Now that the dust has settled on Wimbledon 2019, it's time to look back at some of the biggest storylines on the women's side from the past fortnight in London.
Serena Stalled
Serena Williams hasn't been able to get over the hump and tie Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam titles, as she's in the midst of what is now a career-worst 10-slam drought without winning one. She didn't play the first four tournaments in this drought after giving birth, but Williams is now 0-3 in finals over the subsequent six after falling 6-2, 6-2 to Simona Halep here. You'd figure that a great champion like Serena wouldn't have a hard time winning big matches, but she hasn't brought anything resembling her best tennis to any of these three finals. She put the blame on a lack of match play in her post-match presser and said she'll look to slightly expand her ultra-light schedule. At age 37, Williams likely knows her best opportunity to tie Court could well come at the US Open.
Hooray for Halep
Halep captured her second career Grand Slam title here at Wimbledon, but it feels like more of an opportunistic win than a dominant performance even though she only dropped one set. The Romanian is no stranger to deep Grand Slam runs -- she's reached at least the semis at all four slams -- but her defensive style means the top players she runs into late in the draw have higher ceilings. It wouldn't be surprising to see Halep take home a few more major titles in her career, but she's unlikely to string them together.
America's Bright Future
American tennis has seen plenty of recent success with the Williams sisters and Sloane Stephens all among active Grand Slam champions, and the future looks just as bright. Amanda Anisimova was seeded here at just 17 years of age, and Coco Gauff dazzled with a run to the fourth round at 15. This pair of junior Grand Slam champions will likely earn plenty of hardware at the senior level as well, pushing each other to get better in the process. Both young ladies could be major factors with the crowd behind them at the US Open.
Race for No. 1
Ashleigh Barty was upset in the fourth round by American grass-court specialist Alison Riske, but the Aussie hangs on to the No. 1 ranking courtesy of Naomi Osaka's first-round exit. Karolina Pliskova is hot on their heels as well, and Halep is now closer to Barty than fifth-ranked Kiki Bertens -- just 672 ranking points separate No. 1 from No. 4. Osaka is the best hard-court player of the bunch, and she'll be excited to get back on her favorite surface after the clay and grass exposed her pedestrian movement, but she'll need to make her move before the US Open since she can't gain any points there as the defending champ.
The Konta Conundrum
Johanna Konta's run to the quarterfinals here perfectly encapsulated both her positives and negatives. The talented Brit has put together a string of strong results recently, and that trend continued here with quality victories over Sloane Stephens and Petra Kvitova. Konta also has a history of wilting in big moments, however, and she did just that in a straight-sets quarterfinal loss to unseeded Barbora Strycova. Quality players who see Konta in their section should be rightfully concerned, but she can't be considered a true Grand Slam title contender until she conquers her late-tournament yips.
