Sunday 6th July

There was a time when Roger Federer was unbeatable.  He just kept on winning.  For a few years there was nobody to touch him.  He had an elegance, a style, great strength and athleticism but best of all a cool temper and a quiet intelligence.  Then a couple of year ago he ran into trouble.  Or did he just run out of steam?  Suddenly there were two new kids on the block, Rafa Nadal and Djokavic.  And Roger started losing out in Grand Slam finals.  He came back in 2012 and just beat our own Andy Murray at Wimbledon, only to be beaten a few weeks late in the Olympics.  2013 was a bad year for him, he had slipped down the world rankings, he looked tired, he was being outplayed, you almost hoped he would just retire and leave the field gracefully.  Andy finally won Wimbledon this year too, a tonic for the nation.   Roger was still seeded number four for this year’s Wimbledon, maybe more on account of his previous seven (yes, an incredible seven) wins here.  This year too Nadal was on fire, winning almost everything in sight.  Even Djokavic was struggling.  Andy Murray had been injured and was nowhere, it was hope over experience even thinking he might do it again.

There were a few new guys around too who were threatening the top four.  Then a wild card Kyrios surprised everyone by beating high ranked players and even knocked out Nadal.  A stroke of luck for Roger who was scheduled to meet him in the semi-final.  In the end it is Djokavic who has only won Wimbledon once and has lost 5 out of the last 6 finals he has played in, against a rejuvenated and almost back to his best Federer.  There is no real favourite this time, it could go either way.  I suspect that now that Andy had gone the crowd will be rooting for Roger.  No-one since the nineteen-thirties has won eight times at Wimbledon.  Go on Roger, one more time.