A big friendly hello to everyone who reads this, particularly the people who have followed me from my old blog!
This summer the good city of London has been blessed with rather a lot of tennis, what with the Olympics coming up and all that. I was unfortunate in that I was unable to get Olympic tennis tickets but I decided to put the money I would have potentially spent on tickets into having a few days out to the tennis earlier in the year. Since 2010 I have attended Queens and Wimbledon and after considering a trip to the Aegon classic and various other ‘alternative’ tournaments in the country I decided to stick with what I knew best for now! London is only around 45minutes from were I live so it’s not too far for me to go.
I started my attending the Aegon Championship, as usual, at Queens Club. Having semi-final tickets I was hoping for a Andy Murray match or perhaps a Tsonga one but both eluded me by being knocked out early on. However I wasn’t disappointed with the tennis I did get to see;
First up was Sam Querrey Vs Marin Cilic, followed by David Nalbandian Vs Grigor Dimitrov, two great singles matches but I believe the first was the better match, Sam managed to take Marin to 3 sets but despite it being a hard-fought match throughout Marin managed to win it! Grigor showed the promise he was supposed to but unfortunately experience, in the form of David Nalbandian, halted him on his way to the final, little did I know then that the final would be so controversial due to Davids fiery temper which he showed signs of throughout his semi-final match, swinging his racket violently and constantly complaining about the wind.
David was right about the wind though, it was not only a nuisance for the players but it was chilly for spectators! No matter, I thought, I had paid my money and I wanted to watch the doubles so wrapped up in a blanket, wearing a bobble hat and clutching a warm drink I shivered and clapped my way through till the end, despite the rapidly emptying stands.
Mirnyi/Nestor Vs Butorac/Hanley and Tipsaravic/Zimonjic Vs Bryan/Bryan.
I enjoyed my day at Queens and I must admit my appetite for tennis was growing and I could not wait till Wimbledon, at the time I only had court 1 tickets for mens final day, I was happy with that but overjoyed when I managed to secure centre court tickets on the second Monday! Murray dodged me again as he was put on court 1, but I got to see another favourite of mine, Novak Djokovic, and of course, the genius that is Roger Federer. Both men suitably swept their opponents aside with limited trouble, I also got to see a women’s match, Victoria Azeranka beat Ana Ivanovic comfortably.
It always great to be on centre court and it was especially nice to see the roof closing, I am a firm fan of the roof, it allows the tournament to finish on schedule, more late matches, keeping spectators warm and conditions consistence, the few downsides are that we probably won’t get many Peoples Sundays and indoor conditions do favour certain players.
Later in the week, after being excited to find Andy Murray had made his way to the final, making history on the way, I took the trip back down to Wimbledon. I must be honest and admit I didn’t watch too much tennis on court 1, a bit of the boys singles final and I sent family representation to the ladies invitational doubles, any other day and I would have happily watched the full schedule for court 1 but it was mens final day and Andy Murray was battling it out with the GOAT Roger Federer, both were desperate to win and make tennis history. So I went of to court 2 and watched the match on the screen, it was a nail-biting first two sets, then it rained and momentum swung firmly to Roger Federer and he did not back down for the rest of the match, even with Murray putting up a good fight. After the match, which Federer of course won, I ran to see him appear on the balcony (why not the door this year I wonder?) with the Wimbledon trophy, then waited for him to cross the bridge, despite the security trying to tell us that nobody of interest would be appearing this it was decided we would wait a little longer as the press were all standing around, it was lucky we hung around as Federer appeared to wave and blow kisses at his adoring crowd!
After such an exciting month or so it has been hard to adjust to having little tennis on tv, I am eternally grateful for the Olympics this year, which bridges the gap between Wimbledon and the rest of the season, I’m sure the players are looking forward to a couple of weeks rest though before they have to compete all over again on the hallowed lawns of Wimbledon!
Sophie xx
(Sorry for the odd picture ordering, I’m just getting used to this layout. All pictures in this post are my own.)
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