Victories by No. 1 Serena Williams and No. 2 Andy Murray meant it was the top names who eventually triumphed at Wimbledon. But the tournament also had its share of Cinderella runs, starting with the unlikely story of a teaching pro who decided to take another shot at the big time. Here are the top five surprise performances from this year's tournament.
1. Marcus Willis
The buildup had begun days before, with word that a part-time coach from Britain had come through prequalifying to get a shot at playing the world's biggest tournament. Interest increased as Willis then proceeded to qualify for the main draw -- even Roger Federer started paying attention. By the time he defeated Ricardas Berankis in the first round for a seventh successive victory, there was practically a frenzy.
His story was told again and again. The 26-year-old, who was ranked No. 772 and drank soda and ate candy bars during matches, had almost quit the game. He decided to come back and then almost quit again before his girlfriend persuaded him to take another shot. Most weeks he was either giving lessons at a local court or traipsing around Europe competing in league tennis. Now he was facing Federer on Centre Court of the All England Club, a packed crowd cheering as he hit a couple of spectacular winners during an entertaining encounter. "Not my standard Wednesday," Willis said after his 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 loss.
2. Dominika Cibulkova
Cibulkova had such a low opinion of her grass-court skills that she scheduled her wedding on the day of the Wimbledon women's final. Just one potential problem: She's actually not so bad on the grass.
Starting with a title at the warm-up event at Eastbourne, Cibulkova won nine straight matches on grass, putting her wedding plans in disarray. Her fourth-round victory against Agnieszka Radwanska was one of the finest of the tournament -- a three-setter Cibulkova called "an amazing, amazing match" and the most physically tough contest of her career. But the Slovak's run was stopped in the quarterfinals by Elena Vesnina, giving her plenty of time to get to the church.
It was a good showing for the small, but powerful Cibulkova. A former finalist at the Australian Open, she had heel surgery a year ago and has run into some tough draws this season. With her ranking back up to No. 12, she will now get the benefit of being seeded at tournaments.
It's probably good she didn't book a honeymoon. Cibulkova is scheduled to play in next week's WTA event at Stanford.
3. Elena Vesnina
Vesnina's wedding planning was better than Cibulkova's -- "I did it in the offseason," she said -- which meant no scheduling concerns for the Russian as she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal.
Though she wasn't much of a match for Serena Williams in the semis, it was still a long way from the qualifying events she had been playing just a couple of months ago.
"I was playing all tournaments starting from qualifications," she said. "It was not easy, to be honest, because I was in top 30, then I was like No. 120."
"I'm really happy that it didn't break me up. I think the difficult times, every single player has to go through it because it makes you better."
Vesnina is now back up to No. 24 in the rankings and within reach of her career-high of No. 21 from 2013.
4. Venus Williams
Reaching the Wimbledon semifinals wouldn't normally be a big deal for a five-time champion. But at 36, and with just one win this season over a player currently in the top 50 prior to Wimbledon, it was a big deal for Williams.
Losing to Angelique Kerber in the semifinals prevented Venus from another dream Wimbledon final against her sister, but the older Williams did come away with a trophy as she combined with Serena to win the women's doubles.
Along the way, Venus cemented her position as the elder stateswoman of the game. And she's not done yet.
"Retiring is the easy way," she said. "I don't have time for easy. Tennis is just hard."
5. Sam Querrey
Not even Querrey suspected he would beat Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon. Until he won the first-set tiebreak, anyway. Then he told himself, "All right, I can beat this guy."
It took another day and several rain delays, but that's what he did, producing some big hitting and clutch serving to win in four sets. The 28-year-old American then won his fourth-round match against Nicolas Mahut to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
It may have been the biggest surprise of the tournament, and while it didn't get him any silverware, Querrey was the first player in over a year who could say he defeated Djokovic in a Grand Slam.