Wimbledon 2003

Counting down to the finals of Wimbledon 2003.

Monday, June 23, 2003

13 days to go The weather has been very pleasant for the last few weeks. Very little rain and some really hot days. This morning I was woken up by rain thundering down on our skylight, and it was still dark even though it was time to get up. Wimbledon's here I thought. I got in the car for my long drive to work. And it was cold. It has been T-shirt and shorts weather here for weeks but now I was freezing, even in my full three-piece suit and bowler hat. I turned the fan down to minimum to shut off the cold air from outside. I tilted the vents away from me. But still it was bloody cold. Then I noticed a light on on the dashboard. I switched off the AC and the sun came out.   Wimbledon Heroes   Todays choice in our series of Wimbledon heroes through the years is Orinoco, one of the greatest never to win Wimbledon. I always thought he might have done it if he'd lost just a few pounds. I assume you've worked it out by now. This time we're counting down the the Wimbledon finals. I'm not really a big tennis fan - well, it's all a tad too upper class for me. But when you live just a stone's throw from that prestigious high class location, what else can you do?   Stone the crows   A stone thrown by a young toff near the All-England tennis club was today caught by a passing bird and dropped some forty miles away Todays's big news was the elimination of top seed Lleyton Hewitt in the first round. Given that he was playing the little-known Croatian Otherblokivic who is nearly 7 feet tall, it is no real surprise. With today's Wimbledon weather the serves must have been coming straight out of the clouds. 8:07:49 PM    comment []

Tuesday, June 24, 2003

12 days to go The Lawn Tennis Association is hopeful that the round 1 success of British "boys from next door", Timothy Henman and Gregory Rusedski will help to overcome the elitist image of tennis in Britain. The fact that average British joes Jamie Delgado, Alex Bogdanovic and Elena Baltacha all lost today may have lessened the effect however. Baltacha, as I learned from the Daily Hun during Wimbledon 2002 is Scotland's great tennis hope, having once holidayed in Pittenweem. Apparently, her father played for St Johnstone - it's no wonder she lost then. Elena Baltacha lost today to Jelena Dokic, one of the much-publicised tennis babes. Interestingly (?!) both Elena and Jelena are of Eastern European origin. And in a further remarkable co-incidence Dokic also nearly chose to become a British player except that her father felt the Brtish police were Nazis. If you read the full article from that last link you will see that Dokic's father is quite a character - so that's another spooky parallel with Baltacha as you need a hell of lot of character to play for St Johnstone. The male half of the world's ugliest couple was the guy who knocked out Brit Real Madrid fan Jamie Delgado today. Agassi may look rough but he is a marvellous tennis player and very enjoyable to watch. He is still remarkably fit for a 53-year-old. 8:27:02 PM    comment []

Wednesday, June 25, 2003

11 days to go So Greg Rude-eski is out but he really lived up to his name today by vigorously abusing the umpire in vivid technicolour. This was after the umpire did not allow a point to be replayed when someone in the crowd called "out". At the time, Rudey was only 2 sets down and any fool can see that if the umpire had not been such a mule, the match was Greg's. Fortune always conspires against the Brits at Wimbledon. I blame Madame Cholet   Crowd Trouble   After today's Centre Court hooliganism during the Rudeski match, tennis authorities have announced that the English tennis association have been called before an investigative panel. As a result, Tim Henman's next game may have to be played behind closed doors. While I applaud the BBC's excellent interactive coverage on Sky Digital, I do feel that I have to mention that their commentary team is not what it used to be. First off, what makes quiz show host John McEnroe qualified to comment on tennis? And why should Rudeski's wife Lucy and her sister be involved - nepotism perhaps? (conundrum solved: apparently one of them once played tennis for Wimbledon girl guides) For everyone apart from Jelena Dokic's father, it was good to see Martina Navritilova back in action again. She may not quite be a tennis babe but she still plays a mean game of doubles even at her advanced years. Perhaps Andre Agassi could be persuaded to play with a younger woman, as they would make a stunning mixed doubles team.  Silver Lining Apparently Greg Rudeski's foul-mouthed outburst today has had an extremely positive impact on the LTA's campaign to remove the link between snobbery and tennis. English football fans with Rudeski slogans on their T-shirts are rumoured to be flocking to buy tickets in the hope that Henman may play a German or a Turk in later rounds. 8:55:58 PM    comment []

Thursday, June 26, 2003

10 days to go I watched some ladies doubles this evening featuring that comedy duo The Williams Sisters. Straight out of the Laurel and Hardy tradition. Tall and skinny, large and overbearing. And just to complete the set, straight out of the Dokic tradition, they have those wonderful parents...   Wimbledon Heroes   Todays choice in our series of Wimbledon heroes is seven-times champion Pete Sampras. The first player to introduce the banana during end changes, Pete was also much loved for his comic antics swinging from the coat hooks in the changing rooms. The Williams are no longer a pair. That was the classic line from the television commentator this evening. At first I thought it was some sort of GM fruit statement, but then I realised he was talking about those parents. No wonder the father tried to smuggle Viagra into Wimbledon. But it was a good game despite the comedy distractions. Doubles is much better to watch than singles. Lots of fast rallies and good sportsmanship. It was very entertaining. No surprises then that doubles is being constantly reduced at the major tournaments and pushed further and further into the off-peak slots. Much better to focus on those generous and sporting working-class heroes, the singles players.  A tribute Marc-Vivien Foe died tragically during a football match today aged only 28. He is my thoughts. 10:02:10 PM    comment []

Friday, June 27, 2003

9 days to go The ladies doubles game I was watching yesterday petered out quickly today with a victory for the comedy duo. Sometimes it's easy to single out for praise people who have been ill, just out of sympathy really. But Corina Morariu's return from chemotherapy after leukemia is an inspiring story. I saw her being interviewed on TV and she certainly lived up to her motto of "hard work and modesty".  It's a funny old world So, the joker who called "out" causing British hero Rudeski to flip his lid and crash out of Wimbledon is now giving interviews with the BBC. I would have condemned this roundly except the content revealed the remarkable prescience of Colin's Countdown. As exclusively revealed here 2 days ago, the perpetrator is indeed a football hooligan. With a brain the size of a dinosaur into the bargain - here are some genuine quotes: I didn't understand the rules and I thought the point would be replayed. (Like he foresaw the whole series of events? Right) I'm a football fan and I like the crowd to get involved in the game. (He probably had a tennis racquet with him just in case) He admitted shouting at Venus Williams at the French Open. (What self respecting football fan would go to watch Venus Williams in Paris??) If Greg calls me, I will pay his fine. (If only Rudeski has not been let off with such a pathetically small fine) 9:13:13 PM    comment []

Saturday, June 28, 2003

8 days to go Today is "People's Saturday" at Wimbledon, when the hoi polloi can queue for tickets for the show courts. In past years this has resulted in quite a different atmosphere on the middle Saturday of the tournament. Quite rowdy, reminiscent of a football match, I'm sure Evaldas Zilionis loved it. But this year, as part of their ongoing strategy to make tennis less elitist, the authorities reduced the number of tickets available to the rank-and-file to just 500. This was not well publicised and as a result many people queued overnight, only to find they still didn't get a ticket. It was a relief to see that the All England club had such a good reason for this cut-back in tickets. A breach of queue discipline last year. Yes, apparently they were queuing two-abreast at some points instead of Wimbledon regulation single file. It's just not cricket you know.  Not exactly working class I tried Pimms for the first time today. It is an English summertime drink, very popular at Wimbledon I'm told. I had it with lemonade and it seemed quite nice. Mind you, I had consumed several lagers beforehand, so my tasting notes may not be very reliable. 11:53:47 PM    comment []

Sunday, June 29, 2003

7 days to go It was a rest day at Wimbledon today which gives me a chance to catch up with a couple of games I watched yesterday...   Undercover   Colin's Countdown was able to place one of our staff at Wimbledon as a security guard for leading players. Our undercover man can reveal that the Williams sisters are just as funny in real life as when they are on TV. Youngster Andre Agassi beat Younes El Aynaoui in a sporting but competitive contest, including 2 tie-breaks. It was a good game with some great shots but nowhere near as entertaining as the Philippoussis versus Stepanek encounter. This too was extremely competitive, but not so sporting. Philippousis lost his cool and swore a few times - and the intensely competitive Stepanek shopped him to the umpire and tried to get him "booked". Eventually, Philippousis did get a warning and there were a lot of severe stares between the two of them. Stirring stuff! Philippousis won in 4 sets but every point was a battle and I will be looking out for Stepanek and his spoon in future tournaments. Last year a player who I enjoyed watching and decided to look out for in future years was David Nalbandian - and this was before he made it to the final. How could you think I would be so shallow. He played some amazing groundstokes and was an unseeded underdog all the way through. This year he is the number 6 seed and now he plays Tim Henman. Should be an interesting game.  Sweet Sixteen The demise of Dokic, who lost to a 16 year old Russian, means that she will now have more time to tend to her father. Every cloud has a silver lining. 8:56:58 PM    comment []

Monday, June 30, 2003

6 days to go A bit of rain today. But plenty of good tennis too.   Practice makes perfect   Venus and Serena have been so busy on the comedy circuit recently that they haven't had time to practice saying the names of the other players. Now we now what all that grunting on court is about. Henman beat Nalbandian in his toughest game yet. It wasn't really a classic but I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that for large periods of the game neither of them could hold serve. Sure makes a difference from the 400mph ballistic missiles which are the service norm in the men's game. Henman clearly cheated at one point when the ball had bounced twice on his side but he played on and won the point. Surely, once the umpire has filed his match report, this will be referred to the video panel and Tim may be suspended for a couple of games. If he's lucky, he might be back from his ban in time for the final. Philippousis is becoming the man to beat. There's been a lot of talk about Andy Roddick and his big serves, but Philipoussis must come close. Just the 46 aces today were enough to put Agassi out of the tournament. Rumour has it that you will be able to catch him and wife Steffi at London zoo tomorrow. Somewhere out near the Sampras enclosure I've heard. 11:07:04 AM    comment []

Tuesday, July 1, 2003

5 days to go I left work early today to play football and flicked on the radio en route. Capriati had just taken the first set 6-2 against champion Serena Williams. I could not believe it. For the last couple of days I had been planning to do an article here on the Countdown about Jennifer Capriati. I had sensed that she was back to her best and was going to predict that she might cause an upset and go all the way. Now who was going to believe me?! An hour and a half later, after the football and with iron lung in place, I switched the radio back on. Serena Williams had come back and beaten Capriati. I knew there was a good reason I hadn't done that Capriati article yesterday. Sometimes my foresight stuns even me.  The Great Modernisers As Wimbledon strives to modernise and shake off its establishment image, it has a great supporter in the Duke of Kent. He has decreed that from this year, the women players need no longer curtsey to the Royal box. Oh, unless the Queen happens to be in it of course.  Grand Central Station Tennis Magazine in association with British Airways today brought a little piece of England to Grand Central Station in New York. They recreated a mini-Wimbledon complete with the authentic "artificial grass", the real deal "strawberries and cheesecake" and probably served genuine Jack Daniels and Coke to drink into the bargain. I'm surprised that British Airways got involved - I mean why bother travelling all the way to England when you can get the real thing on your own doorstep. Well, think what you will, laugh if you like, it don't make no difference to me. I'll open my case, and I might catch a coin, but all ears may listen for free. 8:41:12 PM    comment []

Wednesday, July 2, 2003

4 days to go Wimbledon reverted to type today with more rain than tennis.   American Uproar   An angry crowd of American tourists had to be dispersed from a refreshments tent at Wimbledon today after discovering that cheesecake was not available with their strawberries. The first game on at 13:00 today was Henman v Grosjean, and they were still playing 6 hours later at the close of play, after numerous rain interruptions. The game will finish tomorrow, weather permitting. I saw Alan Mills, longstanding Wimbledon tournament referee, being interviewed on TV this evening. I've always thought of him as a likeable chap, bearing up manfully under the pressures of the tennis world and the British weather - stiff upper lip and all that. This evening was the first time I can remember hearing him speak, and his likeable chap tag vanished instantly - "tally ho chaps, get those covers on sharpish"  Battle of the sexes So, the women's semi-finalists are the top 4 seeds, while in the men's competition none of the 8 quarter-finalists has ever won Wimbledon before. And yet surprisingly I heard on the radio that a survey in America showed that over 80% of respondents preferred the women's game. No doubt the survey was made up of a representative sample of men leaving a strip club.   Heimlich Manoeuvre   Wimbledon referee Alan Mills had to receive emergency first-aid treatment today when a plum stone became lodged in his throat. So if the women's game is really the most popular, surely they do deserve at least equal pay with the men. Perhaps this is another cause which the Duke of Kent can take up. After all his thoroughly modern family has put a woman at its head. 9:47:49 PM    comment []

Thursday, July 3, 2003

3 days to go It's an annual tradition really isn't it. Run Tim down in the weeks coming up to Wimbledon. He's been injured all year. He hasn't got the bottle. Then, the build up as he wins some games. Tim has reserved his best tennis of the year for now. The draw is really opening up for him this year. And finally, of course the comedown. Too many unforced errors. Tiger Tim has lost his claws.   Wilkommen   After the runaway success of our balanced investigation into German dentistry, we have decided to appoint a full-time correspondent on German affairs. Please welcome Silvio Berlusconi. But this year I did hear something new on the radio. Just 5 minutes after Tim's sorry exit, the commentary switched to the Philippoussis v Popp game. "And this game between Philippousis and the nearly British Popp is a real cracker" I kid you not - just 5 minutes it took them to adopt a new Brit. Now, of course, Alexander Popp is German - but apparently his father worked in the Channel Islands for a few years in the 1940s. Oh, and of course this was the kiss of death for Popp's valiant efforts. The women's final is another all-Williams affair. Kim Clijsters put up a spirited battle for a set and a half but in the end Venus blasted her off the court 6-1 in the final set. But what was it with all Venus William's melodrama. She seemed to pull a stomach muscle near the start of the match when Clijsters was dominant. The trainer was on for a while, and Venus was grimacing with pain on every shot. Or so it seemed. A careful analysis shows that Venus Williams seemed to reserve her most blatant displays - doubling up with pain - for points which she lost. As if to say you only won that one because I've got a silly haircut. 7:36:23 PM    comment []

Friday, July 4, 2003

2 days to go So it will be Philippoussis versus Federer in the men's final. As the number 4 seed the Swiss Federer is the obvious favourite - but unseeded Greek Aussie Philippousis has shown some real grit in getting to the final and I will be hoping he can pull it off. The Castlemaine and Mousaka are chilling in the fridge. Tennis legends and failed commentators Boris Becker and Pat Cash have hit the nail right on the head and identified the key problem for tennis today. The rackets are too big. I mean some of those little 16 year old girls can hardly pick them up - and the backdraft as they cut through the air is playing havoc with the hairstyles. Just ask Andre Agassi. I have to admit I haven't seen any Federer games this year (if ever), and if he passed me in the street in a Wimbledon T-shirt with his giant tennis racket and Toblerone, I don't think I'd recognise him. How did he get to the final so surreptitiously? Good news for the comedy duo in tomorrow's final. Even if Wimbledon continues to discriminate against the women, an altruistic brazier manufacturer has come to the rescue and will make up the difference between the mens and womens top prizes. It's good to see a company which recognises women for their sporting abilities and not just their looks. And supporting tennis more widely too with their sponsorship of "top player" Anna Kournikova. And the name of this admirable company? It's Shock Absorbers. Sounds like one hell of a bra. 1:58:11 PM    comment []

Saturday, July 5, 2003

1 day to go It was no surprise to me when Miss Williams took this year's womens singles title. It was the Hardy sister of the comedy duo who came out on top just in case you haven't heard yet - and I'm not referring to the larger than life sister sitting up in the family box. It wasn't a classic final and we had to endure another injury crisis from Venus as she left the court for treatment once more. Tournament referee Alan Mills appeared to keep Serena company while her sister was away - but she thought he was just a gopher and asked him to get her some towels. Their slaptick comedy just goes from strength to strength. Someone needs to have a word with Venus about that bloody camera. She produced it last year and tried to steal the limelight from Serena with her photography antics - at one stage joining the motley crew of press photograhers in a hilarious moment (or was it just to block off any photos of sis?). This year she was at it again, asking some random dignitary to take a photo of her and Serena. And then when Sue Barker appeared for the interviews Venus almost grabbed the microphone, leaving Serena rueing another opportunity lost and another year gone...  Scud versus Federer It seems that Federer is so nondescript as to not merit a nickname. But apparently his tennis has been good as I have heard several experts saying that he is looking like the new Sampras (but he doesn't even have a beard???). Let's hope Philippoussis plays at his best and we could have a really competitive game.  Mixed Doubles In the Mixed Doubles there is a chance for Martina Navratilova to get a historic 20th Wimbledon title. But will it really finish tomorrow? Ram and Rodionova are in the final but in the other half of the draw one game is only at the quarter final stage. This means that one unfortunate couple could be turning up for the final weary from lugging their giant rackets around for 6 sets, only to meet Ram & Rodionova fresh and relaxed from a day spent sipping Robinsons Barley Water. 8:17:04 PM    comment []

Sunday, July 6, 2003

Wimbledon 2003 Well, that's it all over for another year.   Recent headlines   An emotional Federer took the mens singles. It started off like it might be a classic and the first set went with serve until Philippousis blew it in the tie-break. From that point on, Scud was firing blanks and Federer ran away with it in straight sets. But at least Federer now has a nickname... Blubber really lived up to his name as he tried to cope with the emotion of winning his first Wimbledon title. The tears were flowing freely and Alan Mills put the ball boys on standby in case the covers were needed to stop the grass getting damp before the next game. I see that the BBC have secured the rights to televise Wimbledon until 2009. My personal view is that this is a mistake for tennis. I have always admired the BBC but when you see how Sky have revolutionised TV coverage of football, you have to wonder what a new broom could do for tennis coverage. Even if you disagree with me on this, how can anyone defend signing a deal until 2009?? If this was football, there would be an investigation by the OFT but who would dare to question the old boys network that is Wimbledon and the British Broadcasting Corporation? One thing is for sure, no-one can accuse Rupert Murdoch of being elitist.   Sue Signs Up   The BBC has quickly followed up its landmark deal to televise Wimbledon for the next 6 years by signing up Sue Barker as lead presenter. Sue will be 104 by the end of the deal and is to be joined by Andre Agassi as her youthful co-presenter.  Martina at 20 Martina Navratilova won her 20th Wimbledon title this evening by winning the mixed doubles with Leander Paes. It wasn't a great match but they had showed their class in earlier rounds and the crowd really enjoyed watching a legend in action. And so did I. 8:40:37 PM    comment []