The Wimbledon Men’s Final was not to be missed. Mos’ def’ not in my household. I was up at 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning to see Roger Federer and Andy Murray go to work, truly wishing I were on the Wimbledon grounds to soak up some of that energy.
It was the most electric Wimbledon scene that I had ever witnessed in my life, a fan and loyal watcher of Grand Slam tennis for over 20 years. Andy Murray represented the first opportunity that a British man might win the Wimbledon crown since 1936. Unfortunately, that hope would dissipate–rather quickly after a tight second set ended with Roger Federer breaking Murray to tie the match at 1-1 with a 7-5 set victory.
Murray was alive early, but as that definitive Federer grind began to wear on the young Scotsman, it became obvious who was dictating the vast majority of the points. Too many crucial points were played in the delicate balance of a few inches, including two moments in which Murray slipped and fell on the moist turf–two costly happenstances that disallowed for Murray to reassert himself within the match.
Before Murray had an opportunity to catch fire, a rain delay sent the players to the locker room with the match tied 1 set all. It also served to extinguish any embers left smoldering in the Murray camp. The Centre Court roof was closed for play to resume, and as the players reemerged from indoors, there was a familiar swagger in the Federer walk–a swagger that any opponent would hate to see. Federer’s early break of Murray in the 3rd set signaled the inevitable.
The match was a dandy, but the man from Switzerland was playing in vintage form. Federer will retain the #1 world ranking with next week’s standings, and the following week will own or share all of the major records in tennis: Most grand slam titles; tied for most Wimbledon titles; most career weeks at #1.
Many of the world’s top players will stick around the UK as they prepare for Olympic play, which will take place on the same grounds they’ve enjoyed for the past 2 weeks.
