One Friday morning during my stay in London I woke to an email from a friend saying she had a couple of tickets to Tennis that day and did I want them. I instantly emailed her back saying YES and started trying to rearrange my schedule to make it happen. The chance to sit in Center Court at Wimbledon was already a dream come true, it is one of those iconic sports venues that I'd always dreamed of visiting. But the day got infinitely better when I stopped to check who was on the schedule for the day: Roger Federer vs. Juan Martin Del Potro, Serena Williams vs Victoria Azarenka, and Andy Murray vs Novak Djokovic.
I got to Wimbledon about 20 minutes into the Federer match and was worried I'd missed the best stuff, instead I got to watch them play for another 4 HOURS! The match was the longest three-set men's match of the Open era and it was amazing. The bonus of the day was the amazing seats I had - third row just opposite the royal box. I could see facial expressions and drops of sweat, the hours just flew by.
This set of photos shows the end of the match, the slow walk to the net, the exhausted hug, Federer's subdued victory wave, Del Potro's head in his hands, and the walk to the dressing rooms.
Did I mention I watched this match for 4 hours? Well in that time, my crush on Federer was immortalized by a ton of photos as I tried my hand at sports photography. I should probably be embarrassed to show these, but I suspect I'm not the only person out there who thinks he is amazing.
Next up: Serena and Victoria Azarenka (the current #1 in tennis). This match lasted barely an hour. The photo on the bottom right pretty much sums up the match. Serena dominated, she was powerful and decisive Azarenka seem to have nothing for her.
The next match was the one the crowd was clearly there for, hometown hero Andy Murray vs Novak Djokovic. A win by Murray meant he would again face Federer in the finals. A rematch of this years Wimbledon (which was won by Federer.) Murray, with the crowd very much behind him won, and went on to take the gold medal the next day in Men's Singles and the broze in Mixed Doubles.
Last up, a few crowd shots. The guy in the orange shirt in the top photo: Bill Gates, he was in the royal box. In the bottom left photo, the guy in the grey USA shirt that everyone is staring at and taking photos of: Kobe Bryant. No one famous in that last shot (that I know of.)
I listened to this great song from Lucero on the Tube to Wimbledon:
On My Way Downtown.
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