Wimbledon 2014

Tense report from Markham Hill...

Wimbledon has come around again and the question on everyone’s lips was will Andy Murray win again?

Are Rafael Nadal’s knees going to take the strain?

Will the 32 year old Roger Federer win for an eighth time or will the on form Novak Djokovic be victorious?

The William’s sisters are a favourite with crowds but they both lost in the singles early on; and they had to retire from the Ladies doubles due to Serena being taken ill.

The weather remained favourable - only severely affecting play on the middle Saturday, with showers on the second Monday and on finals day.

Dedicated fans camped out overnight in Wimbledon Park; there are 500 tickets for centre court, courts 1, 2 and 3 available for purchase on the day.

I am a comfort lover and despite being an ardent tennis fan have never been moved to camp out. A friend of mine’s husband decided to camp out with a group of mates. It had been on his bucket list for a while and at the age of 60 he felt it was now or never. His wife arrived in the morning to collect the tents and to deliver a hot breakfast; ok for some. [Photo of Father of the Livery, Calvert Markham, not delivering breakfast]

The Ladies singles number 1 seed Li Na and the number 2 seed Serena Williams went out in the 3^rd round; followed by 4^th round losses of the 4^th seed Agnieszka Radwanska and 5^th seed Maria Sharapova. Many men were sorry to see the glamorous Maria Sharapova lose; however, others were pleased not to have to put up with her squealing during play.

The top four men’s seed’s all made it through to the second week much to the tournament and spectators relief.

However, much to everyone’s dismay Raffa lost his 4^th round match to the big serving, 19 year old wild card, Australian Nick Kyrgios.

Andy Murray followed by losing his quarter final match to the 23 year old, number 11 seed, Bulgarian, Grigor Dimtrov. Commentators had wondered, if he won the Men’s final and his girlfriend Maria Sharapova won the Ladies final, would he propose on court? We will never know.

British singles interest unfortunately ended early in the first week of the tournament, although it was sustained until the second Friday in the doubles.

The pairing of Jamie Murray (GB) and John Peers (AUS), seeded 14, lost in the 3^rd round of the men’s doubles.

The mixed doubles pairing of Jamie Murray (GB) and Casey Dellacqua (AUS) seeded 10, made it through to the 3^rd round; as did the unseeded Neal Skupski (GB) and Naomi Broady (GB).

Ladies finals day dawned and the 13^th seed Eugenie Bouchard faced the 6^th seed Petra Kvitova. Petra Kvitova proved too strong for her opponent and cruised through to her second Wimbledon title.

But what of the men’s title?

Marin Cilic took Novak Djokovic to an exciting fifth set in their semi finals.

The all Swiss semi-final found Stan Wawrinka playing his friend Roger Federer. Stan due to the weather complained at having to play three days in a row whilst his opponent had had three days off. It became apparent during the match that it had taken its toll and the ailing Wawrinka lost the match.

Men’s final day dawns and the sun is shining, Novak Djokovic faces Roger Federer across the net.

Roger is hoping to be the oldest man at 32 years of age, to win a Wimbledon title, and it would be his eighth, quite an achievement.

The 27 year old Novak Djokovic is hoping to stop his run of losses in grand slam finals by winning his second Wimbledon title.

They were both serving and playing well; by the fourth set Djokovic was two sets up and 5 games to two; serving for the match. We think it’s all over but Roger Federer thinks otherwise and fights back to win the set.

Has Djokovic choked? Will the 32 year old Federer be able to maintain the pace? The commentators having been sure in the last set that Djokovic was to be the victor are now shuffling their feet. We enter a fifth set and Djokovic gets himself together and goes on to win.

An exciting end to an excellent fortnight’s tennis.

If you are already planning next year’s Wimbledon viewing, remember the tournament starts a week later than this year.

Carole Markham - cutting her tennis raquet-shaped birthday cake