Follow live text commentary of all the action from Wimbledon as it happens.
- Saturday, 4 July 2009
- Friday, 3 July 2009
- Thursday, 2 July 2009
- Wednesday, 1 July 2009
- Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Now that the end is near, it's mind blowing to look back at the Postcards from Wimbledon blog and see the sheer volume of work churned out by Roger Robinson, Nii Parkes and myself. All those entries since I arrived and spent the first day with the world famous Wimbledon queue:
A Pilgrim's Progress (excerpt)
(. . .)
We have made our trek from deepest, darkest Essex,
pitched our encampment to wait out the long weekend.
We have come to be part of that great British institution,
the pastime for which our nation shall always excel.
We have come here
to queue
to be issued our number and claim our rightful place–
get thee behind me 427! (. . . )
We sent Twitter crazy with some Wimbledon Haikus, with reams of responses on the blog page. Here's the one that I'm the most proud of:
Easy on the Pimms.
Remember, beer before wine.
Avoid mixed doubles.
I got seriously inspired by my first every press conference, a sacred experience, to be sure:
It seems to be an important rite in this service to begin, believe it or not, with a question about tennis. This shall not remain the focus of our Mass, for today we have already received a wonderful sermon from Andy Roddick on the subject of Rick Astley. Murray responds in the monotone that some former high priests have mocked him about. While the tone of his voice doesn't vary much, there is nothing boring about his speech.
I have heard many people prattle on in expressive tones and been far more bored because of it. Murray is simply a man with a mind for tennis, not for banter or lofty rhetoric. He speaks form a world we will never touch: a world of geometry, physiology, aerodynamics and psychology. Wittgenstein once said that if a lion could speak we would not understand it. If Murray could perfectly express what happens within him during a match, we would be left just as dumbfounded.
Nii Parkes arrived on day four and knocked it out of the park with a poem about the Centre Court roof:
The fabric of life: The Centre Court roof (excerpt)
(. . .) we could mutter, complain about the roof's late
arrival, but we hold it all in – perhaps, because
it reminds us of that essential fabric
of British life, the stiff upper lip. that
which never trembles except when faced
with unexpected ruin, unforeseen rain.
Following on from Nii, Roger Robinson took the reins and hit the ground running with a fiery ode to Venus Williams:
The Other Side of Venus ( excerpt)
. . . How the longer she rallied
the stronger she grunted,
and the more she grunted,
the harder she hit.
How she challenged a right call
and couldn’t care less.
How she aced her set point
serving like David's biblical slingshot
to let you know,
the other side of Venus
ain't no place to be.
After a series of poems profiling the players and the action, Robinson zoomed out and took a glorious snapshot of the tournament so far:
A Short History Of Wimbledon 2009... So Far (excerpt)
Nothing was set in the cool breeze of morning
the overnight queues wiped sleep from their eyes.
And ice creams were loaded, and blue flowers watered
as people watched boards for courts they might try.
The sun rose high and dry roasted the courts
and boiled lobster red, went those without hats.
They slathered thick sun cream over their arms
they’ve come here for tennis, there’s no turning back (. . .)
Finally, I returned to SW19 and saw Serena and Roger lift the trophies again. However, I guess I have to admit that out of the poems that I have written my favorite is one about the most gallant runner up I can think of, Andy Roddick:
A-Rod's I-Pod War Boast
(. . .)
Never dare whisper the Swiss has my number
Gonna read form books? I write with my racket
Run to the net, the sun sets behind you
Around Centre Court they’ll sing me to glory
And-y! Go Andy! The song stays the same
Desert your fancy of deposing Sampras
You won't see me coming, I’ll rick roll your game
If Roger Federer's guest box is anything to go by, it appears his stylish ways may be rubbing off.
Bush singer Gavin Rossdale - a regular guest of Federer's at Grand Slam finals - rocked a pair of fashionable aviator shades and silver chunky necklace, while Fed's pregnant wife Mirka shone in a classy black maternity frock and white vest.
It is, perhaps, a snap every tennis fan would love to possess – four legends of the game pictured together in front of the Wimbledon honours board.
And that is exactly what happened following the epic final between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick this afternoon.
Pete Sampras, Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg had all turned up to watch the contest and were rounded up for the photo opportunity following the Swiss master’s 5-7 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 16-14 victory over the American.
The win gave Federer his sixth Wimbledon crown and 15th Grand Slam earning him the title of the sport’s all time greatest Champion.
It was therefore fitting that he was watched on by three of the most successful living Wimbledon champions. For the record, Sampras earned seven; Federer six; Borg five and Laver four.
Roger Federer’s incredible 16-14 final set victory over Andy Roddick gave him record for Grand Slam singles titles – 15, beating Pete Sampras’ previous record.
But that was not the only record broken during the course of the enthralling men’s final. This was the longest men's Grand Slam final in history in terms of games – 77. The previous record was 71 games (1927 Australian Open), and the previous Wimbledon record was 62 games (last year's Wimbledon final between Federer and Rafael Nadal). It also came close to matching the Wimbledon record of most games in a match overall since tiebreaks were introduced (Mark Philippoussis’ 4-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 20-18 win over Sheng Schalken in the third round in 2000 still holds that honour).
But it was not quite the longest final at Wimbledon in terms of match duration – last year’s had that honour at four hours, 48 minutes. This year’s was four hours and 16 minutes – the joint-second longest, level with Jimmy Connors' win over John McEnroe in 1982.
It was the longest final set in terms of games in the men’s singles final at Wimbledon – the 30-game marathon beats the 24 during A.J. Cooper’s 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 13-11 win over Australian countryman N.A. Fraser in 1958.
It was also the longest fifth set match in Grand Slam history, beating Rene Lacoste’s 6-4, 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 11-9 win over Bill Tilden in the 1927 French Open.
In terms of aces, Federer came close to equalling a Wimbledon best of 51, set by Ivo Karlovic against Daniele Bracciali in the first round here in 2005. Federer's 50 beat his previous best of 39 against Janko Tipsarevic at last year’s Australian Open.
Noppawan Lertcheewakarn proved that whatever Serena can do, she can do too after adding the girls’ doubles title to the singles trophy she won on Saturday. She and her partner Sally Peers won easily against Silvia Njiric and Kristina Mladenovic
Well, we are almost half way through the tournament, and there is still no sign of rain. This is particularly frustrating for the new roof on Centre Court, which is still waiting to showcase its’ abilities. I can safely say that everyone else is enjoying the sun and all that goes with it: sun-cream, sun-burn, tennis and, of course, lots of strawberries.
Here at Radio Wimbledon headquarters, it has been a very busy week indeed. I’ve been doing a variety of things, which makes everyday interesting (as if being here wasn’t exciting enough!). The highlight of the week was interviewing the Bryan Brothers with Simon yesterday, where I took the bullet for journalism and pretended to be a ‘groupie’, great fun. Interviewing Juan Carlos Fererro was not too bad either! I’ve also been doing all the afternoon traffic and travel updates live on air and spending lots of time in the editing ‘cupboard’ making packages and editing match-points. A very well rounded week one might say!
The Henman Hill Vs Murray Mound debate is also a very prominent discussion topic here at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Should ‘Tiger Tim’ be allowed to keep his hill on the grounds of tradition? Or should the ‘Super Scot’ be awarded this historic piece of sloping grass if he takes the title? Our survey says: ‘let’s just wait and see’.
Three things I love about Radio Wimbledon:
1) It’s guaranteed that the news starts somewhere between 11 and 26 minutes past the hour.
2) The really nice biscuits in the kitchen.
3) The sheer and utter brilliance of the commentators, who come up with great phrases like: “we are about to see some Swedish sorcery on centre court”.
*As this blog went to press on Monday, the rain came down. World number one Dinara Safina and Amelie Mauresmo become the first players to compete under the new roof.
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- Postcard from Wimbledon : Federer and Roddick poems
- Tennis Shorts : Five things from Federer
- Postcard from Wimbledon : Federer/Roddick: I was there
- Postcard from Wimbledon : A-Rod's iPod War Boast
- Tennis Shorts : Andy Roddick's high-five
- Comment and analysis : Praise for Federer
- Tennis Shorts : Legends line-up for Federer
- Tennis Shorts : Five things from Federer
- Comment and analysis : Praise for Roddick
- Postcard from Wimbledon : Best of Postcards from Wimbledon
- Junior Wimbledon : Double celebration for Lertcheewakarn
- Junior Wimbledon : Herbert and Krawietz win boys' doubles trophy
- Tennis Shorts : Legends line up for Federer
- Comment and analysis : Records tumble in Federer's wake
- Postcard from Wimbledon : Federer/Roddick: I was there
- Junior Wimbledon : Kuznetsov crowned boys' champion
- Fashion Blog : Rossdale supports Fed
- Tennis Shorts : Robson's fun-filled weekend
- Tennis Shorts : Murray misses final