Wimbledon diary: time for a lie down…
Originally published on: 04/07/10 23:04
Eight – and counting
With his convincing straight-sets victory today over Tomas Berdych in the final, Rafael Nadal takes his place alongside Andre Agassi, Ivan Lendl, Fred Perry, Jimmy Connors and Ken Rosewall with a total of eight Grand Slam titles – and he’s still only 24 years old.
If his body holds out, there’s a good chance he will push his way further up that leaderboard and possibly challenge Roger Federer’s trophy haul, which currently stands at 16 Major titles. The man from Mallorca, who unusually had his girlfriend courtside today and performed a great head over heels winning celebration, sometimes surprises but rarely fails to deliver when the chips are down. He’s now won 8 out of 10 Grand Slam final appearances.
We won something! (The odds were good, mind…)
Not that we want Britain to be a nation of doubles players, but the four British players in the boys doubles offered spectators on No.1 Court a small insight into who’s coming through the ranks.
17 year old Bolton boy and British No.2 George Morgan teamed up with 18-year-old Lewis Burton to take on British No.9 Liam Broady and British No. 6 Tom Farquharson, with Broady and Farquharson winning 7-6 6-4 to become the first British junior doubles champs at Wimbledon since 1995.
Girls in cars don’t do it for you then?
As much as has been written about the state of British tennis has been written about the state of Australian tennis, so there was a glimmer of hope for future talent down under. 17-year-old Aussie Benjamin Mitchell faced No.13 seed Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics in the Boys Singles.
Hailing from the unpronounceable Nyiregyhala (answers on a postcard), 18-year-old Fucsovics lists his hobbies in the ITF Junior Circuit handbook as ‘girls, riding motorbikes’. No messing.
His tennis is not bad either. He overcame the Aussie 6-4 6-4. Watch this space.
Spice Girls and an extraordinary woman
Admittedly, the Ladies Invitational doubles usually passes us but this year it has been on the radar thanks to appearance of Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova, so it seems only fair to follow through.
Today it was the turn of Tracy Austin and Kathy Rinaldi-Stunkel to face Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotna. Navratilova added another title to her extraordinary list as she and Novotna won 7-5 6-0.
Rafa’s quick, but not JB quick
Another day of choc-a-block SW19 celebs. Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button was courtside to watch the final – guess 15,000 spectators seems small change compared to 110 000 who will watch him next week at the British Grand Prix.
Unlike the two men laid bare on court today, he has the benefit of being nestled in the cockpit of his car with his protective headgear hiding his inner emotions from the TV cameras and spectators. Wonder what the odds are on a Rafa-esque roll on the track if he wins next week.
Selling like Hot Cakes
The final day’s trading for all the shops within the grounds of the All England Club was brisk. No prizes for guessing what the best selling item in the pharmacy has been this year – slip slap slop, sun lotion. What a thermometer-busting year it has been.
(Oh, and we must mention that tennishead magazine has been the best-selling rag at the newsagents of SW19 over the fortnight. If you’re one such discerning reader, we do hope you liked what you saw!)
Signing off
As we bid the SW19 pageantry farewell after a cracking fortnight even by the All England Club’s standards, we are already counting the days to the 2011 Championships. Next stop for tennishead – Flushing Meadows. Please do join us there.
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