Now that Wimbledon is over.....

Britain’s wait for an English hero was over on 7^th July and ironically it was none other than a Scotsman who brought them this glory.  For women’s tennis, it couldn’t have been a greater anti-climax as Sabine Lisicki showed none of the stehaufmaennchen attitude that she is no famous for.  I an however understand her case of nerves and it is no different from an elocution competition or a speech competition of taking part in a play where there are hundreds, thousands pair of eyes watching your every move.  Stage fright, nerves and just mental meltdown.  I lost interest when Sabine was down 1-6 to Marion Bartoli.  But a one-sided match never makes for great viewing.  My heart goes out to Lisicki and also to Marion Bartoli who has said that she wanted to hug Sabine when she shed  a tear.  This is one unusual champion- fierce but all warm hearted and one who doesn’t forget to be human on a stage where is forbidden to show any vulnerability.  Bartoli has face misogyny from BBC and we are by now used to the broadcasting corporation fielding journalist who ask stupid questions and make irrelevant remarks under the guide of ‘hamfisted’ but ‘well intended’.  In this case John Inverdale of the beeb commented "Do you think Bartoli's dad told her when she was little: 'You're never going to be a looker, you'll never be a [Maria]Sharapova, so you have to be scrappy and fight'?"  Sad, outrageous and also the fact that he didn’t think twice before spitting it on millions of viewers.  But Bartoli was equally strong to take it on her chin and fling it back calmly saying that ‘she is not looking for modelling contracts’.  I admire this calmness that is anything if not contrary to her on-court restlessness.  I love Bartoli and I wish she continues her form for as long as she plays. And I know Sabine has talent by her sheer will to stay and fight. But consistency is the key as she well knows.  You cannot beat everybody by ‘going all out’ all the time.  It will burn you before you can burn the opponent.  So here’s a toast to Sabine and Marion, tennis ‘found again’ champions and hoping to see more of them in the future.

Meanwhile what are out tennis players doing now that there is a bit of calm till the last grand slam down under?

Lisicki is back in Berlin and her schedule is chock-a-block with press commitments before she retreats to Bradenton, Florida and starts training.

The dizzying heels that Bartoli waswearing were Louboutins. She will head back to Geneva, Switzerland where she resides.  Federer was lookng forward to playing on Centre Court as late as 23^rd June and was tweeting about wanting play Gstaad Open as early as 2^nd July. I admire the spirit in this man.  There is no embarrassment in playing Ranji trophy if you cant see the balls whizzing past you. He will also play in Hamburg which is ‘favourite tournament’, never mind that he hasn’t played there in more than 4 years. This was the tournament where he got his first wild card. 

Andy Murray had 11 rackets in his kit bag.  Djokovic hosted a party after the Wimbledon for his Novak Djokovic Foundation for raising funds for underprivileged kids in Serbia.  The foundation is run by Jelena Ristic.  The gala was held at the Roundhouse, Chalk Farm Road and guess who is the global ambassador of this foundation? None other than Sarah Ferguson or more commonly know and more likely recognised as ‘Fergie’.  Why Novak why! And I though there is nothing worse than your missed down-the-line backhands! Groan! It was a star-studded event with cocktails and dinner.Novak’s girlfriend Jelena Ristic wore a lovely black and white striped Oscar de la Renta and Djokovic looked like he stepped out of a photoshoot for GQ.  Naomi Campbell, Kate Hudson, Gerard Butler, local boy Boris Becker were there as well.  And so was Marion Bartoli in her Louboutins.  The lady doesn’t lie, she indeed loves her heels!

Vicgtoria Azarenka has bought a house in california and is currently rejuvenating by buying furniture for her new abode.  And to top all news- Our own Mahesh Bhupathi and his Globosport will team with Simon Fuller’s XIX Entertainment to manage Andy Murray’s commercial interests which will leave him in peace to concentrate on his core competency which is hitting balls on the court.  Bhupathi has announced that he will try and earn the rich man more riches inform of $200 million this year.  They will pursue Federer style endorsements where he will have his own personal line of clothing from Nike/ Adidas.  Well winner takes all Andy, make the most of it!