Another Wimbledon over...

Pic 1: Wimbledon Centre Court, with the old roof.

The end of Wimbledon always brings with it a melancholy feeling at the end of a fortnight's tennis. I caught the bug in 1987. I was at home nursing a nasty injury as an 11-year old. I got to watch the whole thing for 2 weeks. "Star Trekking across the universe" was in the charts; I was addicted to chocolate "Weetos" cereal and Milky Bars. The enduring image of that championship was the victorious Pat Cash running into the stands to greet his father.

Pic 2: Pat Cash wins Wimbledon in 1987

During that 1987 championship, I also recall watching doubles tennis for the first including the "Woodies" doubles pairing - the Aussies Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge.

My interest wained for a few years (although I won a 20 quid sweep stake on Andre Agassi in 1992). However, since around 2000, my interest has been rekindled as K is a big fan. Moreover, K's friend Raelha is an equally big fan.

Pic 3: Evergreen Australian doubles pairing - Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge

In the early 2000s, K and I went twice to Wimbledon. On one occasion, we listened in the queue on our trannies as a new era in mens tennis arrived - a young Roger Federer defeating Pete Samprass was considered a huge upset back then.

We also got to see the incomparable Martina Navratilova for a couple of precious sets of doubles on court 2. Nothing will ever erase the memory of seeing the great Martina in action. Another memory of 2001 was the phenominal Ivanesavic - Rafter final played on a Monday.

Pic. 4: The great Martina Navratilova wins her 20th Wimbledon title. On this occasion it was the mixed doubles with Leander Paes in 2003.

The fact that I've posted about tennis means that I predict some juvenile comments about Sharapova's legs, or similar, to appear from certain quarters. Needless to say, these types of comment shall be deleted without recourse to appeal. You know who you are. I hope you'll surprise me by not leaving a smutty comment in the first place!

Pic. 5: Wimbledon final, 2001 - the greatest game I ever saw: Goran Ivanisevic bt. Pat Rafter 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7.

Raelha's new blog "Graff, Evert, Ashe" has been a welcome newcomer this month. It chronicles the fantasy tennis tournament that the 3 of us have played out for seven years now! Hopefully the blog, and the wonderful memories of the 2007 men's final (Federer bt. Nadal 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2.), will stimulate Tortoiseshell's tennis buds again - I wish I could develop a closer interest in this great game.