Wimbledon 2013. Don't think many people (particularly British Citizens) will forget this one in a hurry blog readers. It had enough conversation topics to last several dinner parties until Wimbledon 2014 to be honest. From former Wimbledon Champions dropping like flies in the first week, to conspiracy theories that someone had slipped something slippery on the grass, causing Wimbledon Casualty to be at breaking point. Then there's the fact Laura Robson probably has to face the pressure of the fact a British Female has not won the Women's Wimbledon title for over 36 years, for a few years to come. To top it all the Blogathonrunner attended the tournament on the Middle Saturday and nothing sinister happened at all!
Wimbledon has been memorable for so many reasons this year. So here is my list of possible dinner party conversations partially resulting from the events of the past two weeks, and my own experiences as a Wimbledon Tennis punter.
1) Can Rafael Nadal ever be a serious contender at Wimbledon again?
Another year, another defeat in the early rounds of Wimbledon for Rafa. Credit to Rafa for not blaming his defeat on his knees or the fact he was probably undercooked practice wise on the grass, but one cannot help but feel are his crooked knees ultimately going to hamper his ability to be a serious contender at Wimbledon ever again. Who knows what the future may hold for Rafa, but you feel ultimately his focuses during the tennis year may well have to lie elsewhere on the clay. Ultimately he has nothing to prove at Wimbledon. He's a two time Wimbledon Champion and no one can ever take that away from him.
2) Can Roger Federer ever be a serious contender at Wimbledon again?
Let's get one thing straight, the fact Federer is a 7 time Wimbledon Champion and he's not ready to enter the Tennis Geriatric Retirement Home, means you can never rule out Federer at Wimbledon. One thing that is ambudantly clear during his last two defeats at Wimbledon to Stakhovsky and Tsonga, is the fact Roger does not have a plan B, C, D when he is losing to an opponent, For so long in his career his Plan A style of game ruled the world, except for Rafa on clay. He almost seems lost on a court, when Plan A goes wrong. When you are a young player, I would think it is quite easy to adjust elements of your game in order to improve and develop. When you are approaching the end of your career, do you have the will to adapt and change though? It is a question Roger will have to face up to and quite fast.
3) Is Laura Robson partially responsible for helping Murray win Wimbledon?
The British Tennis Playing Story of Wimbledon for the past ten years normally reads something like this. Ten British Players entering the draw, all but one being Wild Card entries, and then generally all but one player falls at the first hurdle of the tournament. It's now 2013 and hold on a second, a British teenager has torn through her part of the draw and actually finds herself in the fourth round of Wimbledon! As Andy and Tim for his part before him, generally have found themselves flying the flag solo well into the second week, every single column inch in the British Media generally revolved around them. 2013 and we see Laura Robson stepping up to the plate. Suddenly the British Media have something else to talk about other than Andy Murray. Does Murray mind one iota? I very much doubt it. He could focus on what really matters.
4) Boredom seems to be the biggest threat to the career of Serena Williams at the moment.
The Blogathonrunner and her friend had the pleasure of seeing Serena Williams play on the middle Saturday on Centre Court at the unsavoury Wimbledon hour of 9pm under that great piece of architecture they call the roof (back to roofs later). Interestingly both myself and my friend observed the fact that Serena seemed to be doing an excellent impression of someone having a distinct lack of interest in proceedings. It was almost as if turning up on the court would simply get the job done, and truth be told it probably would for 90% of women's top 100 on tour. The trouble is when you get young whippersnappers like Lisicki, who can serve as big as Serena Williams, (and having also seen Lisicki on that middle Saturday you can rest assured she can on that front), turning up on court was never going to get the job done for Williams. Her aura of many a year where an opponent would get into the next round of this tournament over her dead body disappeared against Lisicki. It is for certain Williams can blast any female player off the court on top form, and will collect several Grand Slams along the way. If she is not getting a consistent challenge from the female players around her however, will she be encouraged to continue on with her career, or will she just get bored?
5) Marion Bartoli - A Wimbledon Champion who doesn't conform to the norm! Thank God!
I do wonder if when John Inverdale, TV & Radio presenter, made insulting comments in regards to Bartoli's physical appearance, he had been brainwashed, having watched hundreds of female tennis players over recent years, into thinking virtually every female tennis player resembles a prerequisite stereotype. Maybe there is a factory somewhere in the world that creates female tennis players with certain robotic characteristics. For example they must be tall, they should generally have blonde hair, they should play double handed from at least one side, they should have the ability to grunt and be heard in another continent, and last but not least the ability to volley should be wiped from their memory by the time they are five. Hooray for Bartoli is all I can say as a woman and a tennis player! A worthy champion and a worthy role model for women across the world.
6) Based on the alleged assumption that the Wimbledon grass was to blame for the numerous injured on the renamed Casualty Wednesday, surely technically the casualty queue should actually have been extending to Southfields Tube station?
The First Wednesday of Wimbledon for several players could be considered "unfortunate". I mean seriously they were dropping like flies out there, so much so that AELTC felt obliged to issue a statement basically saying there's nothing wrong with our grass. The truth of the matter very few of those injuries did the injured attribute to falls on grass, except possibly for Azarenka whose loud agonising scream after falling on the grass on the Monday, was not pretty. Besides which as I understand the basic principles of tennis, apparently a player actually plays games on both sides of the net. Surely if one player is falling due to grass, the other must have a pretty good chance of doing exact same tumble to the grass floor with a possible twist involved. Sometimes people in life seek reassurance or an explanation as to why bizarre events happen. I think in this case they won't find a satisfactory answer. Strange things just happen!
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7) If in five years time, we are talking about Andy Murray winning his fifth Wimbledon title and tenth Grand Slam, I will personally pick up the Queen's sword, head to Andy Murray's home and crown Sir Andy Murray myself!
Firstly big congratulations to Andy Murray for his first Wimbledon title on Sunday. That was an absolutely momumental effort to defeat world no. 1 Novak Djokovic in 3 rather brutal straight sets. Not only did he have to deal with Djokovic, but also the unusually warm day on Centre Court, and then of course the expectations of an entire British Nation. You got the feeling however, since he was crowned as Olympic Champion at the same venue last year he has grown in so many ways and the way he has handled to pressure cooker that is Wimbledon is admirable. If i hear one more person say Arise Sir Andy however, i will simply tell them to their face, stop being ridiculously emotional just because another British man had not won Wimbledon in 77 years. A good friend of Andy Murray was sitting in his box during the final by the name of Sir Chris Hoy. Rest assured he wasn't knighted after winning his first world title. It took several years for Sir Chris to be honoured, based on his all round achievements. Murray may well become a Sir in the future, but you just hope it will be in a few years time and several more Grand Slam title trophies are on the shelf.
8) Wimbledon - The Ever Evolving, Ever Improving, Big Daddy of Tennis Tournaments.
Virtually every year for the past 15 years i have been to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and it excites me every time I go. Wimbledon is one of those unusual venues that literally thinks of everything for the players and fans alike.
I can go to Wimbledon Centre court now knowing that if the rest of the world may require the equivalent of Noah's Arc to get round Wimbledon because of rain, I know i'll get to see some tennis.
Prices of essential tennis fan items such as programmes and strawberries & cream do not shoot up every year I go.
Wimbledon thinks of its fans sitting in the nose bleed seats on Centre Court. You don't have to go down 20 flights of stairs and miss an hour of tennis, just to get a cup of coffee or go to the loo. There are refreshment cafes and loos on the top floor.
It has the most famous hill in sport possibly. Henman Hill or Murray Mound is like a overcrowded village for two weeks of the year, but boy is it great fun to be a temporary resident.
Wimbledon has an aura which keeps making you want to come back for more. I along with many others will be returning next year. I may see you there.
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