Observations on Wimbledon

Now that the 132nd Championships have come to a close, I thought I'd share some of the observations I made while watching the tournament:





1. The roof really is long overdue
Once again the unco-operative British weather affected proceedings, and though not quite as badly as last year, it was still particularly frustrating when causing breaks in play in the fantastic men's final between Federer and Nadal. The arrival of the new retractable roof in time for the 2009 Championships will be very welcome.

2. Jankovic's attitude is holding her back
Going into Wimbledon as World No. 2, Jelena Jankovic's confidence should have been sky high. However, she never appeared to be in the right frame of mind. Put out on Court 18 to face World No. 60 Tamarine Tanasugarn in the fourth round, the Serb was smashed 6-3 6-2 and seemed more concerned about her court placing than sorting out her tennis. Her post-match comments put most of the blame for her poor performance on the All England Club. If she continues to be such a moaner it may be a long time before she wins her maiden Grand Slam tournament.

3. What happened to the underdog loving British?
In the UK we think of ourselves as champions of the underdog, but their was scant evidence of that during the Wimbledon fortnight. In matches I watched such as Roddick v Tipsarevic, Sharapova v Kudryavtseva, Federer v Roddick, Jankovic v Tanasugarn, Ivanovic v Dechy, Ivanovic v Zheng and Federer v Nadal, the crowd seemed to be firmly on the side of the favourite. Indeed, during the men's final the crowd appeared to mistake Roger Federer for Tim Henman, breaking into sporadic, synchronized chants for the 5-time champion.

4.Wimbledon brings out the best of the Williams sisters.
It seems to happen every year, even if Venus and Serena have been injured, in poor form or making only rare tour appearances throughout the season, when it comes to late June they are at their best for Wimbledon. Such was the case this year, with neither sibling competing regularly on the WTA tour, but both reached the women's singles final, and won the women's doubles all without dropping a set.

5. Britain really is desperate for a champion.
The achievement of 14 year old Brit Laura Robson in winning the girl's singles was admirable, however the fervour with which it was celebrated was a little embarrassing. After her finals victory, Robson made the front and back pages of the national Sunday newspapers at the expense of coverage of the ladies' final. When asked if such a thing could happen in Germany, Boris Becker was diplomatic in his response, but clearly bemused by the excitement. With no British woman making it past the second round, and only one appearing in the top 100 of the WTA rankings, Robson's victory was a much needed ray of light for British female tennis.

6. Hawkeye is awesome
All those who said the introduction of Hawkeye would slow down the game, compromise umpires and lead to frivolous challenges have been proved wrong. Once again the Hawkeye system added to the excitement of the spectacle, with the crowd audibly anticipating challenges to tight calls and cheering for successful queries. Most importantly, it has prevented potentially costly errors by line judges and umpires at crucial moments in many matches.

7. Tracy Austin
You would, wouldn't you?