Monday 11 July 2016

Wimbledon Tennis finals!

Hubby and I have been watching them. Lest you think we are total couch potatoes, we have exercise equipment in our basement, which means that we can work out while watching curling, tennis, soccer, all things we cannot do! Old age sucks, especially if you have aches and pains, or tennis elbow (from playing squash), and tendonitis (from biking). I have to just do what I can and let others do their marathons!

Women's Finals

Firstly, Williams (USA) vs. Kerber (GER). I love the people watching, the commentators are not always the best! I know some of my blog buddies have an interest in tennis, as well.
@TSNTennis tries to keep the audience entertained by taking footage of famous folks. The match drew some famous folks, as well as former champions. The first is Beyoncé and hubby, Jay Z. The last is Ellen Degeneres and Portia De Rossi. Poor Beyoncé was mocked on Twitter. She was sitting in Williams' box, but didn't seem to know the rules. In the 3rd photo, William's coach, Venus Williams, and her mom, with the lovely mane of hair.



Men's Finals Sunday

Then there was the Raonic (CAN) vs. Murray (GBR) match! I had to go provide respite for a client whose spouse wanted to go to church (9:30 to 2:00). It was a long drive, nearly 30km, and a half hour away. I had to keep the radio off in the car on the way home!
Hubby's job was to ensure we taped it. We are so proud of our Canadian, Milos Raonic. He is the first Canadian to make it to the semi-finals. At 6'5" he's had to learn to work with his height, and up his speed across the court. At age 25, he is still improving.  He has a HUGE team: two coaches, publicist, physiotherapist, doctor, nutritionist, sometimes a chef, I watched an interview on The National. His coaching team was supplemented by McEnroe who was brought in as a consultant.  There is controversy from both The Globe & Mail, and BBC, as Mac is also an ESPN commentator.
Our PM was watching, as well. (He's got good publicists, as well!)
The hats are quite comical, it is fun people-watching! Andy Murray's wife is standing, in the peach dress. Hugh Grant, as well as David Cameron were there! It was David Cameron's mum sitting beside him. The Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge were in the royal box, as well.
The outdoor TV screen for the riff-raff was impressive.

In the final photo, you can see the man in the hat behind Murray's coaches. He is a Steward with Wimbledon. Always in his hat, suit and tie. From @TSNTennis:
David Spearing is a steward who sits in the players box to make sure the players representatives are in the correct place.

2 comments:

Anvilcloud said...

Milos did great. I am very impressed with his dedication and hard work. When he first came on the scene, I saw him as a great server with not much else, but he improved his ground strokes and now his volleying. I don't know if he has the tools to win a major, but he's done very well. In my memory and with a few execptions, hardly anybody wins Wimbledon on their first trip to the finals.

William Kendall said...

Good of Milos to have gone as far as he did.