Wimbledon Wonders

Lois and I did nothing today except watch Wimbledon - the gentlemen’s championship match -- the pinnacle of tennis. We ware totally hooked and we didn’t have to spend money on airfare and tickets. It was a decedent day because it took all day -- the longest final in Wimbeldon history at 4 hours, 48 minutes. Two rain delays made it a lot longer.

Bjorn Borg, five-time Wimbledon winner, was there to see if his record would be surpassed by Roger Federer and to see for himself if his prediction would come true. He predicted at the close of the French Open that Rafael Nadal would be the Wimbledon winner.

We were riveted by the contest. Nadal (22) of Mallorca, Spain, took the first two sets 6-4, 6-4 and the Swiss Federer (28) seemed finished. Then Federer came back and took the next two sets by tie breaker, 7-6, 7-6. It seemed he didn’t feel well and we recalled he had mono only a month ago. A rain break helped him get his strength back.

We’ve watched a lot of tennis over the years and played almost 30 years. The 5th set was no doubt the most thrilling we have seen in our lifetime. The match was determined after the set had exceeded 6-6 and ended at 9-7. At Wimbledon there is no tie breaker in thre fifth and final set so the players play on until one of them wins by two. John McEnroe, NBC commentator and 3-time Wimbledon champion, called this “the greatest match I’ve ever seen.”

Willie Renshaw holds the record of 6 in a row from 1881-1886. Back then the defending champrion only had to defend in the final and not play through the entire tournament. Bjorn Borg was champion 5 consecutive times in the modern era(1980) by playing through the tournament every time. Federer matched that record last year but couldn’t surpass it this year.