by This sinus pain is slowing me down so much that I must make another appointment, and this time I won’t be fobbed off with a few pills that give me at best a two-week respite.
The women’s final started brilliantly but in the end was something of a damp squib. How different it might have been had Venus taken (or been handed) one of those set points, but all credit to Muguruza, particularly on the first set point which was the longest rally of the match.
After the women’s final I continued to watch almost as much tennis as I could (heck, it’s 14 years since I was last able to watch Wimbledon during waking hours). First I saw the end of the men’s wheelchair doubles final, an interesting event to watch and on this occasion a close-fought win for a British pair, then I settled down to watch the able-bodied equivalent. Or kind of. I don’t really like men’s doubles, not proper crash-bang-wallop men’s doubles anyway. Breaks of serve are rare, and on grass they’re like gold dust, with sets comprising twelve games of utter futility and an inevitable tie-break. Why am I watching this? This isn’t like the old days of McEnroe and Stich or Philippoussis and Rafter or the Woodies or anybody I recognise. Only there were breaks of serve, seemingly out of nowhere, and in the fourth set there were a totally ridiculous three in a row. The match entered the fifth set and it was a cliffhanger. So much suspense, a bit like the singles match between Muller and Nadal. Break points and match points were saved, desperation half-volleys were dug out, and net cords were struck on vital points (which, of course, in an extended fifth set, are virtually every point). At 11-all they had to close the roof, and the match only lasted nine points on the resumption, but it had been a thriller. I didn’t really intend to watch the women’s final which started at 11:30pm, but I couldn’t sleep and there was a Romanian in action. Try as they might, Monica Niculescu and her Taiwanese partner were overpowered by the Russians, and they were dispatched without winning a game. They took their defeat extremely well.
I almost don’t want to watch the men’s final between Federer and Cilic, but I guess I’ll have to.
