tuesday
This year I decided to take a late flight out of hamburg. That got me from taking an extra day off from work. It was tuesday, second week of the All England Championships and I had actually hoped, that they would give Daniel and Nenad a day off from play so that I could be sure to be there on time to still meet them for their quaterfinal match. But as it happened, they were up at noon for the doubles and Daniel was scheduled as well for the mixed doubles later on.
So while waiting for my flight - suitcase allready packed - I watched the scoreboard, not knowing if it would announce me the first London trip without tennis in 4 years of travel or if it would leave me happy and relaxed to my later on flight.
And Daniel and Nenad gave me a hard time watching. Winning the first set in a close tiebreaker, the second than a little easier, before loosing the third in another tiebreaker. Time was passing... I wasn't even sure if I would be able to see the end of the match if they'd go to five sets... But luckily they finally finished it of with 6:3 in the fourth, leaving me a little more relaxed to my upcoming flight and the rest that still had to be done until the take off.
I finally left home around 5.30 p.m.. My flight was due on 8.35 p.m. which gave me plenty of time at the airport. This year I tried another flight company and yet another airport. I've been with British Airways to Heathrow as well as with German Wings to Gatewick so far, this time EasyJet would bring me to London-Luton an airport from which I only knew, that it was located somewhere in the north of London and not quiet close to the city... But it sounded worse than it was at the end. Finally landed in Luton, I needed not more than 10(!) minutes to make my way from the plane out of the airport building including baggage claim and passport control.
The bus which would take me to London city was allready waiting and therefore the 45 minute trip by bus was much more relaxing than the long lasting procedures at one of London main airports.
So I finally reached my hostel located right at the Thamse at London Bridge at around midnight. And I still had no idea whether Daniel had won or lost his mixed doubles while I was out on the road. But I'd find out soon...
wednesday
My first night in London had passed. I had to get used to the main road just in front of the window and the police cars passing by at the middle of the night, but I finally had gotten some sleep and was therefore ready to finally go down to my beloved tennis courts. But first of all I had to check on the schedule and the latest results that I had missed the day before.
So after a 5 minute walk down the street to the main building of my hostel complexe, first thing I'd do was to check on the internet system and have a look at what would be up for today. I was more than happy to see, that Daniel had also won his mixed doubles while I was somewhere between germany and britain and that he would be playing his mixed quaterfinal today while the mens doubles had their day off today instead of - as I had hoped - the day before. Since the mixed was scheduled as the third match on Court 2, that left me with plenty of time to have a walk through the city. But before I had to have some breakfast. And as it happened, I was soon joined by a guy on my table who turned out to be from Toronto. Was that a good omen?
As I said, I started my trip to London, a city I love, with a walk down the Thames. Since my hostel was just round the corner, this was what I did nearly every day from now on. I'm born alongside a river myself here in hamburg, so water is always something that lets me feel home... I had a look at all these famouse buildings I've seen thousands of times allready but which I still like to visit: Tower Bridge, Millenium Bridge with view on St. Pauls Cathedral, London Eye and of course Westmister with the famous Big Ben. A great start into a week which was supposed to become even more spectacular.
Around 12.30 p.m. I finally started in the direction of Wimbledon, taking the Tube as usual down to Southfileds, than walking another 15 minutes down the road to finally reach the courts. Matches were allready on play since noon, but since the match I dearly wanted to see wasn't scheduled early, I gave myself some more time to have my first walk around the grounds before finally finding myself a comfortable space in the stands of Court 2.
And that's where I met the next canadian from Toronto. While Daniels match didn't start yet, we came to have a little chat and I thought it must have been more than an omen, that I now met the second one from Toronto in just one day. But unfortunately it wasn't.
Don't get me wrong, I had a great time following the mixed doubles which was won by Jamie Murray and Liezl Huber 6:4 7:5 and in which I couldn't help but cheer from up in the stands as good as I could (to some peoples amusement...), it was probably the knowledge that I would be seeing Daniel play together with Nenad nevertheless tomorrow which kept me in a really good mood. And of course the fact, that I spent a nice evening with a new canadian friend along...
I guess I finally reached home around 11:30m p.m. got a short nap before the tennis action started again and I got up at 8.00 a.m. for my second morning in London, this time not with a canadian guy but with a mexican guy at my breakfast table.
thursday
This morning I wasn't as relaxed as the day before. It was because of the upcoming semifinal where Daniel and Nenad were to face Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes. I've seen Leander Paes often enough playing with different partners to know that he's the one guy you should have an eye on. Watching this guy play is amazing, 'cause it seems as if he's everywhere on the court and he's playing these great angles when he has the chance to... But before that match I still had plenty of time as usual. So I had another look around the city, did some shopping, had some coffee...
...and headed down to the courts around 1 p.m. If you have a match scheduled on Center Court during the second week of play you have to be either absolutely lucky to still be able to purchase a ticket or you need somebody who's thinking of you in some other way. ;) So let me express my thanks here once again to have me on that omnious list which can open you the doors to the truly holy grounds of the All England Club... But before the match I had some time to have a look at the other semifinal match between Jonas Bjoerkman and Kevin Ullyett against the Bryans. They were having an extremly tight and tough battle, but when the score got up to 3:3 in the first set I had spotted Daniel and Nenad on one of the courts near by. So at the next exchange of sides I made my way down to them, being right away welcomed first by Nenad than also by Daniel who were just hitting some services in preparation of the upcoming match.
I enjoyed watching them for a while, especially since there was once again a lot of fun on the court. I love it when the two of them are joking around, obviously in a good mood, it always makes you much more comfortable for the upcoming match. So as they were done with their warm up for the match Daniel stopped by for a short chat in which I couldn't help but ask him what he had for breakfast that he was fooling around like this. So folks remember on this point the one lesson he gave me: It's only worth it, if you have fun on the court! How true that is... So start enjoying yourself while playing the game! ...
After the smalltalk I naturally got up on the stands of Court 2 again to have another look at the Bryan/Bryan vs. Bjoerkman/Ullyett match. They were close to facing the tiebreak by now and it was an enjoyable match. At least until the rain set in. We actually didn't have too many rain delays this year. At least I didn't have to wait more than 3 1/2 hours for a match like last year. And for the minor delays up to not more than an hour, I had a good book along. So soon the steward from Center Court - where I normally sat down on a bench to read myself through the delays - knew me and we got into the one or other chat.
As the rain had gone I finally headed back to the match on Court 2. They actually had their rain delay coming in on match point for Bjoerkman/Ullyett. What a dramatic. And even better, the women on Center Court were about to finish their match as well which meant that I needed to be up there soon as well. But do you want to miss a maybe match point because of the next upcoming double? No! So I had one eye on Court 2, where the doubles were warming up again and the other eye on the scoreboard from Center Court in order to head over there as soon as it was needed. But they were quiet well organized.:) Bjoerkam/Ullyett made this one last point after their warm up against the Bryans and at nearly the same second, the women finished their match too. So it was time to go over and see Daniel and Nenad face Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes.
It is always something special when you first go up on Center Court. At least in my case it was the dream of my childhood to be once up there. Well it hasn't been the first time for me by now but it's still a moment to take a deep breath and enjoy to be right there, where legends were made. It might sound a little bit silly, but I'm used to cheering for the guys loudly whenever they are down in a service game or just could need some support, but in those surroundings it isn't that easy. It is a court with a history, a tradition and you actually just want to keep quiet. But I got myself together and did what I always did...
And it was a hard one, a hard one as I had been expecting. Both teams were serving well and it wasn't a big surprise when the first set went straight into a tiebreak. I was nervous, even though Daniel and Nenad were able to capture this first set with finally 7:4, but a tiebreak always ment that it was close and a match is apparently not over before the last point is played. And I should be proofed right. Towards the end of the second set Daniel struggled with his service game and all of a sudden the score was equaled again. One set all.
Since it were Daniel and Nenad who lost the first service game in this close match, I wasn't too confident at this point, but the two of them got me by surprise. Even though the rather tough battle went on, Daniel and Nenad managed to not only break their opponents once but twice, finishing of the third set 6:1 before they went on into the next service battle. At that point it allready got late and I was sure that if Daniel and Nenad weren't able to close the match in the fourth set, the match would have to be postponed until the next day. Darkness came slowly but consequent as the match went on to 3:2.
Would the referee had decided to postpone the match at this point, things might have gone totally different, but he didn't and so it happened... They were up 40:15 to even the score when Nenad tried to return a ball and fell. I guess my heart stopped for an instant as Nenad was lying on the ground and looked as if he was in real pain, holding his left wrist.
I was quiet sure that this was it, remembering a French Open semifinal in 2005, were Daniel had to pull out due to a wrist injury. What happened than, caught me in surprise. The trainer was asked for - of course - and a three minute medical time out given. And they taped it up and let him go on playing. It didn't look and feel good anyway... So it was kind of a relieve when just one point later equaled at 3:3 the referee decided to let darkness win and postponed the match. But as I said, I didn't really believe that I would see the guys play again.
friday
First thing I did in the morning was to have a look at the internet and the schedule of play for todays matches. And to my surprise it was on. The guys were supposed to finish their match on Court 1, but I was still not sure. The schedule was made the night before, so maybe they just didn't know anything yet... Nothing that could be figured out yet since it was still 8.30 in the morning. So I first went shopping to ease my mind a little. I have to admit I didn't buy anything and I couldn't really concentrate on what I was doing. Nevertheless I strolled around a little bit, just enjoying the London life passing by me. I made a stop in St. James Park, had another coffee near the Thames and finally it was late enough to make a call to insure myself that a trip out to Wimbledon would really pay off. To my surprise the news was partly good and partly bad.
Bad news was, the wrist was broken. Ouch! The good news - at least for me - Nenad decided to play nevertheless. He must be out of his mind I thought, but something deep down in my mind thanked him for carrying on my Wimbledon experience this year.
So I made once again this half hour trip out to Wimbledon. And as the guys entered the court the first thing I saw was this huge brace... Ok, that really didn't look good. My hell of respect for playing with such an injury, but against a top duo I thought that was definetly it. Especially since Nenad was the great server during the last match. But once again he proofed me wrong. After a few tries of throwing the ball properly for a good service, Nenad started to play just as if nothing at all would be bothering his play. It was amazing!
Nevertheless it got nerv wracking once again. Even though Nenad seemed not to be too handicapted, Dlouhy and Paes were able to get the better start taking the fourth set 6:4. And from there on we got into a tought battle of service games going back and forth between the two teams. Due to this one service loss of Daniel and Nenad in the first played - and therefore fourth - set, the odds seemed actually better for Dlouhy and Paes. They knew they were able to get through the service of our guys while they themselves served absolutely constantly. But you shouldn't give up hope.... Easier said than done... At the score of 6:6 it became really bad. I was about to just close my eyes and let it happen, but I couldn't. And the guys made the unbelievable happen. It seemed somehow unreal when Daniel and Nenad all of a sudden got one break ahead and now they were just one final game from the finals. And they didn't shoke.
It was one of the most thrilling matches I've experienced but it was worth every single point if we spare out the unlucky injury in the fourth set the day before.
Now I stood there in front of Court No. 1 and couldn't believe that I was about to see my first final at the legendary All England Championships. What a thrill!
saturday
I did hardly sleep. And even though nearly everybody would claim him- or herself not to be superstitious I took the same shower cabin, had the same breakfast table and even grabbed the same sweat jacket. You never know... And than I went down the Thames, found a space down at the water and just tried to relax. It was raining, but as I had experienced London the last couple of days, rain would be gone as soon as it appears and the weather seemed to be totally different in Wimbledon than it was at the center of the city.
Today Daniel and Nenad were to face Jonas Bjoerkman and Kevin Ullyett, the once I had seen playing against the Bryans on thursday. Great play and with the knowledge that Wimbledon would be the last tournament for Jonas Bjoerkman on the pro-tour I just could imagine how ambitious he was to win that one. I was down at the courts just as the womens final had started and since my ticket allowed me on Center Court for the second match only, I decided to watch the action from "Henmans Hill" the grass covert little hill in front of court 1 with the big screen showing the action on center court.
Since I hadn't slept too much, I was rather tired, but the option to witness the doubles final live later on, kept me much more than awake. But since I couldn't concentrate on the womens final anyhow I did the probably weirdes thing people have done so far during their stay at a womens final at Wimbledon. I started to do a little meditation. Normally I do that regulary every evening, but during the last days I hardly found time to do it.
So I sat there right between all these people in front of the screen and started to calm myself down. Maybe I should do that more often before a tennis match 'cause it made me feel a lot easier as soon as the final match started...
But before that, my good connection to the earlier mentioned steward paied off. As I was waiting on my bench as usual for the ceremony to be done and finally getting a chance to get up on center for my match, the same steward approached me and asked if I would like to join the womens ceremony at least. So he had me walk up the stairs and joining the rest of the crowd as the trophy was presented to Venus Williams. Thanks for that one.:)
And so I had finally walked up to the probably most thrilling tennis experience of my life. I had a great view from where I sat, placed right between Nenads supporter team to my left, which was cheering loudly for the guys ( which gave me a little more time to enjoy...) and some relatives from canadian Davis Cup coach Martin Laurendau which were enjoying themselves as well, even hooking me up with some strawberries during the match. Behind us were a whole bunch of friends and relatives from Jonas Bjoerkman and Kevin Ullyett who also did there part in cheering for their team and therefore we were probably the loudest corner at the whole court, entertaining the rest of the crowd in english, serb and who knows which languages (no, I didn't start cheering in german, don't worry...).
And once again both teams started a service battle. Nenad was serving once in a while three aces in a row and nobody wondered when they ended up in another tiebreak at the beginning of this final match. It was not only a match, it was a battle. A battle for every point and as they went on, everybody assumed this to become a very long match. They allready were tied 12:12 in the tiebreak when Daniel and Nenad went ahead 13:12 and were able to get this little but deciding break and capture this first set of a probably long lasting match 14:12. Both teams were truly giving it all and it was amazing to watch with what great moves both teams would come up as soon as the ball was in play.
I tried to enjoy. Not easy when they're going right after another tiebreaker. And this time Daniel and Nenad blinked. Given the fact that they gave the second 7:3 to their opponents the results of my earlier meditation vanished qiet fast. I was nervous as hell once again. But Daniel and Nenad got on fire. The match was close and any chance still given. And the guys took it. With the first break of the match in set no. 3 they got the match turned in their favor, finally taking it 6:3 and as at the score of allready 5:3 in the fourth, Nenad returned an unbelievable smash back into the opponents court to go ahead 0:15 in what turned out to be the final game of the match. The crowd was going crazy. With another great put away, another lucky rally at the net and finally a faboulus backhand return from Nenad they finally had won it.
It was absolutely thrilling. Everybody jumped up, the guys were hugging each other and I felt like I'd been somewhere far away from this world. There they finally were, standing in the Royal Box holding up the trophies they were fighting for through the last two weeks. Daniel heading for the last missing Grand Slam title in his career, Nenad longing for his first doubles Grand Slam at all at the age of 32. It was gorgeous to see the guys delighted and absolutely happy smiling all over their faces. Not to mention the huge hug and kiss scene which I was able to witness right after the ceremony back off the courts.;)
Just now it came to my mind, that the guys had not just won Wimbledon, but that now the team would move to no. 1 in the rankings, finally leaving the Bryans behind, who had held this ranking for such a long period. And neither important was Daniel now the best doubles player on the tour also in the individual ranking, a spot he held once a few years ago while still playing with former partner Mark Knowles.
So there I was, being part of it all remembering that when I first met Daniel in 1996 he was that guy, that hardly anybody knew, one player among a lot of others. I would probably still stick to him if he wouldn't have won all thoose titles in between, but I would lie if I wouldn't admit that today I'm proud to know a Wimbledon champion.:) I'm thankfull for this experience and a special thanks to Dan for putting up with me in all thoose years!
sunday
So finally it was time for some sightseeing. But as I got up it was raining. So my german roommate and me decided to go on another shopping tour. London is great for some shopping and this time I was even able to enjoy myself. You probably can believe that a happy shopper is not going home without some stuff. So I ended up with a whole bunch of books (bookstores are the places you should keep me away from...), some jewlery and some choclate bars that were still on my shopping list. I spent some more time at the Thames and had my obligatory coffee at one of the coffee bars, reading my book and just enjoying the last day of my little vaccation before I would be heading home tomorrow afternoon.
I had the last tourist-pictures taken, had a last look at the famous Big Ben and finally ended my London trip with a nightwalk through the city before packing my bag, ready to leave the next morning. I can't say if I'll be back next year. All the years I'd been saying this was the last time, next year I'll be heading somewhere else for a short tennis vaccation. But thank god I proofed myself wrong once again this year. So who knows... Maybe I'll be back to London next year to welcome the little "Nesty" that's on its way.:)
So far from me... thanks for all the congratulations (I passed them on) and for all the support you're giving to Daniel!
Yours Betty
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