Roger Federer won his 17th career Grand Slam title by beating Andy Murray at Wimbledon. (Erick W. Rasco/SI)

After the ATP Finals, we debated the best matches of 2012. Now, The Toss returns this week with another look back at the season as New York Times tennis blogger Ben Rothenberg joins the discussion.

[2012 IN REVIEW: Report Card | Surprises | Meltdowns | Shots]

Today’s Toss: Relative to each other, how did the four Grand Slam tournaments rank this year, taking into consideration the overall experience of each and the the storylines they generated?

Courtney Nguyen: If you’ve been reading BTB this week, you know that we are in full year-end review mode. I have quite enjoyed the offseason — you know, that blink of an offseason — to get out of the weeds and take a more holistic look at the year that was. What the heck happened over the last 11 months, Ben?

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You’ve come home from school one day only to find your house has been repainted, the locks have been changed, the furniture replaced and, no, those aren’t your parents, those are hired actors. But don’t worry, we’ve given them a dossier on your parents so you won’t notice the difference at all.

Basically, it doesn’t feel like home. You are now a stranger in a strangely familiar land.

That scenario isn’t all unlike what happened to players, press and fans who revisited the All England Club to take in some Olympic tennis this year. The more relaxed atmosphere called back memories of “People’s Monday,” where the wealthy ticket-holders who can dominate the Wimbledon crowd were replaced by young, rowdy tennis fans who would rather use their vocal chords than their hands to show their support. Instead of the All England Club, which has had 126 years of tournament organizing, the tournament was under the direction of the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG).

The result was a bizarro Wimbledon, with an electric atmosphere that seemed to encourage the players to let loose and rock their irreverent side. And for better or worse, LOCOG was pretty darn irreverent too, though not intentionally.

Here are a few of the wackier moments from the Olympics that served to remind us not to be fooled by that greenish grass. This was certainly no Wimbledon.

The Royal Wave

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge do the wave on No. 1 Court. (Reuters)

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1. Olympic preparations: Less than 24 hours had passed since Roger Federer held the Gentlemen’s Champions trophy over his head before the dizzying preparations for the Olympics began at the All England Club (the mauve London 2012 signage already adorned the outer courts). While the signage and the colored kits have been the talk of the town in the lead-up, I’m more concerned about the surface. Are we going to have to stare at the eyesore of those dirt patches at the baseline of Centre Court for 10 more days, or will the best grounds crew in the business be able to get the courts back to the pristine lush green that marked the first day of Wimbledon three weeks ago?

Much science and experimentation has gone into this process as the grounds crew, headed up Eddie Seaward, tries to strip down and regrow grass on 10 courts, including Centre Court, No. 1 Court, and No. 2 Court. The process will go (is going) like this: pregerminated seed will be laid down on those parts of the court that have been made bare, while the remainder of the courts that still have grass will rejuvenate on their own during the 20-day break. With proper care and a little cooperation from that fickle British weather (I know, don’t laugh), the workers sound confident they’ll be able to unveil some beautiful courts when the tennis competition begins on July 28.

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Pete Sampras went 7 for 7 in Wimbledon finals, winning the titles from 1993-95 and 1997-2000. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

STANFORD, Calif. — What was turning out to be a nice competitive affair between two legends ended when Pete Sampras was forced to retire with a calf injury to Michael Chang on Wednesday night in a legends exhibition at the Bank of the West Classic. And we all have Marion Bartoli to blame.

Bartoli, a champion here in 2009, saw a dream fulfilled earlier in the afternoon when she got the call to help warm up Sampras in advance of his match. Giddy like a schoolgirl, Bartoli stepped up to the challenge, showing off her flat power on Stanford’s quick courts, much to the amusement and bewilderment of Sampras.

“I’ve dreamed of this since I was 6 years old,” Bartoli said, laughing, never hiding her idol worship.

And, to her credit, she left a lasting mark on Sampras.

“Tell her it’s her fault,” Sampras said with a laugh after the match as he spoke to reporters with his left calf iced and elevated from the locker room. “Make her feel really bad. She was grinding and hitting the balls really hard and I had just got off the plane.

“The hit was a little too much for me, that’s probably why I hurt my calf. So you can write that Marion was the reason why.

“No, don’t,” he laughed. “It’ll crush her.”

He’s probably right.

Despite the injury, which has forced him out of any further exhibition matches at the Bank of the West (he was scheduled to play Jim Courier on Thursday), Sampras was in good spirits and happy to talk about the two newly minted Wimbledon champions, Roger Federer and Serena Williams. Sampras, who now shares the record of seven Wimbledon titles with Federer, says he watched the last two sets of the men’s final and wasn’t all too surprised by what he saw.

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The Daily Bagel is your dose of the interesting reporting, writing and quipping from around the Internet.

• VIDEO: Best and worst shots from Wimbledon 2012. I missed that cheeky Juan Monaco shot.

• ESPN takes an in-depth look at the team that has sculpted Novak Djokovic, focusing specifically on Dr. Igor Cetojevic, the doctor who diagnosed Djokovic through a TV screen and helps him remain fit in body and mind:

Cetojevic continued to help Djokovic with the mental parts of his game through daily exercises ranging from the traditional to the obscure: emotional counseling, color therapy, meditation, visualization. Cetojevic provided Djokovic with reading material, asking him to regularly read through The Four Agreements, a book by a New Age spiritualist about looking inward to attain happiness and peace. Cetojevic thought the book would resonate with Djokovic in his rivalries with Federer and Nadal. “He was focusing on their strength and power and losing his center,” Cetojevic says. “I helped him focus on his inner strength.”

• Nice story here on 1962 Wimbledon champion Karen Hantze Susman. They’ve come a long way, baby.

• What about those brown patches of dirt that made the Centre Court baseline look like a grazed field? John McEnroe’s observations as to how the slick grass affects Rafael Nadal’s game is interesting:

Of the eight five-set matches he has played at Wimbledon, five have come within the first week, when the grass is softer. Without solid footing, Nadal cannot generate as much racket speed to lash his ground strokes, which hindered him during a second-round loss to Lukas Rosol.

• Here’s what Caroline Wozniacki will be wearing during the summer hard-court season.

• Serena Williams will be executive producing and voicing something called “WimbleToad.“

• The International Tennis Hall of Fame has changed course and decided to investigate the allegations of sexual abuse against HOFer Bob-Hewitt.

• Doug Robson reported that the WTA is looking into a “grunt-o-meter.” Said Victoria Azarenka: “Good luck with that.”

• Andy Roddick talks the Williamses. Spoiler alert: He’s not shocked by what they can still do.

• Why does Evian want to align itself with tennis? Elegance and prestige.

• Non-tennis: Burning up from the heat? Eat and drink hot and spicy foods.

The Daily Bagel is your dose of the interesting reporting, writing and quipping from around the Internet.

Here’s my attempt to catch up on two weeks of non-Bageling. Did you read something you loved during the fortnight? Send me an email.

• VIDEO: Jimmy Fallon does his best Roger Federer impression. It’s not as good as PseudoFed, but it gets some giggles.

• If you missed S.L. Price’s pieces on Serena Williams both before and after the final, take the time to read them. And have some tissue on hand.

• Doug Robson chats with Serena Williams in Stanford, 36 hours after her Wimbledon victory.

• Andy Murray writes for BBC after his Wimbledon loss.

The disappointment will linger for as long as it needs to, it’s not a process I’ll rush. Sometimes getting back on the court quickly might work, but it can also have completely the opposite effect. I have to take the right amount of time off, let my body and mind fully recover.

• Congratulations, Roger! Here is a fish! While you were playing tennis I was healing my body to try and stop you at the Olympics in a few weeks. Vamos!

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By C.W. Sesno, SI.com

Venus Williams (right) lost in the first round of Wimbledon, but won the doubles title with sister Serena. (Landov)

Wimbledon doubles champion Venus Williams went on CBS This Morning on Tuesday to talk about Wimbledon, grunting, her diagnosis and battle against Sjogren’s syndrome and her rivalry with sister Serena. You can watch the interview here, and some excerpts are highlighted below.

On Serena winning singles and doubles:

“We’ve done that a handful of times, you know? It’s such an honor to be in the singles final. And to be in the doubles finals, it’s like, wow. I can’t believe we’re in both finals. So we wanted to kind of sweep.”

Who would win, Serena or Venus?

“I’d have to say me, but she’d have to say her and then there’s going to be a big feud and the friendly sisterhood would be over. But we both believe in each other so much and at the same time, we have so much self belief and I guess the match would just go on and on. It wouldn’t end.”

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By C.W. Sesno, SI.com

Roger Federer and Andy Murray both hit milestones at Wimbledon. (Zumapress)

From the winners right on down to the flameouts, here are some stats and figures from Wimbledon 2012.

7: Wimbledon titles for Roger Federer. In the Open Era, only Pete Sampras has as many titles at the All England Club.

286: Weeks Federer has now spent as the ATP’s No. 1, again matching Sampras’ mark.

484,805: Total attendance at the 126th Championships.

76: Years since the last British men’s singles champion at Wimbledon. Fred Perry won in 1936.

76: Years since the last British men’s doubles champion at Wimbledon before Jonathan Marray snapped the drought. Pat Hughes and Raymond Tuckey won in 1936.

102: Aces from Serena Williams throughout the tournament, the most of any player, male or female.

3: Women’s winners not named Williams since older sis Venus won Wimbledon in 2000.

17: Grand Slam titles for Federer, a men’s Open Era best.

1: Active players to have a winning record over Federer: Rafael Nadal. Andy Murray led the head-to-head 8-7, but Federer got even.

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Roger Federer and Serena Williams proved why they can never be ruled out with historic Wimbledon wins. (Getty Images)

WIMBLEDON, England — It was an eventful Championships here at the All England Club. There were upsets aplenty mixed in with racket smashing and history. Now that we’ve had a few hours to soak in everything we just saw, let’s take stock by dishing out some grades.

Serena Williams: A-plus. This was the tournament that Serena needed. She did not waltz to the title, nor did her opponents bow at her very presence and intimidation. No, much as her comeback from injury and near-death illness has required, Serena had to work. Her sense of vulnerability — both on and off the court — was apparent and all credit to the WTA field for sensing it. Zheng Jie pushed Serena to 9-7 in the third set, Yaroslava Shvedova took her to 7-5 in the third, and Agnieszka Radwanska bounced back from almost getting bageled in the first set to make Serena start doubting. And that’s when Serena said enough and remembered who she was. Four aces in a 49-second game that completely changed the match. And with that, through all the struggle and turmoil, Serena Williams was back.

Roger Federer: A-plus. Federer made his triumphant return to No. 1 by putting on a God-like display of tennis in the final. In doing so, he put a cap on what has been a superb 10 months of tennis, where he’s proven that at his best, he’s still the best the game has ever seen. This wasn’t a case of an old, decrepit 30-year old throwing in one last hurrah and crossing the finish line, giving the public one last chance to applaud him. No, that performance was proof that the greatest tennis player to ever swing a racket still has magic in him and we can (and should) expect even more.

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All eyes will be on Andy Murray as he looks to snap Great Britain’s 76-year title drought at Wimbledon.

WIMBLEDON, England —  Brits can’t win and Roger Federer is over the hill. These are the narratives in play on Sunday as Andy Murray seeks to finally — or “FINALLY!!!“, as almost all the British newspaper headlines read today — break the 76-year drought for British men at Slams, at Wimbledon no less. And Roger Federer seeks his seventh Wimbledon title and a return to the No. 1 spot for the first time in more than two years. So much history is on the line as these two men contest the final of the 126th Championships that the pressure is enough to make the famed Centre Court roof collapse.

The story — at least as it feels from SW19 — is Andy Murray. Despite the fact that Murray is a huge underdog in this match — he hasn’t won a set in his only three Slam finals and is going up against a man who’s won the title six times, one of if not the greatest player on grass — the hopes and expectations weigh heavily on his shoulders. Because of that what if. What if Murray could do the unthinkable and take down Federer to notch his first career Slam title? What if Murray can transform Fred Perry from a ghost reminding the All England Club of 76 years of futility into a a tennis legend to be celebrated as he should be?

Standing in Murray’s way is a rejuvenated Federer, who ousted the defending champion and world No. 1 in the semifinals, beating Novak Djokovic with surprising ease. That win means Federer can recapture No. 1 with the title and tie Pete Sampras and William Renshaw for the most all-time Wimbledon titles with seven. Returning to the No. 1 ranking would also set him even with Pete Sampras for total number of weeks at No. 1 and he’ll be the second oldest man to hold the top spot (trailing only to Andre Agassi, who accomplished the feat at 33).

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