Second is first loser!

Many years ago, 1973 to be exact, I attended the Wimbledon tennis final day. With a pal from school, we slept out on the street in sleeping bags to queue for the public ticket allocation. At about 7am, a bobby gave out numbered tickets so you could get some breakfast and a wash and return to your point in the line. There was probably less interest that year as there was a professional players boycott in the men's tournament. Heavy rain had postponed the women's final on the Friday and so we were treated to Billie Jean King's demolition of a very young Chris Evert and then saw Jan Kodes defeat Alex Metrivelli.

How times have changed and my sporting taste too. I wouldn't sit on the Centre Court today for love or money. I find it strange that after waiting so long for a British man to contest the final, the home crowd can be so gushing towards his opponent. Every aspect of a Wimbledon crowd's behaviour is exactly what I hate about British sport. If foreign players don't feel intimidated they've stepped into the lion's den, what's the point in having the tournament here in the UK?

During last year's Olympics, our eldest daughter was living in Australia. She noticed how the Aussie television stations would report that an Aussie swimmer had won a silver in the pool, but then completely ignore who won the gold or bronze. The Australian public simply weren't interested in who else was competing. Yet most of us with an interest in sport admire the Aussie will to win and their successes in relation to such a small population. We started to get the feeling of being the best from our magnificent Olympic cyclists. Winning is a whole lot better than losing, in fact winning is everything. Perhaps the LTA could print that on next year's Centre Court tickets?


nick