Wimbledon

I've not left the house all day. Not even to pop out to Tesco. It was raining when I woke up this morning and it never really stopped until lunchtime, since when we have 'enjoyed' some really heavy, inundating showers. It's been an odd feeling, incarcerated in the house by the weather, thinking of loads of my friends, some cycling the 3 Counties, some doing the Etape du Tour in the Pyrenees, others running at Kettlewell, all braving this horrendous weather. There is that mixture of emotions again, part thankful to be warm and dry, but part envious of that battle against adversity that makes us feel so alive.

I got a lot more work done this morning, but I feel a bit down. Not very alive. It's a feeling of anti-climax I suppose. It's probably essential to have the odd blobby weekend, but I didn't enjoy just hanging out so much today. I think I'm only really good for one day like this at a time! But then, it was a pretty good day once more to binge in front of the TV. I've never been much of a Formula One fan, but I've got drawn into it this year by No.2 son's interest and the British Grand Prix today was exciting to watch, with a great result for Louis Hamilton.

That was then followed by the men's final from Wimbledon and what a match it was - even better than last year's epic. It was fantastic to see a great match where the big points were won by amazing winners rather than lost by unforced errors. The fourth set tie-break brought back memories of Borg v McEnroe in 1980 and that match still seems so fresh in the mind it was almost frightening to realise that was all of 28 years ago. This is when I really feel old, having a sports nut as a dad and therefore having watched the big sporting occasions from my very tenderest years, when Wimbledon was an amateur tournament and the few professional players like Rod Laver were barred from taking part. Is that really in this same lifetime? It seems scarcely possible.

I have to admit that I was rooting for Nadal today. There was a sense of destiny about it. They both wanted this title so very much, but perhaps Nadal, in the end, wanted it more, the sheer physicality of Nadal's strokeplay eventually winning out over Federer's guile and finesse. It felt like they were playing for more than the Wimbledon title too. This was to decide which of the two is the best player in the world right now. And the longer the match went on the more there seemed to be at stake. The greatest thing was that instead of their games falling apart under the pressure, they both seemed to be able to raise yet further and further on the really big points. It was almost certainly the most spectacular match to watch in the game's history. It had everything.

It's hard to imagine seeing anyone breaking through their hegemony for some while, so I'm hoping for and expecting a re-match next year. Better try to keep that weekend free. I think Andy Murray has some work to do to join this very top league. I wonder how he felt watching that final today? It must be somewhat daunting. Or perhaps inspiring?