Up until now, I've mainly been writing about the MLB and the Pirates in particular. However, this post aims to break the mold and give another sport a chance to share the limelight. As you may or may not know, one of the most popular tennis tournaments in the world recently came to an end this past weekend. Wimbledon, the famed London tennis complex, played host to the best players in the world all in competition to oust one another on the grass courts and forever engrave their names in the annals of tennis history.
One of the greatest qualities of professional tennis is the game's unpredictable nature. This year's Wimbledon was certainly no exception to the rule. Both the men’s and the women’s sides witnessed dramatic upsets and unbelievable comebacks that annually characterize Wimbledon and excite audiences worldwide. Though the women’s side surely offered a number of rousing matches including Serena Williams’ magical run en route to winning another title, I’ve chosen to focus on the men’s side in fear of writing an overly-lengthy post. I promise to make up for my omission in the future.
The 128-man field was split up into four separate brackets with one of the world’s top four seeds placed in each. The big four have remained largely unchanged for the past few years with Novak Djokovic (Serbia), Rafael Nadal (Spain), Roger Federer (Switzerland), and Andy Murray (Great Britain) leading the charge from spots 1-4 respectively.
The early rounds of Wimbledon initially offered little in the way of surprises; however, things took a dramatic turn when Rafael Nadal, the second-ranked player in the world, suffered a stunning defeat at the hands of Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic. Ranked 100th in world when he beat the great Spaniard, Rosol became the lowest-ranked player to ever beat Nadal in a Grand Slam tournament. Rafa was clearly frustrated as the match wore on, as he tumbled into the net and bumped into Rosol during a court changeover. Whether or not the bump was intentional, there was no denying the fact that Nadal was angered over his inability to contend with someone of such low rank.
Despite Nadal’s early exit, the remainder of the top three continued their dominance into the semifinals. Djokovic looked masterful throughout the majority of Wimbledon, and most analysts were settling on the 25 year-old Serb to win the entire tournament. Roger Federer, regarded as the best in the world prior to Djokovic’s meteoric rise through the tennis ranks, had other plans.
Many had written off Federer as too old…at the age of 30. He had also been experiencing back problems. Pundits were offered further ammunition to fuel their beliefs that Federer was running out of gas when he barely won a thrilling five-set, two-tiebreak match against Florian Mayer (#22) of Germany. Yet Federer, calm and collected as usual, went into the match with Djokovic with confidence and managed to upset the world number one in four sets, making his way to yet another Grand Slam final.
Because of Nadal’s early exit, the latter half of the bracket allowed Frenchman Jo Wilfried Tsonga to enter the semifinals for a match against the native fan favorite Andy Murray. Murray, who had never been able to surmount the challenge of winning his home country’s tournament, received tremendous support from fans throughout all of Wimbledon. But the British have seen this episode far too often: Andy Murray makes a run deep into a Grand Slam event only to fail to make it into the final. The world number four was determined to shake this long-standing skepticism surrounding his play. And he did just that. He went into his match with Tsonga with the air of an accomplished champion and methodically defeated his opponent 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. With that victory, Murray again won over the hearts of Britain as they now anticipated a Wimbledon final that could yield a British champion for the first time since 1936 when Fred Perry hoisted the trophy.
The highly-touted men’s final drew a worldwide audience of 16.9 million, the highest viewing figure since 1990. Needless to say, the tennis world was on its feet to potentially witness an event that hadn’t transpired in years. Murray opened the match with a 6-4 first set victory which encouraged British supporters that he just might do it. However, they may have neglected to consider the iron will and unbreakable fortitude of Roger Federer. Not to be denied, Federer stormed back with an exciting 7-5 victory in the second set to tie the match. In the third set, Murray challenged Federer again but was unable to overcome the Swiss onslaught as he dropped a second set 6-3. On the brink of failure, Murray gave every bit of energy and effort he could manifest, as he attempted to fight back against Federer and win Wimbledon for both himself and his country. But regardless of his tremendous endeavor, he would be denied the trophy as Federer won the fourth set 6-4, ending Murray’s miraculous run.
In the midst of evident disappointment, Murray met Federer at the net to congratulate him on his seventh win at Wimbledon and 17th overall Grand Slam victory. Yet what most will remember about this year’s final may have been Andy Murray’s post-match speech. After being handed the microphone, Murray prefaced his oration with a bit of humor to lighten the mood as he announced, “I’m getting closer.” Fans responded positively with a mixture of laughter and applause, eager to show their pride and support for the country’s native son.
Following the ovation, Murray began again saying, “Alright, I’m going to try this, and it’s not going to be easy.” Mid-way through that sentence the runner-up broke down into tears as the intense emotion of the grueling tournament finally overcame him. Cameras zoomed in on Murray’s family and close friends, many of whom had also begun to get choked up. Murray eventually regained his composure long enough to address the Wimbledon champion. Mustering all the humility and class of a true sportsman, Murray congratulated Federer, commenting on his skilled play despite his age and bad back and praising him as a deserving winner. He then went on to thank his friends and family that had supported him throughout Wimbledon, paying careful attention to avert his eyes from where they were sitting so as not to cry again.
Finally, Murray expressed his gratitude to his fans, and with his voice yet again becoming shaky proclaimed, “Everybody always talks about the pressure of playing at Wimbledon, how tough it is. But the people watching…they make it so much easier to play. The support has been incredible, so thank you.” With those last words, Andy Murray made his way over to Roger Federer and embraced him, epitomizing the true meaning of sportsmanship and sculpting himself as role model not only for young athletes but also for some his more boastful contemporaries who could learn a thing or two from his example.
Whether you’re a tennis aficionado, casual fan, or disinterested bystander, you simply can’t deny the athletic spectacle that was Wimbledon 2012. Upsets, resurgences, and the presence of true character all made this grass court tournament special. And if there’s one aspect of Wimbledon you should remember, keep in mind Andy Murray’s post-match speech. Don’t focus on the crying. Focus on why he was crying. Though some may scorn him for his overt display of emotion, his behavior typifies the passion and dedication that go into building a professional athlete. And those are the aspects of the game that serve as a poignant reminder of why sports mean so much to us in the first place.
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