By Bill Simons
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”—Winston Churchill
We’re always told to appreciate what you have. Take advantage of every opportunity. Your treasure can go in a flash.
After all, on this blue-sky, breezy English afternoon, all seemed perfect for Novak Djokovic.
With a British Royal (Prince Michael), a tennis royal (Rod Laver), a golf royal (Jack Nicklaus), and a Russian princess (Maria Sharapova) looking on, the Serb quickly showed why he was the No. 1 seed and the favorite to win Wimbledon. He stepped out and schooled his young foe, Grigor Dimitrov, the 23-year old who doesn’t want to be known as “Baby Fed” or as Sharapova’s main squeeze. Dimitrov’s main concern was simple: reach the Wimbledon final.
But Djokovic, limber and loose, would have none of it. At first Novak’s considerable skill sets were on full display: running with ease, returning with confidence, serving well, and unleashing great defense.
All the while, the Bulgarian hunk who punked Andy Murray, showed little of the command which so devastated the “woe-is-us” British sporting public just two days ago. Sadly, Dimitrov was botching volleys and spraying groundies, and then he played what Andrew Castle called “a very untidy game,” which he lost at love. Soon the first set was gone and so was another service game in the second.
Adrift and out of rhythm, Dimitrov was in danger of suffering a fatal second loss of serve to go down a set and two breaks. “He has to be careful,” cautioned John McEnroe. “If he doesn’t watch it, he’ll be back in the locker room in 45 minutes.”
But in a flash the Bulgarian was back in the match.
A single shot—an inspired Dimitrov dropper—changed everything. Suddenly, Grigor felt a surge of “I belong” belief. His movement, his play, his swagger—all of it shot upward. He got into the zone (or, as they say here, he was going through a purple patch).
Dimitrov could have been down 1-4, but he saved two break points and soon broke Djokovic to capture the second set 6-3.
“The one-way traffic has been replaced,” said the BBC. “It really has been a remarkable transformation.” At last, in the third set, both players were simultaneously playing well. But in the tiebreak, the still-young Bulgarian slipped, double-faulted, and donated backhand errors allowing Djokovic to again gain the advantage in a battle which tweaked logic. Then, incredibly, Dimitrov suffered three double-faults during his first service game in the fourth to give Djokovic a break.
But this match was all about opportunities lost, advantages squandered, and a whiplash score line.
Much to the chagrin of Djokovic’s high-profile mentor Boris Becker, Dimitrov broke right back, and the match slipped and slid to another tiebreak. This time, Djokovic—supposedly such a master of game management—offered two critical groundie errors and inexplicably found himself three set points down.
Dimitrov imagined he was right back in the match.
Wrong!
This battle was an ode life’s shifting fortunes. And Djokovic—with been-there, done-that, mid-career confidence—not only saved three set points, he worked his way to match points against a foe who could not get the proper physical (or mental) footing on what was largely a dirt court. Time and again, Dimitrov fell, until a generous ball boy lifted him off the turf.
Djokovic was hardly inclined to give him a lift. Instead, off a let cord, he stroked a confident forehand to the open court to score a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(7) win, and open that hefty Wimbledon door to another final, his third in a decade.
True, there were times when Djokovic wobbled. But on this momentous day, he did one thing right. When opportunity knocked, he opened the door.
YES, AMERICA, THERE’S STILL HOPE, AND OTHER NOTES FROM WONDERFUL WIMBLEDON:
QUITE A SIGHT: Tennis’ Rod Laver and golf’s Jack Nicklaus chatting in the Royal Box.
BASHING BULGARIA: When it was noted that Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov left home to train in France, John McEnroe said, “Not too many people are going to say its a horrible thing to leave Bulgaria to go to Paris.”
NEVER A DULL FOGNINI: Fabio Fognini was fined $27,500 for losing his temper with a Wimby ump, days later, photos came out of him posing naked in the British edition of Cosmopolitan magazine.
THERE’S STILL HOPE FOR AMERICA: We lose in soccer. Our men had their worst Wimbledon result in 103 years. Our women’s results are, shall we say, modest, and Americans were left with images of our greatest star of this era, Serena Williams, looking lost and sickly. But three of the four Americans in the Wimby boys singles—Noah Rubin, Taylor Harry Fritz, and Stefan Kozlov—are into the semifinals. Rubin and Fritz are facing each other, so the US is assured a finalist.
America is also guaranteed a winner in the men’s doubles. The Bryan brothers beat the French duo of Nicolas Mahut and an injured Michael Llodra (who was playing his last Wimbledon). The California natives are now in their seventh Wimbledon final, and will be going after their fourth title against the North American duo of American Jack Sock and Canadian Vasek Pospisil, who beat Radek Stepanek and Leander Paes.
I’LL HAVE WHATEVER HE SAID: When BBC asked the Bryans about their closeness, one of the brothers said, “We have been playing together since we were six. That’s thousands of matches. We have been together from the womb. That’s 37 years and nine months. But we don’t do a lot of talking on court. That’s why our matches are so short.” At which point the other Bryan interrupted and said, “Yeah, exactly, that’s it—exactly what he said.”
RUMINATIONS OF A ROOF: The Wimbledon roof tweeted: “Another quiet day in the sun for me today. Could do us some rain. I am out of practice. #rustyroof.”
SAY IT ISN’T SO: The appealing 18-year old Vicky Duval was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma.
QUOTEBOOK:
“Does she [Genie Bouchard] sound cocky? She really doesn’t. She is just confident to a rather terrifying degree.”—Simon Barnes
“Is there a finer sporting arena in the world than this?”—Andrew Castle, on Centre Court
JUST WONDERING: What do Andy Murray‘s girlfriend Kim Sears; his coach, Amelie Mauresmo; his mother, Judy Murray; his dog Maggie May, his favorite on-court food, bananas; fate; and Murray himself have in common? All were said by the Daily Mail to be reasons for Murray’s loss to Grigor Dimitrov.
HEADLINES:
KVITOVA CHECKS INTO ANOTHER FINAL
WHY A CANADIAN IS THE LAST BRITISH HELP
NATION OF LOSERS AGAIN
WIMBO PRINCESS EUGENIE CASTS HER SPELL
WERE BRITAIN’S GOLDEN DAYS JUST A DREAM?
