Laura Robson's out

SNIFF!

... but hate the new word that seems to have crept into the tennis/sporting lexicon - 'connections' (denoting, suppporting team, family, friends, etc). Has a handbook of newly 'fashionable' terms been handed out to all the commentators? Sure I've heard it used during the football, too. Not as annoying as 'useful' ('very useful player'), mind you. Aaaaargghhhhh.

It's all very public school and jolly hockey sticks

Must we? I don't mean to be a twat here, but seriously, if someone said they disliked the World Cup because it's "all very chavvy and council-estate" or something, they'd get piled on, and rightly so. In fact, that happened only the other week with the "flags on cars" thread. I don't get the peculiar obsession with class, but maybe I'm having one of my celebrated sense of humour failures.

Anyway, I love Wimbledon, and take quite an interest in the other big tournaments too, but as with golf, the British ones have a special place in my heart. (Well, actually, my very favourite golf event is the Masters, but only because Augusta is so jaw-droppingly beautiful.) Really, though, I like the British games best. Nothing wrong with that, is there?

would you expect the BBC not to emphasise the importance of Wimbledon during, er, Wimbledon fortnight? Don't you think Canal+ or whoever extol the virtues of Roland Garros when that's taking place?

From what I've read of players past and present, it is the one they all want to win. It's class-ridden, sure, but it's special.

And yes, it would be nice for a Brit to win...what's the problem here?

of those objections to the Wimbledon tournament.
Always the same. Year in, year out. regular as clockwork, a yardstick of reliability.
Surprised it's taken so long to creep onto here. Then again the daffs were a bit late this year.
I'm waiting for the heated debate about the disparity between mens and womens prize money before I crack open the Robinsons "barley water" and consider the whole shebang properly up and running.

(Only kidding Dai ...)

p.s. Could have sworn I saw Neil Finn at the Wimbledon Village fair at the weekend. Oddly enough he was at a stall standing next to (but not with) John Scales. Both semi-famous; neither probably having a clue who the other one was.

ABM....

well I am English after all.

... and I appreciate it is a very important tournament.

I just hate the coverage. I used to enjoy it, but now find it unlistenable or unwatchable.

Some players prefer to win e.g. the US Open, but nobody involved in the sycophantic Wimbledon coverage would ever believe it.

That's a peach of a backhand.

that I loathe Wimbledon are inextricably tied up with why I love it.

I should point out that I was there the day that Sir Riff Pilchard "entertained" us all with his impromptu leading of a sing-a-long during a rain break. I could feel my gorge rising at the Pooterish, Margot Leadbetterish, Daily Mail reading, front-lawn trimming,, isn't this all jolly - and isn't dear old Cliff a national treasure - horror of it all. Did thousands die in the Punk Wars for this?

And yet, and yet. It did conjure up the summers of childhood, watching McEnroe and Borg and rushing out to the park courts to play. The whole essential Englishness of it all - despite the rarity of national successes there - does have its own melancholy magic.

A further cause for a different kind of melancholy is the fact that our lack of success is also inextricably linked to the image of the game in this country and the fact that it has resolutely failed to reach out beyond its suburban enclaves.

I look at the procession of Serbians, Croatians, Moldovans and Ukrainians on the world stage who thrive without the huge funding and support the game receives here - and have to believe we must have similar talents somewhere - but I wonder what kind of reception a nascent Venus Williams might get if she showed up at The Fwightfully-Nace Tennis and Lawn Bowls Club.

I've never been to Wimbledon but I went to Queens once as a guest of the sponsor, Stella Artois, which tells you all you need to know about how that day went.

I watched one set of Hewitt v. Some Big Russian (Dostoevsky?) and it went all the way to tie break without either player scoring a single point against the serve.

I'm sure it was a glorious display of athleticism, artistry, dexterity, guile, psychology and showmanship; but, 48 times in a row, the guy who served won the point.

I spent the rest of the day in the hospitality tent.

It is a great tournament, is it the best ? probably But I can't help feeling that Britains lack of tennis success is because of Wimbledon which is so Middle/Upper Class, until we get proper grass roots tennis players from all backgrounds coming through we will still be a second rate on the world stage

simply because I grew up in the Björn Borg era and I'm swedish...watching the games was compulsory. They all went on for five hours ( well, it felt like that at least ) and maybe fifteen minutes of that time was actually exciting.
I hate downhill skiing as well, thanks to Ingemar Stenmark. When I went to school the teachers used to interrupt the class and turn on the telly every time Stenmark was in competition! The entire nation would stop to watch this boring sport. I used to annoy my classmates by loudly cheering for Gustavo Thöni and other non-swedes, just to piss people off.

in that first round Federer match yesterday than in the last 10 days (or whatever it is) of the World Cup.