Fast forward a year and Wimbledon gives one that old familiar feeling. Plucky Brit* winning against all odds. Second plucky Brit** having to come back tomorrow to see if he can follow suit. Single British woman*** through to the third round. And to cap it all there has been a day of almost solid rain - but at least we were spared a Cliff Richard sing-along.
* Liam Broady knocked out Casper Ruud - Norwegian No 4 seed who has made 3 of the last 5 Grand Slam finals.
** Andy Murray is taking on Greek God lookalike Stefanos Tsitsipas, world No 5: at the moment Murray is leading 2 sets to 1 ...
*** Katie Boulter plays last year's champion, world No 3 Elena Rybakina.
Sadly, Sir Andy will now go back to being Scottish - he's only a Brit when he's winning. I suspect that if the match could have continued last night, he might have won.
Having said that, he's 36, which, when I started seriously watching Wimbledon back in the late 70s/early 80s, was considered Quite Old - old enough to be playing in the Senior tournament and arsing about with Ilie Nastase.
Well that was some match! Well done to both - apart from Djokovic's little aberration with his racquet.
I'm not defending him for that, but under the circumstances he must have been very frustrated with himself, especially after the way he completely owned the first set.
@Piglet Sort of: the birthday with a seven at the front of it isn't far away. I'm of a similar vintage with my supposed doppelganger (I can't see it myself) so there you go.
Much discussion in the press about Emma Raducanu's search for a coach. I fear that, despite her surprise victory in the US Open two years ago, she is destined to be a footnote one-hit-wonder in the sport.
Talking of Ms Raducanu, am I alone in being somewhat pissed off at her crying off from the mixed doubles with Sir Andy (in what should have been his Wimbledon swan-song)?
I can't help thinking it was just a tad churlish, and that karma came back to bite her when she got dumped out of the singles the same day.
Provoking clutch of pearl necklaces etc. what is the point of tennis apart from exercising the spectator's head left and right with each shot? My grouse is that it wrecks the BBC shedules both on BBC1 and 2 and also Radio 5. Sit back to receive tennis balls haurled back this attack on Britain's love fest, 2 weeks each year when Wimbledon rears its head. At least for sports lovers, the Euros don't take up so much broadcasting airtime. Before you think I am a sports' hater, confess I love BBC radio test cricket comentary. However when this is hapening there are alternatives non sports to listen.
The problem in the UK is that the vast majority of the population think Wimbledon *is* tennis. They don't follow the sport and have completely unrealistic expectations or views of British players. Andy Murray was a great player, and in another era he would have won a lot more grand slam tournaments: it was his misfortune to be around at the same time as two of the GOATs, and then another came along (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic). And in their time Virginia Wade and Sue Barker suffered from the same thing.
Think I'm wrong? Most Brits are unaware that Sue Barker won the French Open.
A bigger scandal is that Virginia Wade, who won the US and Australian opens as well as Wimbledon, was only ever given an OBE. She won 55 major titles in her career to Andy Murray's 46; she was in the world's top 10 for 12 years, and holds the record of having competed at Wimbledon in the main draw for 26 years. She is the only British woman to have won titles at all the four major grand slam tournaments. There should be a petition to make her a Dame before it is too late.
I quite agree. Virginia Wade had to contend with Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Billie-Jean King; Tim Henman with Sampras and Agassi.
But in the last few years, it does seem that any British sportsman/woman who wins absolutely anything gets a gong forthwith; in their day, the government didn't seem quite so profligate with their honours.
Well played, Alcaraz - it was a decent match, for all the scoreline looked so one-sided. Although Djokovic had a few flashes of the sort of brilliance we're used to from him, I wonder how much longer he has in the top flight.
Comments
* Liam Broady knocked out Casper Ruud - Norwegian No 4 seed who has made 3 of the last 5 Grand Slam finals.
** Andy Murray is taking on Greek God lookalike Stefanos Tsitsipas, world No 5: at the moment Murray is leading 2 sets to 1 ...
*** Katie Boulter plays last year's champion, world No 3 Elena Rybakina.
Having said that, he's 36, which, when I started seriously watching Wimbledon back in the late 70s/early 80s, was considered Quite Old - old enough to be playing in the Senior tournament and arsing about with Ilie Nastase.
And I disagree that "gentleman" is a classist term - to my mind any bloke who acts in a gentlemanly way is a gentleman.
Very gracious speech by Novak Djokovic, who shed a few tears. He's down today but not out and will be a big threat at the US Open.
In the Boy's Singles 17 year old Henry Searle became the first Brit to lift the trophy for 61 years.
I'm not defending him for that, but under the circumstances he must have been very frustrated with himself, especially after the way he completely owned the first set.
Talking of Ms Raducanu, am I alone in being somewhat pissed off at her crying off from the mixed doubles with Sir Andy (in what should have been his Wimbledon swan-song)?
I can't help thinking it was just a tad churlish, and that karma came back to bite her when she got dumped out of the singles the same day.
Am I being churlish too?
She simply is not good enough at present to be able to pick and choose in this way. Olympics? no. Historic last appearance of Murray? no.
Perhaps the wild card entries should be questioned until her ranking is rather better.
Think I'm wrong? Most Brits are unaware that Sue Barker won the French Open.
A bigger scandal is that Virginia Wade, who won the US and Australian opens as well as Wimbledon, was only ever given an OBE. She won 55 major titles in her career to Andy Murray's 46; she was in the world's top 10 for 12 years, and holds the record of having competed at Wimbledon in the main draw for 26 years. She is the only British woman to have won titles at all the four major grand slam tournaments. There should be a petition to make her a Dame before it is too late.
But in the last few years, it does seem that any British sportsman/woman who wins absolutely anything gets a gong forthwith; in their day, the government didn't seem quite so profligate with their honours.
Surely that ought to justify a couple of knighthoods?