It's not often I wish for rain, but I wish it was raining right now so I wouldn't feel so guilty about being inside watching tennis instead of being out actually playing tennis. But I needn't be too harsh on myself - after all this is the most important day of the professional tennis circuit on the calender and it doesn't get much better than this.
I even picked up some fresh local strawberries for the occasion and enjoyed them with a little cream in true Wimbledon style as I watched Andy Roddick win the first set over Roger Federer. Andy is the one American tennis player since Andre Agassi that I actually like and because I do, am rooting for him, but they are in the fourth set now and things aren't looking too good for Andy. He started out with his first serve percentage somewhere around 78% which is what won the first set for him, but since then it has been dropping like a rock and now Federer is totally out-serving him.
Although I get a bit of a kick from John McEnroe as a commentator, I gotta say, today he needs to shut up a bit. God- the guy has been running at the mouth constantly throughout the entire match so far and once in a while I would just like to watch the play without all the useless babble. Wait - Andy just broke Roger - maybe it's not a fait accompli for Federer quite yet. Go Andy, go!
Wimbledon is on my bucket list of something I want to do before I die. It doesn't even have to be a seat at the final - I would even settle for a quarter-final match just to be a part of the most celebrated tennis tournament in the world. Think of the fun sitting in the crowd watching all those pasty Brits baking and burning their exposed bits in the early July sun. The history and tradition oozing all around and sneaking a peak at who is sitting in the Royal box. Oh, there's Russell Crowe just now in the crowd. Earlier they showed Nancy and Henry Kissinger - didn't know they were still alive nevermind tennis fans. And course some of the old school players from the past are watching. Pete Sampras looking more and more like an old Greek guy with his lovely wife Brigitte looking as young as ever. Boy, all that money he won must come in handy for her plastic surgeries - either that or she has found the fountain of youth and ain't telling a soul. Borg is there with the same hair cut he had in the seventies only now its grey. The length keeps it looking sexy despite the colour. Men! Arrrgghh!
Shit - Andy is up 5-2 in the 4th now - things are getting exciting. Ooops! - Andy just took a tumble - his wife looking all concerned in the crowd. He seems to have shaken it off - he's fine. Roddick serving for the set now but Roger won't let him have it easy. It's love-thirty. Relief. Thirty-all. Woo woo - set point. C'mon Andy. Serve up a big ace. And he did!!!! We're heading to a fifth set.
And now a commercial break. I shouldn't feel too guilty about slacking around watching tennis. I am writing this blog while I'm watching and I did quite a few reps with the hand weights before this. Watching tennis always makes me want to get stronger so I can serve harder the next time I am on the court. There's always room to improve in this game and without a strong serve you don't have a hope in hell to really compete. My serve and return of serve are probably the strong points of my game, followed by my forehand, as least that's what people tell me.
Geez Deb, shut up will ya - now you're babbling like Johnny Mac. I'll just watch for a bit. BRB. Looking good - Federer just missed a break opportunity. More commercials. Time for more strawberries and cream. I think a fifth set calls for another serving, don't you? Mmmm - they are so good...and good for me too! The cream - not so much, but I did use the light stuff, so it could be worse. Gotta report my weekly weight loss here in the am. - don't want to have to report bad news.
Back to the match. Did you just see that get by Federer? The guy is a magician! They just showed the first serve percentages again - almost even again - 67 and 65 - pretty close now. It's anyone's match at this point.Tension really building now - tied at four-all. Federer's wife is looking worried in the stands. Like she doesn't own enough Rolex's already. Unbelievable! - tied six-all in the final set. Nice little net-skimmer drop shot by Andy just now. Federer wins his serve - now its 7-6. Damn commercials - get back to the match!
This could go on for quite a while - the two gladiators in the coliseum battling it out to the finish now. Talk about getting your money's worth. Who wants it more? That's what I think it comes down to and you can be sure Roddick wants this soooo bad. He has lost two previous finals here to Federer. Will the third time be the charm for Andy? What a backhand down the line shot Andy! Damn - he just missed two break points! Both players holding their serves again. The battle continues.
Nine-all. At this rate, I may have to go for more strawberries, or some lunch at the very least. Now it seems they have broken the "gentlemen's championship" record for most games played in a final and it's not over yet. Eleven-all. Madness. Now Federer has broken his record for number of aces in a match, by three. History is being played out on the grass courts this year. Four hours into this match now - that's half a work day for the average joe. Only the average joe won't be going home with even a small percentage of the pay cheques these two will be leaving the "All-England Club" with today.
Both of them are still hitting hard and accurate at 13 - all - who will falter first? Now the shadows are playing a role on the court. One end is half in the shade and the other in full sun. Andy just missed one because of the shade. And now a lucky break - a cloud overhead evening up the sight lines. Roger just served up his 50th ace of the match. His old record was 43. Could be years before anyone ever breaks this record. Andy down love-thirty, the crowd grows restless. And now an ace. And now 30-all. Deuce. Advantage - Roddick. Back to deuce. Championship point - Federer.
It's over - Federer wins again. Now the tears will flow. I so wanted Andy to win. He played the match of his life - now he has to accept defeat graciously as he always does, but he has nothing to be ashamed about - no one will forget this one.
And maybe, American Express will renew his sponsorship contract. Loved those commercials. Back from commerical - trophy presentation about to begin and all the emotion that goes along with it. As usual the Duke of Kent presenting. Andy gets his third silver hors- d'oeuvre tray. Roger gets his sixth golden chalice. The guy has more kiss marks on that thing than a grandmother's imprints on a baby's cheek. He has now officially broken Pete Sampras's record winning a total of 15 grand slam tournaments. What an amazing career.
Well done boys. Well done.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Strawberries and Cream anyone?
It's not often I wish for rain, but I wish it was raining right now so I wouldn't feel so guilty about being inside watching tennis instead of being out actually playing tennis. But I needn't be too harsh on myself - after all this is the most important day of the professional tennis circuit on the calender and it doesn't get much better than this.
I even picked up some fresh local strawberries for the occasion and enjoyed them with a little cream in true Wimbledon style as I watched Andy Roddick win the first set over Roger Federer. Andy is the one American tennis player since Andre Agassi that I actually like and because I do, am rooting for him, but they are in the fourth set now and things aren't looking too good for Andy. He started out with his first serve percentage somewhere around 78% which is what won the first set for him, but since then it has been dropping like a rock and now Federer is totally out-serving him.
Although I get a bit of a kick from John McEnroe as a commentator, I gotta say, today he needs to shut up a bit. God- the guy has been running at the mouth constantly throughout the entire match so far and once in a while I would just like to watch the play without all the useless babble. Wait - Andy just broke Roger - maybe it's not a fait accompli for Federer quite yet. Go Andy, go!
Wimbledon is on my bucket list of something I want to do before I die. It doesn't even have to be a seat at the final - I would even settle for a quarter-final match just to be a part of the most celebrated tennis tournament in the world. Think of the fun sitting in the crowd watching all those pasty Brits baking and burning their exposed bits in the early July sun. The history and tradition oozing all around and sneaking a peak at who is sitting in the Royal box. Oh, there's Russell Crowe just now in the crowd. Earlier they showed Nancy and Henry Kissinger - didn't know they were still alive nevermind tennis fans. And course some of the old school players from the past are watching. Pete Sampras looking more and more like an old Greek guy with his lovely wife Brigitte looking as young as ever. Boy, all that money he won must come in handy for her plastic surgeries - either that or she has found the fountain of youth and ain't telling a soul. Borg is there with the same hair cut he had in the seventies only now its grey. The length keeps it looking sexy despite the colour. Men! Arrrgghh!
Shit - Andy is up 5-2 in the 4th now - things are getting exciting. Ooops! - Andy just took a tumble - his wife looking all concerned in the crowd. He seems to have shaken it off - he's fine. Roddick serving for the set now but Roger won't let him have it easy. It's love-thirty. Relief. Thirty-all. Woo woo - set point. C'mon Andy. Serve up a big ace. And he did!!!! We're heading to a fifth set.
And now a commercial break. I shouldn't feel too guilty about slacking around watching tennis. I am writing this blog while I'm watching and I did quite a few reps with the hand weights before this. Watching tennis always makes me want to get stronger so I can serve harder the next time I am on the court. There's always room to improve in this game and without a strong serve you don't have a hope in hell to really compete. My serve and return of serve are probably the strong points of my game, followed by my forehand, as least that's what people tell me.
Geez Deb, shut up will ya - now you're babbling like Johnny Mac. I'll just watch for a bit. BRB. Looking good - Federer just missed a break opportunity. More commercials. Time for more strawberries and cream. I think a fifth set calls for another serving, don't you? Mmmm - they are so good...and good for me too! The cream - not so much, but I did use the light stuff, so it could be worse. Gotta report my weekly weight loss here in the am. - don't want to have to report bad news.
Back to the match. Did you just see that get by Federer? The guy is a magician! They just showed the first serve percentages again - almost even again - 67 and 65 - pretty close now. It's anyone's match at this point.Tension really building now - tied at four-all. Federer's wife is looking worried in the stands. Like she doesn't own enough Rolex's already. Unbelievable! - tied six-all in the final set. Nice little net-skimmer drop shot by Andy just now. Federer wins his serve - now its 7-6. Damn commercials - get back to the match!
This could go on for quite a while - the two gladiators in the coliseum battling it out to the finish now. Talk about getting your money's worth. Who wants it more? That's what I think it comes down to and you can be sure Roddick wants this soooo bad. He has lost two previous finals here to Federer. Will the third time be the charm for Andy? What a backhand down the line shot Andy! Damn - he just missed two break points! Both players holding their serves again. The battle continues.
Nine-all. At this rate, I may have to go for more strawberries, or some lunch at the very least. Now it seems they have broken the "gentlemen's championship" record for most games played in a final and it's not over yet. Eleven-all. Madness. Now Federer has broken his record for number of aces in a match, by three. History is being played out on the grass courts this year. Four hours into this match now - that's half a work day for the average joe. Only the average joe won't be going home with even a small percentage of the pay cheques these two will be leaving the "All-England Club" with today.
Both of them are still hitting hard and accurate at 13 - all - who will falter first? Now the shadows are playing a role on the court. One end is half in the shade and the other in full sun. Andy just missed one because of the shade. And now a lucky break - a cloud overhead evening up the sight lines. Roger just served up his 50th ace of the match. His old record was 43. Could be years before anyone ever breaks this record. Andy down love-thirty, the crowd grows restless. And now an ace. And now 30-all. Deuce. Advantage - Roddick. Back to deuce. Championship point - Federer.
It's over - Federer wins again. Now the tears will flow. I so wanted Andy to win. He played the match of his life - now he has to accept defeat graciously as he always does, but he has nothing to be ashamed about - no one will forget this one.
And maybe, American Express will renew his sponsorship contract. Loved those commercials. Back from commerical - trophy presentation about to begin and all the emotion that goes along with it. As usual the Duke of Kent presenting. Andy gets his third silver hors- d'oeuvre tray. Roger gets his sixth golden chalice. The guy has more kiss marks on that thing than a grandmother's imprints on a baby's cheek. He has now officially broken Pete Sampras's record winning a total of 15 grand slam tournaments. What an amazing career.
Well done boys. Well done.
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