This page covers all the important events in the sport of tennis in 2012. Primarily, it provides the results of notable tournaments throughout the year on both the ATP and WTA Tours, the Davis Cup, and the Fed Cup.
Important Events
January
The Czech Republic has won the Hyundai Hopman Cup for the second time with top seeds Petra Kvitová and Tomáš Berdych going right through the week unbeaten in singles ending with straight-set singles victories in the final inside the Burswood Dome, Perth on January 7 against France's Marion Bartoli and Richard Gasquet. The mixed-doubles match was not played because the championship was decided in singles. Andy Murray began the season by playing in the Brisbane International making his debut appearance at the tournament as the top seed in singles and also winning the title against Alexandr Dolgopolov in the final. Estonian tennis player Kaia Kanepi won the Brisbane International by defeating Daniela Hantuchová in the final.
Milos Raonic wins Aircel Chennai Open in Chennai, India, overcomes Janko Tipsarević in the final. Raonic did not drop serve during the tournament, becoming the first player to do so since Roger Federer at the 2008 Gerry Weber Open. Zheng Jie began the season by winning the ASB Classic over Flavia Pennetta as she retired due to injury. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, began his 2012 season at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, as the #3 seed of the tournament. After Roger Federer announced an unexpected withdrawal from the tournament due to a back problem, Tsonga had a walkover to the final where he defeated Gaël Monfils to become the champion of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. Finland's best player ever, Jarkko Nieminen won the Apia International Sydney against Julien Benneteau Victoria Azarenka won her first tournament of the year by winning Apia International Sydney defeating the defending champion Li Na. David Ferrer won his first tournament of 2012 in Auckland, New Zealand at the Heineken Open over Olivier Rochus. Mona Barthel achieved her highest singles ranking of world no. 44 in singles on 16 January 2012 by defeating top seed Yanina Wickmayer in the final of Moorilla Hobart International claiming her first WTA Tour title. With this win, Mona became the first qualifier since September 2010 to win a WTA tournament. Victoria Azarenka has claimed her first Grand Slam title, becoming the first Belarusian player to win a Grand Slam in singles, by defeating Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open final and over took Caroline Wozniacki as the number one ranked player on the WTA Tour.
For the first time of his career, Novak Djokovic will enter the season as reigning World No. 1. Novak Djokovic was the defending champion and retain the Australian Open title by winning in the final against Rafael Nadal. It was the longest match in the history of the Australian Open, and in fact, the longest ever final in Grand Slam history; clocked at 5 hours and 53 minutes. It marked the 5th Grand Slam of his career and his 3rd Australian Open. It also marked the first time that he had defended a Grand Slam title. After winning the 2012 Australian Open, Djokovic is on the edge of history, as is having an opportunity to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slams at the same time (chances of completing a Golden Slam this year.), after winning the previous two in 2011. Nadal went on to become the first player to lose three Grand Slam finals in a row in the Open Era. Leander Paes completed a Career Grand Slam while Radek Štěpánek won his first ever Slam after winning the Australian Open in Men's Doubles. The unseeded Russian pair Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva defeated the all Italian pair of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in Australian Open in Women's Doubles. Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Horia Tecău won the Australian Open in Mixed Doubles tournament by defeating Elena Vesnina and Leander Paes. Mattek-Sands was the only American, man or woman, to win a title at the Australian Open. World number one wheel chair tennis player, Esther Vergeer defended her title against Aniek van Koot in the final of Australian Open in Wheelchair women's singles.
February In the first round of Davis Cup, Spain and the United States won all five matches against their respective opponents, Kazakhstan and Switzerland. France def. Canada, the Czech Republic def. Italy, and Argentina def. Germany by 4–1. Austria and Croatia won 3–2 against Russia and Japan, respectively. During the week of February 13, Roger Federer defeated Juan Martín del Potro to win the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, a 500 event on the ATP World Tour held in Rotterdam, Netherlands. After his defeat in Rotterdam, del Potro played the next week in Marseille, France, winning his 1st title of the year. The Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Memphis International, took place from February 17 to February 26. The Regions Morgan Keegan Championships was an ATP World Tour 500 series event, and the Memphis International was a WTA Tour International event. In the final, Jürgen Melzer defeated Milos Raonic, 7–5, 7–6(4). The 2012 Dubai Tennis Championships, an ATP World Tour 500 series event and WTA Tour Premier event, was held over two weeks in the United Arab Emirates. The women's event, took place between February 20 to February 25, and was won by 5th seed Agnieszka Radwańska, after she defeated Julia Görges in the final. The men's event, took place a week later, from February 27 to March 3, 2012. Roger Federer, seeded second, defeated Andy Murray, 7–5, 6–2, to take home his fifth Dubai title. Murray defeated ATP world No.1 and three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. During the week of February 27, the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, also an ATP World Tour 500 event and a WTA International event was held in Acapulco, Mexico. David Ferrer, who was ranked 5th but seeded 1st at the event, won the final over Fernando Verdasco, 6–1, 6–2.
March The BNP Paribas Open, the first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event and WTA Premier Mandatory event of the year, took place in Indian Wells, United States from March 5 to March 12. The men's singles event was won by Roger Federer who defeated John Isner, 7–6(7), 6–3.Defending champion Novak Djokovic lost in the semifinals to Isner. The women's singles event was won by Victoria Azarenka who defeated Maria Sharapova, 6–2, 6–3. From March 21 to March 26, the second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event and WTA Premier Mandatory event took place in Miami, United States. The men's singles title was won by defending champion Novak Djokovic who defeated Andy Murray, 6–1, 7–6(4).
April
May
June
On June 30, Andy Murray beat Marcos Baghdatis in four-sets, setting the then record for the latest finish at Wimbeldon of 23:02 BST. While, Yaroslava Shvedova became the first player to achieve a golden set in a Grand Slam tournament.
July
By beating Angelique Kerber, Agnieszka Radwańska became the first Pole to reach a Grand Slam singles final in the Open Era.However, she would go on to lose the final against Serena Williams, who won her fifth Wimbeldon singles title. The Williams sisters win their fifth doubles title by beating the sixth seeds, Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká. Andy Murray beat Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in the semifinals to become the first Brit to reach the Wimbeldon finals in 74 years, where he would lose to Roger Federer, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. With his seventh singles Wimbeldon title, Federer would tie the record of single titles with Pete Sampras and William Renshaw. In the men's doubles, Jonathan Marray and Frederik Nielsen were the first wild cards to win the title. Murray was the first Brit to win the title in the Open Era, while, Nielsen was the first Dane to win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era. The first WTA Premier event of July was the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, which was held from the 9-15 July. In the final, Serena Williams defeated CoCo Vandeweghe, 7-5, 6-3. In Carlsbad, California was the Mercury Insurance Open, which was a WTA Premier level tournament held from 16-22 July. Second-seeded Dominika Cibulková defeated Marion Bartoli, 6-1, 7-5. The 106th edition of the International German Open took place from 16 to 22 July. Juan Mónaco won the ATP World Tour 500 series event by defeating Tommy Haas, 7-5, 6-4. In the second round of the 2012 Summer Olympics, Tsonga beat Milos Raonic, 6-3, 3-6, 25-23, setting the record for the longest match at the Olympics by number of games.
August
Running concurrently with 2012 Summer Olympics, the Citi Open was the seventh ATP World Tour 500 event of the year. Tommy Haas lost a second ATP final in a row after being defeated by Alexandr Dolgopolov, 7–6(9–7), 4–6, 1–6.
Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova, 6-0, 6-1, to win the gold medal achieving a career Golden Slam in singles. Serena became the first player to complete both a singles and doubles career Golden Slam. Serena and Venus Williams beat Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká, a rematch of the Wimbeldon finals, 6-4, 6-4. Thus, completing a second doubles career Golden Slam and becoming the first four-time Olympic gold medalists in tennis. Additionally, Serena became the third woman to achieve a Double Crown at the Olympics after Helen Wills and her sister, Venus.
Andy Murray blocked Roger Federer from achieving a career Golden Slam by beating him, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4, to win the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Murray was the first medal for GB in the men's singles since 1908. Del Porto achieved Argentina's first medal in the men's singles with his 2-set win over Novak Djokovic. In the men's doubles, the Bryan Brothers, Bob and Mike, achieved their career Golden Slam by defeating Michaël Llodra and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, 6–4, 7–6(7–2). The Rogers Cup, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 and WTA Premier 5 event, was held from 6-13 August. In the men's singles final, Novak Djokovic defeated Richard Gasquets 6-3, 6-2, while in the women's final, Petra Kvitová beat Li Na, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3. During the week of August 13th, Roger Federer won his record fifth Cincinnati Masters title by defeating Novak Djokovic, 6–0, 7–6(9–7). At this ATP Masters 1000 event, Federer became the first player to win a Masters event without having their serve brokem or losing a set. In the women's singles, Li Na defeated Angelique Kerber, 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, in the WTA Premier 5 event. Petra Kvitová won her second title of the month by defeating Maria Kirilenko in 2 sets at WTA Premier event, New Haven Open. August 27th marked the start of the US Open.
September
October
November
On November 12, Novak Djokovic won the singles title of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals by defeating defending champion Roger Federer 7–6(8–6), 7–5 in the final. Djokovic's win was his 6th title of the year and his 2nd win at the event having won back in 2008. On November 12, Marcel Granollers and Marc López defeated Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna 7–5, 3–6, [10–3] in the final of the doubles draw of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. On November 18, the Czech Republic became champions of the 2012 Davis Cup World Group after defeating Spain 3–2 in the final held at the O2 Arena in Prague from the 16th to the 18th of November. The Davis Cup title was the Czech Republic's first as an independent nation.
December
The entire year