chance of an overtake was in the final two laps and the team could not afford to run the risk of losing one, perhaps two, cars so close to the end of the race.

Red Bull would probably have let them race each other had it been earlier in the race, but it would have been idiotic for them to allow it to happen on the last two laps, particularly now teams are not restricted by team orders rules.

This incident was nowhere near as bad as the Ferrari one last year - where the team ordered Felipe Massa to let Fernando Alonso through despite the two being close in the drivers' championship and with plenty of the race left - but Webber will be extremely disappointed by it.

Last year's incident between Alonso and Massa was hugely controversial

Not only did the team not want to run the risk of losing both cars, but they also factored in the situation in the championship.

By finishing second, that earned Vettel three more crucial points towards his target of retaining the title so Webber will feel cynical about the reasons behind the order.

He will always be number two to Vettel at Red Bull and it would not be a surprise to see the Australian driving for a different team next year. Problems have persisted since, ironically, last year's British Grand Prix when Webber made his famous "not bad for a number two driver" statement, so it is perhaps fitting this issue has raised its head again at Silverstone.

Webber made things hard for himself from the outset, with Vettel overtaking him for first place before the first corner, and if the Australian had managed to stay ahead and build a lead, there would have been little his team-mate could have done about it.

The instructions may have taken a bit of the fun away at the end but it was an entirely necessary request when considering the potential implications of both cars crashing out.

There was plenty for home fans to shout about although McLaren will have mixed emotions and will be left ruing their errors after the race.

Lewis Hamilton, starting 10th, immediately fought his way up to sixth and that made the rest of the race significantly easier for him.

Hamilton recovered excellently from a poor qualifying session

He then overtook team-mate Jenson Button on lap two to take fifth place and this was the afternoon Hamilton spectacularly rebuilt his reputation as one of the best drivers in Formula One.

He looked assured of a podium place but that was snatched away from him by an extremely poor team error: they under-fuelled him, meaning he had to go painfully slow over the last few laps to save fuel and ensure he got to the end of the race.

He was left defenceless as Webber overtook him and then Felipe Massa closed up right behind him heading into the final lap. It looked like Hamilton may have been set to lose his fourth place.

At the final corner, Massa appeared to overtake him but Hamilton slid up the inside, they touched, and Massa was forced to run wide. The two cars then raced to the line and Hamilton just prevailed, providing real entertainment for the excellent Silverstone crowd.

It looked like Massa had overtook home favourite Hamilton

It was fantastic defensive driving from Hamilton as he proved he is more than capable of brilliant driving through both attack and defence. He was determined to keep fourth place after seeing a podium place snatched away from him and there was no way he was going to let Massa through without a fight.

It is now beyond much question that the three best (and most exciting) drivers in Formula One are Hamilton, Vettel and Alonso and this race only served to underline that even more.

As for Button, only McLaren's incompetence cost him a good points finish.

He drove brilliantly throughout but when he pitted on lap 39, the team allowed him to drive away without a wheel nut and so his front right tyre was not properly attached.

He barely made it out of the pit exit and was forced to retire.

Button's race was ruined by the mechanics' mistake

It was an almost amateurish incident from a team that prides itself on setting high standards.

It is very rare to see McLaren make such a mistake, but to make two in one race - the team's home race - is simply unacceptable and they will need to ensure such errors are cut out in the rest of this season.

For a long time it looked like both Hamilton and Button were set for podium places and only the mistakes of the team cost them.

With McLaren's errors, Red Bull's mistake with Vettel's pit stop and Force India's error with Paul Di Resta's pit stop - where they were set to give him Adrian Sutil's tyres - this was a bad day for the mechanics.

It did add to the excitement though and this was a classic British Grand Prix at a new-look Silverstone, team orders or no team orders.

This race was the first for Silverstone's new pit lane

There was wheel to wheel action right to the end, with the added bonus of a new winner in a season dominated by Sebastian Vettel.

It was similar to this season's Canadian Grand Prix in terms of excitement and the start, with half the track dry and half wet, more than contributed to that. It provided the ultimate test for the drivers and set the tone for the rest of the race.

The British Grand Prix is a very special occasion, something I found out when I attended it last year.

It is hard to describe the sense of occasion there is at Silverstone and that, coupled with the exciting racing, brilliant fans, noise of the cars and speed of the cars makes for a great experience.

The British Grand Prix always seems to produce a great race and it was just a pity for the fans that Hamilton and Button did not get the true rewards they deserved.

But for the poorness of the McLaren team, both could have been on the podium but take nothing away from the brilliant drive of Fernando Alonso.

His win may have come too late for him to launch a title challenge but one thing is for sure: he won't be giving up.

Vettel is still very much the man to beat but Alonso's victory just makes it that bit more interesting.

Captain Colo completes the turnaround

Alan Pardew has chosen defender Fabricio Coloccini as his new Newcastle captain

When Newcastle United were relegated in 2009, Fabricio Coloccini was ridiculed by fans and experts and was described as one of the main reasons the Magpies slipped into the Championship.

Just two years on though and he has rebuilt his reputation in spectacular style and has now been appointed captain after the departure of Kevin Nolan.

In those dark days of Newcastle's relegation season, no-one could have predicted the Argentinean would ever wear the captain's armband. The fact today's announcement to confirm him as skipper seemed inevitable and was greeted with positivity shows how well Coloccini has done over the last two years.

He shouldered much of the blame for the relegation and was heavily linked with a move away in the uncertain summer which followed, but he remained committed to the club and has been well rewarded for doing so.

He struggled to adapt to English football after joining for a reported £10.3million from Deportivo in 2008 and a number of costly errors undoubtedly contributed to Newcastle's relegation. Some of the criticism of him at the time was harsh but fans were angry and looking at figures to blame.

Coloccini must be credited for how he came back from this.

Coloccini's popularity among fans grew and grew as the promotion-winning campaign progressed

It would have been easy for him to slope off to another club after that season - like so many of his then-teammates - but he refused to shirk his responsibilities and set about proving his doubters wrong.

He knuckled down and became a lynchpin in Newcastle's subsequent promotion season.

That season in the Championship was when Coloccini truly settled in English football and it was probably a blessing for him that the Magpies went down as it allowed him to rebuild his confidence and reputation.

He was Newcastle's Mr Dependable all season and became a real cult hero with the fans, with whom he has built up a tremendous relationship, with the Toon Army inventing the 'Oh Coloccini...' ditty in his honour.

Following that tremendous season, his status among Newcastle fans was incredibly high and not many of them doubted his ability to prove himself in the Premier League.

Some 'experts', however, believed that Coloccini would again struggle in the top flight but this is a man who has been capped 34 times by Argentina and played for clubs including AC Milan.

He again proved any lingering doubters wrong with a superb season in the Premier League and must surely be one of the first names on Alan Pardew's teamsheet. This has been some turnaround from a player lambasted just two years ago and the captaincy is a fitting reward for him.

Coloccini's fantastic strike against Tottenham was one of the highlights of last season for Newcastle fans

His confidence has visibly grown over the last two years and fans have enjoyed seeing his solidness at the back and composure on the ball - he often brings the ball out of defence to start attacks - as well as his ability to pop up with goals.

Coloccini has arguably been the Magpies' most consistent performer for the last two seasons and he was seen by many as the most natural choice to take over from Nolan.

Joey Barton will be disappointed to have been overlooked but his contract situation meant it was never realistic Pardew would have appointed him captain. Steven Taylor missed out due to his lack of experience and because he is not guaranteed a regular starting spot while Cheick Tiote's style of play may have scuppered his chances as the club cannot afford to have their skipper missing through suspension for large chunks of the season.

Coloccini's appointment will certainly be popular among Newcastle fans and this is crucial as it ensures everybody will be pulling in the same direction with a fans' favourite leading the side.

Making the Argentinean captain also puts to bed any fears he may leave this summer, as fans had grown worried he may follow Nolan and possibly Barton through the door.

There are, of course, doubts about Captain Colo though.

Some are worrying Coloccini's English is not good enough for him to be captain

Many fear he still does not have a good enough command of the English language to lead the club while others feel he will be a 'yes man' in comparison to Nolan.

It is well known Nolan was one of a group of senior players who arranged meetings and made demands to Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias over the last two seasons, with many doubting Coloccini would confront the board and cause them headaches in this way.

It will be crucial that he is able to stand his ground and express the views of the dressing room as a happy squad will be vital to sustained success at St James' Park.

His influence off the field will be just as important as his influence on it. While he may not be the sort of person to confront the ownership, he is said to be extremely professional and that is key as the younger players will truly have a captain to look up to.

On the field, he is likely to be more of a captain who leads by example with his actions than a captain who shouts and drives his team on.

Coloccini - who described being handed the captaincy as "like a gift" - seems quite a calm individual when playing and that captaincy style has worked for teams in the past, so he should not try anything out of his comfort zone and act as naturally as possible.

Manager Alan Pardew can now put the captaincy issue to one side and concentrate on the new season

The announcement to make Coloccini captain came as something of a surprise as many had expected Pardew would not make his decision until close to the season's beginning.

However, appointing him now ensures stability for the players as they all know where they stand and the speculation can now fade.

Coloccini is thought to be well-liked by the players, and he has particularly good relationships with Jose Enrique and Jonas Gutierrez, so his appointment should go down well with the playing staff.

Coloccini has struck up a great friendship with fellow Spanish speakers Gutierrez and Enrique

One thing the club should be keeping an eye on though is Coloccini's contract situation.

His deal runs out in 2013 so next summer he could be in the same situation as Jose Enrique and Joey Barton find themselves in now, with just one year left to run on his contract.

Coloccini should be given a new contract now as he will be eager to stay long-term now he knows he will be captain and the club cannot afford to be in the same uncertainty they are in now next summer.

There is hope Coloccini's appointment could lead to Enrique signing a new deal, although few Newcastle fans will be holding their breath on that one.

Keeping hold of the curly-haired defender will delight fans though as he provides familiarity and the supporters have grown attached to him over the last two seasons.

This appointment should be a great one - despite some reservations - and most fans will be feeling Pardew has made the correct decision.

What next for Arsenal?

Gael Clichy (centre) has already left Arsenal, with Samir Nasri (left) and Cesc Fabregas (right) expected to follow him

"I really believe if you are a player who thinks only about money, then you end up at Manchester City."

Those the words of Gael Clichy, the then-Arsenal left-back, in 2009, speaking after ex-Gunners man Emmanuel Adebayor made the move to Eastlands.

Fast-forward two years though, and Clichy has himself joined City, leaving behind an Arsenal side that have now gone six years without a trophy.

He now appears to have had a U-turn with his views on City. After signing, he said: "I think anything is possible with this team. There is no limit. You need to have a big squad to go all the way. That is why I joined City. I joined because I want to win things."

Clichy criticised players who joined City in the past

So what has changed in the last two years to force this major turnaround in Clichy's beliefs?

The short answer is an awful lot.

City won the FA Cup last season, qualified for the Champions League for the first time, finished ahead of Arsenal in the table and have continued to show their ambition by flexing their considerable financial muscle in the transfer market.

Arsenal, meanwhile, appear no nearer to ending their trophy drought.

They lost the Carling Cup final to Birmingham, had an almighty collapse in the Premier League title race, still appear reluctant to splash out on big name players in the transfer market and, perhaps most importantly of all, look set to lose their two star players this summer, Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.

Fabregas and Nasri reportedly want to leave Arsenal

City may lose their biggest star this summer too, with Carlos Tevez desperate for a move away, but the difference here is that you know he will be replaced with a quality player more than capable of stepping into his boots. With Arsenal, you cannot be so sure.

Fabregas will go to Barcelona but Nasri could go to City, Manchester United or Chelsea, all Premier League rivals of Arsenal, while City wouldn't dare sell Tevez to someone in the same league. If Clichy and Nasri are both playing for Premier League clubs (but not Arsenal) next season, the Gunners could live to regret that decision big time.

The truth is that Manchester City is a much more viable option than Arsenal for players now.

The club is clearly going places and only look set to continue improving, so they can now match what players want not only with wages but also with their ambitions on the pitch.

Clichy was right with his comments in 2009 but players who join City now can see success waiting for them. It is no longer just about the money.

Arsenal, meanwhile, are becoming less attractive for players year on year.

If Fabregas and Nasri leave, there will be a distinct lack of stardust in their team next season and their top four place is sure to be under threat.

City, Manchester United and Liverpool have already paid hefty sums for players this summer while Chelsea and Tottenham appear sure to follow suit, so if Arsenal do not act quickly they could find themselves sixth next season.

Arsene Wenger is sure to be extremely frustrated with recent developments

Of course, Arsene Wenger would do his utmost to replace any key players who leave but where is he going to find someone the quality of Fabregas? Or Nasri? Or even Clichy?

The truth is that Arsenal are destined to be significantly weaker next season.

Critics have knocked them from pillar to post in this close-season and it's only going to get worse. They are becoming a stepping stone club and need to halt this alarming trend now.

In the past, Wenger has brought in great players, watched them flourish and then sold them when they got past their sell-by date. Prominent examples of this are Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg.

Now, however, he is selling his players before they even reach their prime.

Fabregas and Nasri will leave the Emirates with their best years surely still ahead of them while Clichy has left aged 25. Others like Emmanuel Adebayor and Mathieu Flamini were also sold before their 26th birthday so Arsenal have become a selling club.

All the talk surrounding Fabregas and Nasri has reportedly unsettled other players too.

Robin van Persie is in line to pick up the captaincy if Fabregas leaves but he has just two years left on his contract and will be in the same situation as Clichy and Nasri this time next year.

van Persie was a key player for Arsenal last season

Theo Walcott's contract also expires two years from now and he is said to be interesting Chelsea, so Wenger must now stamp his authority and insist no more players leave.

When Fabregas and Nasri depart, there will be a lack of big names for fans to latch onto so the likes of van Persie and Walcott simply must stay. Selling five key players in one transfer window would be nothing but suicide.

Arsenal still have quality young players, like Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey, but they must have experienced players around them or this will just turn into a circle for Arsenal.

They faced a similar situation just four or five years ago when the side lacked experience and now they look set to be in the same situation again. Wenger must sign experienced players to stop the cycle starting again.

Just last year Patrice Evra derided Arsenal by calling the club nothing more than a "football training centre", and it is hard to argue with his sentiment now.

Evra has been outspoken about Arsenal in the past

Evra praised the way they play football but insisted no-one would remember that in years to come, they will only remember the teams who won titles.

People are queuing up to have a pop at the Gunners now, so much so that the usually-quiet-as-a-mouse Paul Scholes this week described Arsenal's pretty football as "pointless" when they are not winning anything, while also going on to say they "flatter to deceive".

When Scholes is lining up to have a go at you, you know you are in trouble so Wenger must do something this summer to halt the slide.

He should certainly have the money to do so, with somewhere around £70million to be brought in through player sales alone.

Wenger should also have significant money left over from previous transfer windows in which he didn't spend and that will be complimented by TV and Champions League money, so he really has no excuses not to spend money now.

He should get the Fabregas and Nasri sagas out of the way quickly to begin with. If both players want to go, he should sell them as anything else would merely be delaying the inevitable and upsetting the players genuinely committed to the club.

He then simply needs to go on a spending spree.

There is growing fan discontent at the rise in ticket prices at the Emirates so Arsenal need to justify that by bringing in big-name players.

Wenger has so far brought in 19-year-old Carl Jenkinson from Charlton as well as Barcelona teenagers Hector Bellerin and Jan Toral, but what Gunners fans really want is a batch of players who can bring them success next season.

Jenkinson was Arsenal's first summer signing

Lille's Gervinho looks certain to join in the coming days and he is the type of signing to excite fans, while if the club can also capture the likes of Aly Cissokho, Gary Cahill, Juan Mata and Mathieu Valbuena they will be taking significant steps in the right direction.

They will probably need to bring in more than five players though, with a number of fringe players needing to be replaced.

Nicklas Bendtner and Denilson look set to leave while Andrei Arshavin has also been heavily linked with a move away, so a major rebuilding job needs to take place.

Denilson has expressed his desire to leave Arsenal this summer

This is undoubtedly Wenger's greatest test since becoming Arsenal manager but even his past successes can not save him if he doesn't deliver silverware next season.

Great players need to be brought in to give them any chance but the reality is even a top four place seems a distant dream.

A full season from Thomas Vermaelen will be key but Arsenal do not look in any position to progress at the moment.

To complicate matters further, Alex Song is reportedly facing a potential two-year jail sentence after a bar brawl in Cameroon.

There are so many problems and so much uncertainty surrounding the Gunners now and the fear is this could just be the tip of the iceberg.

With van Persie and Walcott set to have just one year left on their contracts this time next year, the same old problems look set to arise again.

Walcott has been linked with a move to Chelsea

It is crazy that a club of Arsenal's size allows players to get so perilously close to the end of their contracts. Key players should be given new contracts well in advance of their old ones coming to an end to avoid situations just like this.

Despite all this, perhaps it is not all doom and gloom.

If Wenger spends the money correctly, Arsenal could yet have a formidable team next season.

Perhaps we should judge their transfer business only when the window slams shut.

Wenger has done a miraculous job over the years at Arsenal - despite their six-year trophy drought and lack of spending - and he should just be allowed to get on with it.

There will be a niggling thought at the back of his mind that he should have left in 2004, though.

He could have had his pick of jobs around the world then, with his reputation sky-high after Arsenal's 'Invincibles' campaign, where they went the entire season unbeaten.

Now though, his image has gone from simply The Professor to The Nutty Professor, so he may feel he should have left the club on a high after the unbeaten campaign.

Wenger has grown increasingly frustrated over the years

He stayed because he thought he could deliver the Champions League but he must now look back and wish he left then.

He knows another season without a trophy now would leave his position almost untenable so he is under intense pressure to deliver quality signings.

With Clichy already leaving this summer and Fabregas and Nasri set to join him, hungry players are seeing no future of winning trophies at the Emirates.

Top players no longer want to spend their prime years there and Wenger knows his club is on the slide unless he does something very quickly.

This is the Frenchman's greatest test and it would not be a very wise bet to predict him to pass it.

It's Champagne Super Novak as Djokovic wins Wimbledon

Novak Djokovic won Wimbledon for the first time at the age of 24

Rafael Nadal hit his backhand long and Novak Djokovic had the moment he had always dreamed about.

All the years of sweat and toil had come to fruition and the Serbian could truly warrant his new world number one ranking by winning the biggest tournament of them all, Wimbledon.

It wasn't the classic final it could have been by any means but it was a superb display from Djokovic which represented a real changing of the guard in men's tennis.

Nadal was not at his flawless best but even if he had been he would have found it extremely difficult to tame Djokovic.

He has taken his game onto another level in the last few months through sheer hard work and he now has his reward.

In many ways, he out-Rafad Rafa and that was one of the keys to his victory.

Djokovic has possibly the best defence in the game and he can switch into aggressive mode at seemingly any time, while Nadal simply had no answer to his brilliance.

It is unlikely anyone could have beaten Djokovic in this form

Normally, it is Nadal who stays in points against all the odds to wear his opponents down but Djokovic turned the tables at SW19 and forced the Spaniard into unusual errors.

Nadal's game is built around the fact he rarely makes errors but he made 15 unforced errors to Djokovic's 12 and that shows just the kind of quality the Serbian produced on Centre Court.

The match started with quality serving displays from both but the turning point came with Nadal serving at 5-4 down in the first set.

The first break point of the match arrived and Djokovic duly took it, demonstrating the ruthless style which has seen him leapfrog Nadal and Roger Federer to become number one in the world.

Sensing his opportunity, the Serbian then played one of the best sets ever seen at Wimbledon to take the second set 6-1 and leave Nadal's unbeaten record at SW19 since 2007 in tatters.

He attacked every ball and punished any Nadal weaknesses, with Djokovic's movement around the court simply too hot for the 10-time major winner to handle.

Nadal had no real answer to Djokovic's brilliance

When Nadal lost the first set to Andy Murray in the semi-final, it looked like the second set may follow so Djokovic's success in sealing the second set in the final will act as an indicator of what might have been for Murray.

Like the true champion he is, Nadal came back strongly in the third set, finally re-finding the rhythm on his serve and finding a way to break Djokovic twice.

This looked like the real Nadal and when he earned a break point at the start of the fourth, it looked like a sensational comeback was on.

Djokovic kept his cool though and held serve, before breaking Nadal with some wonderful deep groundstrokes.

However, Nadal broke straight back and that could have led to a collapse from Djokovic, who must have been thinking "How can I beat this man?"

There was to be no collapse though and after Nadal double faulted to hand the Serbian another break and a 5-3 lead, Djokovic had the chance to serve for the match.

He wobbled slightly at the start of the game but a couple of Nadal errors and some good serving sealed a well-deserved victory for Djokovic.

Djokovic fell to the Wimbledon turf and then tasted the grass after sealing victory

Djokovic would have become world number one whatever the result of this match but by winning it proves he is the best player in the world.

Had Nadal won, most fans would have acknowledged he was still the best but the way his game was dismantled means there can be no arguments with the rankings now.

Djokovic has won two of the three Grand Slams this year and has a record of 50 wins and just one loss in his last 51 matches, so there can be no doubts the Serbian is ahead of Nadal now.

Djokovic has now beaten the Spanish warrior five times in a row and just has an edge over him at the moment, with this Wimbledon triumph proving that.

Nadal will be desperately trying to work out a way to beat Djokovic now as he will not want to be second best for long, and it would be no surprise to see him come up with a better gameplan to beat the Serbian in the near future.

Nadal knows he needs to again step up his game to match Djokovic

It may seem strange to say this about a man with 10 major titles, but Nadal seems to have a mental block against Djokovic at the moment as he knows the Serbian has the perfect game to beat him. If Nadal is to get the top spot back, he will need to overcome this but it is hard to keep a great man down and this mental block should not last long.

Djokovic - Nadal is now certainly the biggest rivalry in men's tennis and there will be many more battles to come from these great players. The Serbian has the edge, just as Nadal did in the past, but the Spaniard will feel confident he can return to those levels when he is truly free of injuries.

One of the biggest strengths of Djokovic has always been his return of serve and that was at its best in the final.

Despite Nadal's great first serve percentage of 78%, Djokovic seemed to have the measure of his serve and he always seemed to have a chance of breaking him.

He has the best return in men's tennis and that is what has taken him to the top of the game.

Djokovic's return ensures opponents can't settle on their serve

Possibly the most important factor in Djokovic's win though was the way he seized every opportunity given to him.

He earned just six break points in the entire match yet took five of them, which was a stunning return.

He took his chances when they presented themselves and that is the key to beating somebody like Nadal.

If you let him back, he will punish you so the moment you get an opportunity you must take it.

Nadal took three of his six break point opportunities, which is more than decent, but he was not as clinical as Djokovic and that was surely the most key difference between the two in the match.

Djokovic has now won three Grand Slams but this is by far the best achievement in his career so far.

He has won the Australian Open twice and while winning there must have been a great feeling, Wimbledon is on another level in terms of importance and prestige.

Djokovic earned his second Australian Open title with victory over Andy Murray in January

Djokovic will always be remembered as a Wimbledon champion now and the grass court conditions are usually seen as a true marker of how good a tennis player is, so his quality can no longer be questioned and whatever happens, he will always be a champion there.

He has had an unbelievable year but perhaps his greatest tests are yet to come.

He now has the pressure of the number one ranking and will be the person to be shot at at the top of the game, so he will have to work even harder to stay there.

Djokovic is in the form of his life - as his one loss this year proves - but it won't last forever. The big question is how long can he sustain it for?

He is likely to retain the number one ranking for at least the rest of this year but next year it will be hard as he will have an awful lot of ranking points to defend as a result of his long unbeaten run.

His main target will be to win more majors though and it is extremely unlikely he will be satisfied with just the three.

He has watched Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer hoover up Grand Slams and will now feel that it is his turn to take a share of the limelight.

Federer and Nadal have denied the likes of Djokovic the chance to win majors in the past

Djokovic is the best player in the world but will only be satisfied when his majors collection is significantly added to.

As for Nadal, he wasn't at his best in the Wimbledon final but he still has a lot to be proud of.

For a so-called "clay-court specialist", he has done remarkably well to reach five finals at Wimbledon and has proved himself to be a great player on all surfaces.

He was undoubtedly hindered in the final by a hairline fracture in his left foot, although it is a measure of the man that he did not use that as an excuse.

Nadal will reportedly miss six weeks with a fracture of his left foot

Nadal is now likely to be out of action for six weeks so it is remarkable he managed to produce some of his best tennis against Andy Murray and still managed to take a set in the final.

Nadal would never blame injury for a defeat and Djokovic played sublimely, but you just never know what might have happened had the Spaniard been fully fit.

It is true that Djokovic beat Nadal four times this year when he was fully fit but this was a best of five sets match and it is always a monumental task to win three sets against the Spaniard.

Nadal missed out on the chance of lifting the Wimbledon trophy for a third time

If he is out for six weeks, that would mean he would go into the US Open in August without much practice on hard courts and that must be a concern for him.

He will be eager to set the record straight at Flushing Meadows by retaining his title but this injury is just an added complication.

Nadal was gracious as always after losing to Djokovic but inside he will be angry to have lost his Wimbledon title and will want to send out a clear message as soon as possible.

Nadal applauded Djokovic as he lifted the trophy

He will leave a great legacy whatever happens, with a record of 10 wins and three losses from Grand Slam finals, six titles at the French Open, five finals at Wimbledon, victories on the hard courts of New York and Melbourne and as one of only two players to win the Career Golden Slam (winning the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, the US Open and Olympics Gold), but he is still hungry for more successes and do not be surprised to see him firing at his best again soon.

Now the monopoly of Nadal and Federer has been broken, it should lead to majors being shared out more in future.

Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Andy Murray, Juan Martin Del Potro and others are all realistic possibilities to win Grand Slams now, with men's tennis in possibly the strongest shape it has ever been in.

Britain's sole hope, Murray, will be desperately hoping for a dip in form from the likes of Djokovic and Nadal but Djokovic's emergence as the world's best player should give him a lot of hope.

Murray and Djokovic have always been thought to have similar ability

Murray was ahead of Djokovic not so long ago so he knows he can reach those levels providing he can overcome some of the mental issues he suffers from when pitted against the best players.

For now though, it is all about Djokovic who must be feeling pretty invincible now as the Wimbledon champion and world number one.

It is a great double for him and he will be enjoying this moment greatly, although he knows he has a lot of hard work to do to get where he wants to be and remembered as one of the greatest ever champions.

He has worked tirelessly to get himself where he is though and is not about to give this up.

Novak Djokovic is the new juggernaut in men's tennis and he is going to be extremely difficult to stop.

Kvitova takes it all in her stride to win Wimbledon

Petra Kvitova seemed to thrive on the big match atmosphere

When tennis players reach their first Grand Slam final, it is usually expected and accepted they will not produce their best form on the big occasion.

There are sure to be nerves and the uniqueness of the situation is often enough to distract even the best and most experienced of players.

But the refreshing thing about Petra Kvitova's victory over Maria Sharapova was that she didn't seem affected by the situation. If anything, it inspired her to produce some of her best tennis.

She hits the ball so powerfully - particularly with her groundstrokes - and her left-handed serve often perplexes opponents, so the Czech should be around for a long time to come.

The match against Sharapova was probably not the greatest spectacle though.

Sharapova was in her first Wimbledon final since 2004, when she won as a 17-year-old

Kvitova played excellently at times but Sharapova, despite battling hard as always, never really got going as she seemingly realised the enormity of her achievement in coming back from a career-threatening injury to the final of a Grand Slam.

Of the 19 games they played, there were eight breaks of serve and that was the story of the match.

As soon as Sharapova managed to get a breakthrough on Kvitova's serve, the Czech broke straight back so the Russian never managed to get a foothold.

Sharapova has struggled intensely with her serve since shoulder surgery three years ago and the serve can fall apart at any time.

Kvitova realised this so attacked any short or slow deliveries, at times destroying the Russian's serve.

The Czech's return was the key reason behind her victory as she never allowed Sharapova to get into a rhythm on her serve and closed the door on any opportunities the Russian might have seen.

Kvitova hit some crashing returns to ensure Sharapova couldn't settle on her serve

Kvitova sealed the first set quite comfortably and that was a continuation of what she had achieved all the way through the tournament.

She only lost two sets in the whole tournament and every set she won was comfortable, never being forced to a tie-break, with her closest winning set being 6-3 (except for the winning set of the final).

The two sets she lost came after she won the first set and can be put down to a lapse in concentration rather than anything else, as she then went on to win those final sets easily.

It would have been easy for her to realise the enormity of what she was about to achieve against Sharapova and play a poor second set but there was none of that.

She got up an early break and the players then exchanged breaks, but Kvitova was always a step ahead and always looked the favourite.

When Sharapova pulled it back to 3-3, she should have really stepped on Kvitova but the Czech's return game again reaped dividends until she served for the match at 5-4.

She must have been incredibly nervous at that point but showed no signs of feeling the pressure by surprisingly winning her service game to love.

Kvitova was delighted after sealing her success

She won the match with her first ace and that is a sign of the coolness she showed under the most intense of pressure.

Sharapova was very gracious in defeat and that is a marker of how thankful she was to be there after the injury nightmares she endured with her shoulder.

This should just be the start of her comeback into being a major player in women's tennis and, at 24, she will have plenty of opportunities to add to her collection of three Grand Slams.

As for Kvitova though, this should just be the start.

She is just 21 and reached the Wimbledon semi-final last year so all the signs are there for her to become a regular winner of Grand Slams.

Kvitova learned from the experience of losing to Serena Williams in last year's Wimbledon semi-final

Kvitova clearly loves playing on grass and she looked dangerous all tournament, although she will have to deal with the pressure of being one of the favourites in future competitions.

She can definitely still improve and it seems inevitable that she will - she will not just be a flash in the pan who only produces at Wimbledon.

As well as her great serve and the advantage she has with being a left-hander, she also has very powerful groundstrokes, a great backhand slice and the ability to move her opponent around the court so she really does seem to have everything.

Kvitova follows in the footsteps of two of her heroes and compatriots, Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotna, in becoming a Grand Slam champion and you sense this is just the beginning for her.

Navratilova and Novotna were both there to see their fellow Czech triumph

She should now go from strength to strength as this win should give her so much confidence as she has won the most important and prestigious tennis tournament in the world.

It will be hard for her to win future major championships, with the women's game also boasting talents like the Williams sisters, Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka, Sabine Lisicki, Sharapova, Li Na, Caroline Wozniacki and Vera Zvonoreva, but Kvitova appears to be leading the charge.

She destroyed favourite Sharapova in the final of Wimbledon and appeared nerveless so she certainly has the right temperament to go all the way in the game.

Kvitova is very unassuming and seemingly doesn't realise just how good she is, but she is excellent and has the perfect all-round game to challenge anybody.

She also doesn't realise the enormity of what she has achieved just yet but when it does sink in, she will be very proud and hungry for more successes.

This Czech left-hander could win multiple Grand Slams. Now where have we heard that before?

Murray's dream dies but he will have his day

Rafael Nadal consoles Andy Murray after his four set victory

So that's it. Andy Murray's Wimbledon dream will have to wait another year after he was treated a very harsh lesson in ball striking by the peerless Rafael Nadal.

It all started well for Murray, winning the opening set and making inroads on Nadal's serve early in the second, but once the Spaniard got a foothold in the match there was simply no stopping him. The man is a machine.

Murray knew he had to be aggressive and start the match in great form, and did just that by winning the opening set.

He was actually out-hitting Nadal for that first set, but it was always going to be difficult to maintain that standard and once Nadal truly found his feet, the errors started to come from Murray's racquet.

Murray made a lot of uncharacteristic errors in the match from that first set onwards and that was largely due to the pressure Nadal was putting on him.

The key moment in the match came early in the second set, when Murray missed an easy forehand which would have given him two break points, with the miss seemingly shattering Murray's confidence and from then on he wasn't in the match.

Murray's game was clearly affected by the miss

Nadal was reinvigorated by the miss, as it gave him the belief no point was lost until the final shot was played.

Murray's serve then abandoned him - after he had served excellently for a set and a half - and Nadal simply closed the door on his chances.

Undoubtedly, the Spaniard beat him by playing excellent tennis but it was also Murray's mental state which cost him.

Against the likes of Nadal, you need to be switched on for every point and forget about the last point immediately, but Murray was clearly affected by the miss and never truly recovered.

Nadal's game reached another level after losing the first set

You could sense Nadal closing the door and the fact he made just seven unforced errors in the match tells its own story. Murray made 39 unforced errors in the match due to the high-risk strategy he took, but perhaps he went for his shots a little too much this time.

Last year he was too passive, this year he was too aggressive. As difficult as it may seem, he needs to strike a good balance to stand any chance of taking three sets from Nadal in this form.

Nadal simply refused to miss and played some stunning forehands to leave Murray running all over the court and losing energy in the process.

It must be so exhausting to play Nadal, both physically and mentally, as on one hand you have to work hard for every point with lots of running and on the other hand you know you are going to have to pull off a stunning shot for every point you win.

He is simply relentless and he gets balls back which no other player could, always forcing his opponent to play an extra shot to truly earn every point.

Nadal's serve is not always a potent weapon but he used it to great effect against Murray, rarely giving him a look-in on his serve.

Nadal's variation made it very difficult for Murray to get back in the match

Every shot Nadal played seemed to be with great accuracy and stunning power, so even if Murray had kept up his form from the first set it would still have been a monumental task for him to win. Nadal is simply too good with his variations between hitting the ball with ferocity and spinning the ball, as well as his consistency in never missing a shot.

It must be soul-destroying playing Nadal and he is now well on the way to becoming one of the best players in history, already with 10 Grand Slam titles to his name and now with a fantastic opportunity for number 11.

Murray ended up missing balls he never would under normal circumstances and that was largely because he knew who was on the other side of the net. A man who simply doesn't miss.

You have to play out of your skin just to take a set off him and Murray did that, but inevitably he couldn't keep that standard up.

But we mustn't go overboard in criticising Murray.

Every era in tennis is difficult, but this one contains possibly the two best players of all-time and another amazing player in Novak Djokovic.

Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer have won 28 Grand Slam titles between them

Murray is extremely unlucky to be around at the same time Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Djokovic are at their peak as he simply isn't as good as them. But then again, who in history was better than them?

Murray is the best British player in a long, long time - possibly since Fred Perry - and everyone should rally behind him as Britain has not been as close as this to having a Grand Slam winner since Perry won Wimbledon and the US Open in 1936.

Andy Murray is not a failure. He is not a terrible tennis player. He just has three world-class players who are better than him.

We should be grateful to have him as without Murray, what other British interest would there be? None.

People should stop looking for the first excuse to knock him down because if he keeps going the way he is going, one day he will win a Grand Slam and the critics will be shut up once and for all.

Murray knows he is under pressure to deliver a Grand Slam soon

He is unlucky he keeps coming up against legends of the game on the top of their form in major championships, but there is bound to be a Grand Slam in the not too distant future where those legends are not on the top of their form. That will be Murray's big chance.

He can still be proud of another great effort at Wimbledon this year - reaching the semi-final for the third year in a row - and he knows he is closer now than he ever has been.

Murray will naturally be very disappointed he has missed out again, but there are a number of factors which should console him.

The first is that it was Nadal who beat him, not some journeyman way down the rankings but a true legend of the game.

The second is that he was closer to beating the Spaniard than last year, employing a better gameplan and winning a set this time.

The third is that grass is not his favourite surface and his best chance of winning a Grand Slam will come on the hard courts of America and Australia.

It must be remembered that tennis is not just about Wimbledon - although it seems to be to some in this country - and Murray's achievements in reaching three Grand Slam finals elsewhere should not be overlooked.

Murray has reached the Australian Open final twice and US Open final once

Winning a major must not become an obsession as if things are allowed to take their natural course then Murray should be a certainty to win a major in the future.

He is a great player - a fantastic player - and as long as he keeps working hard and chipping away, his day of destiny will eventually come.

Nadal knows all about Murray's quality as the Scotsman has beaten him twice in Grand Slams, and Nadal's respect for him shows Murray is certainly on the right track.

Having said that, Nadal has the utmost respect for every opponent - he is a great and gracious sportsman - and is good friends with Murray, but you sense his respect is echoed by most other tour players. They all know how good Murray is and that it should be just a matter of time before he wins a Grand Slam.

The hard facts are that Murray has lost another semi-final but he was certainly not disgraced and was simply beaten by the better player.

It is an extremely difficult task to win a Grand Slam but Murray has been close to it on many occasions and will be again.

Doubts will always remain until he wins a Grand Slam but one day he will do it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Novak Djokovic could not hide his delight at reaching his first Wimbledon final

Nadal will play Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final in a battle between the number one and two players in the world.

They are undoubtedly the best two players on the planet at the moment and whatever the result, Djokovic will replace Nadal at the top of the rankings due to his excellent form this year which has seen him lose just one match.

Djokovic reached his first Wimbledon final with an emotional victory against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Tsonga produced nowhere near the level of performance which saw him beat Roger Federer in the last round but he posed considerable problems for the Serbian, who had to produce some of his best tennis to prevail.

Djokovic returned brilliantly to truly flatten Tsonga, whose serve had been the key reason he made it to the semi-finals.

Like Nadal, Djokovic never admits defeat in a rally until the final shot is played and Tsonga had no answer at times to his brilliance.

Tsonga could only produce flashes of the form which saw him beat Federer

It seemed that the five-set win over Federer had taken too much energy out of the Frenchman and he lacked the intensity needed to give him a chance, with a number of errors seeing the match drift away from him.

In the third set though, nerves got the better of Djokovic and that allowed Tsonga back in.

The Serbian had been a break up but seemingly started to feel the pressure of reaching his first Wimbledon final and taking the number one ranking. He started bouncing the ball before serving a lot more and made some sloppy errors, handing Tsonga a route back into the match.

That's when both men fell apart.

At 5-5, Djokovic broke Tsonga to give him a chance of serving for the match, only for Tsonga to break straight back and force a tie-break.

Djokovic battled hard in the tie-break but Tsonga saved two match points and won it to force a fourth set.

However, the Serbian never seemed in any real danger of losing the match and broke early in the fourth before serving the set out excellently, 6-3, to take the match and a place in the final.

There is so much to like about Djokovic but one thing to dislike about him is his support group.

They have to be the most annoying in tennis as they take their support for Djokovic much too far.

Djokovic's family have often been accused of taking their support for him too far

They are his family, of course, and must encourage him throughout, but the way they jump up after every point in unison just gets a tad tedious at times.

They have upset opposition players in the past by calling out during rallies and it is easy to see why some players dislike them as they seemingly show disrespect to opponents.

This should be all about Djokovic but his family make it seem all about them, as they proved in their celebrations at the end of this match where they celebrated together without even looking up at Djokovic.

They were celebrating as though he had already won the tournament but there is still an extremely difficult match to come against the best of them all.

Rafael Nadal will be replaced as number one by Djokovic on Monday whatever the result but the number one ranking will mean very little to the Serbian if he does not win the Wimbledon final.

Nadal beat Djokovic in last year's US Open final

Most tennis fans will see the winner of this match as the real number one and that adds a little extra incentive to both players.

Nadal will want to prove that he is still the best player while Djokovic will want to show everyone just why he is at the top of the rankings and it should be a classic game.

Both have come into form at just the right time at these championships and it should be a match of the highest quality.

Nadal has not lost at Wimbledon since 2007 though so it is going to be a monumental task for Djokovic.

It will be a hard-fought match but Nadal should win, in four or possibly five sets.