Women's Singles Final
What a shame that Jabeur wasn't able to sort out her emotional control to be able to perform on the biggest stage in tennis. As Billie Jean King said "she needed to focus on the process and anyone who can't do so will find tennis very difficult." I do hope that she recovers from this and uses this painful experience to come back stronger next time. She seems to be a lovely person and an important role model for women in Tunisia and Africa.
It really was a psychological car crash, but to be fair Vondrousova held her nerve and played well when she must have been aware of the meltdown on the other side of the net. Closing the roof was a definite advantage for her as she loves playing indoors as was demonstrated in previous rounds when it was closed for rain. Not sure about the all England club's decision to close the roof for wind as this is supposed to be an outdoor event and surely wind is a part of playing tennis? (Strangely enough they didn't ask my opinion but more importantly the players weren't consulted either!) This definitely wasn't in Jabeur's favour.

Men's Singles Final
It's difficult to know where to begin when trying to sum up this match and it's importance. Before I begin to eulogise over King Carlos I have to say that Novak handled himself extremely well in defeat and gave a lovely speech.
The match itself just grew in quality after the 1st set when Alcaraz had a bit of a nervous start and Novak made only 2 unforced errors. The 2nd set was the key to the match and Novak will be upset at missing the 2 backhands at the end of the set which he just never does. This allowed Carlos the chance to get into the match which he took full advantage of in the 3rd set when he also made some tactical changes by slicing more and changing the height and speed of his forehand. The use of the drop shot certainly worked better as the match went on and became crucial at the end. These 2 players showed why they are number 1 & 2 in the world and I only hope we have the pleasure of seeing them in a few more finals before the joker retires.
At the start of the 4th set Alcaraz took his foot off the pedal after an early break and Novak made him pay for that with a ruthless exhibition of consistent, hard hitting tennis. At the beginning of the 5th set it really was difficult to predict who was going to win as they were such gladiators, trading mental and physical blows like heavyweight boxers. The point Carlos won to break for 2-1 was quite incredible which was when Novak smashed his racket. The level of athleticism from both players at this late stage was amazing and I think that Alcaraz helped Novak to appreciate what all the other players have felt playing him over all these years in terms of his retrieval skills. Just how do you beat this guy?
And finally it came to King Carlos having to serve out the match at 5-4. It felt a bit like when Andy Murray had to serve out for his 1st Wimbledon title (just a little bit - did you see Andy Murray in the crowd?). Apart from the 1st point when he played a poor dropshot Carlos stayed so cool to finish off the match as Novak commented upon in his speech. The hardest part of any close tennis match is finishing it off and our new King did so in style.
As you may have gathered I am a huge Alcaraz fan and not only for his tennis playing ability and swashbuckling style. This guy is a fantastic role model for kids throughout the world and adults too. In fact anyone who competes at tennis at any level could learn so much from this young man's humility, ability to enjoy the tense moments and his wonderful smile when in the heat of the battle. If you watched him walk through the Wimbledon corridor after the match he said hello to everyone as apparently he always does! I have seen him up close when the cameras are not on and he is just so much fun, friendly and charming with everyone he comes across.
Yes, all hail the new King! He is still the world number 1 ranked player and the first player in 20 years to break the dominance of Djokovic, Federer, Nadal and Murray at Wimbledon! Looking forward to the US Open already.

Other Wimbledon news
Huge congrats also to Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski in winning the men's doubles, plus Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewitt winning their 5th Wimbledon crown which was their 18th grand slam title in total. What an amazing effort! The AELTC did get the scheduling right in the wheelchair event, especially in the semis when they put the match on court 1 at a time when it was jam packed. Well done Jamie Baker who I believe was instrumental in arranging this and helping to raise the profile of these great players.
And we also have the first boys under junior Wimbledon winner since 1962. Unseeded 17 year old Henry Searle with a 134mph serve beat the Russian Yaroslav Demin 6-4 6-4 on court number 1 in front of a buoyant crowd. Only four players who won the boys singles title have gone on to win the men's - Federer, Borg, Cash and Edberg.
In the boys' under-14 singles there was victory for Mark Ceban, who beat Slovenian Svit Suljic 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 before Britain's Hollie Smart missed out on the girls' under-14 title in a 6-3 6-1 defeat by Serb Luna Vujovic.
Later, Hannah Klugman and Isabelle Lacy missed out on the chance to become the first all-British pairing to win the girls' doubles title at Wimbledon, losing 6-4 7-5 to Czech pair Alena Kovackova and Laura Samsonova.
All comments welcome!

Photos courtesy of June Campbell & Fiona Fraser

It's been a difficult week for the players and spectators with all the rain delays but that's all part of any British tennis event - Maybe they will consider covering court 2 as well?
Highlights/Talking Points of the Week
1/ Andy Murray's match with Tsitsipas for me was the highlight of the week. It's such a shame that Andy couldn't get over the line and we can see how gutted he was. However, I believe that this was one of the greatest efforts of his entire career if you are to consider all that he has been through.
The mental resilience he demonstrated in the first 3 sets of the match was quite incredible when you consider the level of tennis that Tsitsipas was playing. It's a pity that the match wasn't able to continue but even more of a pity that Andy didn't challenge with Stefanos serving at 4-4 15-30 in the 4th set when the umpire convinced him not to! (and the ball was in!) That could have made all the difference in a match of such small margins? Time for electronic scoring?
Andy continues to be an inspiration to so many tennis fans throughout the world and the game will be a much poorer place without him. Obviously, he will need to decide if the pain is worth the gain in terms of continuing for another year but selfishly, I really hope that he does and has one more go at Wimbledon.
2/ Stan is still the man! Wawrinka showed once again that his A game tennis is too good even for Novak as it was in the past. Yes, I know he lost but in the 3rd set he began to show that his best tennis was always better than anyone else including Roger, Rafa and Novak. It was great to see and I hope that he can also continue for at least one more year.
3/Jabeur is a joy to watch - Her variety of play and wonderful personality make her a crowd favourite. It's also good to see Andreescu back on form as the women's game needs players with her exciting type of tennis and courageous play.
4/ Who saw Rublev's squash shot after diving against Bublik in one of the biggest points of the match? He said it was lucky but I reckon it showed his determination to get the ball back and great hand skills. Have a look if you didn't see it - an incredible shot.
5/ Look out for Mirra Andreeva from Russia who is a real talent and only 16 years old. She lost, after being a set and 4-1 up against Keys, who has been playing so well and such a clean striker of the ball. Keys could play Sabalenka in the quarters.
6/ Novak certainly looks like the best player in the men's draw but his bottom half of the draw is perhaps easier than the top half for Alcaraz. Carlos has already had a tough one with Jarry and now has to play Berrettini. His potential opponent in the quarters could be Rune and then Medvedev or Tsitsipas unless there is an upset. Novak has Rublev in the quarters (if he beats Hurkacz) and then likely to be Sinner which is a tough one but overall an easier run to the final.
7/ A great match between Svitolina and Azarenka last night spoiled a bit by some elements of the crowd booing Azarenka as she left the court. It was most unfortunate that they didn't realise that she was trying to avoid any awkwardness with Svitolina as she knew that there would be no hand shake. The pimms brigade had maybe one too many as suggested by Azarenka? I'd love to see Svitolina go far, but she will now have to overcome Swiatek.
8/ Doubles - well done to so many of the British doubles players led as ever by Jamie Murray. So many great victories and in particular Glasgow's Maia Lumsden and her partner Bains who are now in the 3rd round. Connor Thomson and Jacob Fearnley also from Scotland have both won matches, losing today in a good match to the experienced pair of Bopanna and Ebden. Jonny O'Mara is still in the mixed. The influence of Jamie Murray and the doubles coaching guru Louis Cayer have made a huge impact on the progress and self belief of many of our players. And we shouldn't forget the work done by Toby Smith (of the fabulous Smith brothers - Leon, Gary & Toby), who works hard behind the scenes to help many of these aspiring young tennis players. So many lesser known coaches don't get the recognition they deserve, like Toby.
9/ Looking forward to seeing how Eubanks will do against Tsitsipas. So good to see a player developing his game relatively late in his career especially with such a great game to watch and a lovely personality.
10/ What's happened to "Today at Wimbledon"? No more studio comments from McEnroe, Navratilova etc which was always so much fun and informative at the same time. Be interesting to see if it stays like that next year?
So, who is going to win the singles events?
For the men I suppose we should ask who is going to win if Novak breaks his leg on the slippy grass. (Not out of the question and a discussion for another day)
So, leaving aside the Serbian terminator, I would take the winner of Alcaraz and Berrettini to take the title. Matteo's best chance would be if the roof is closed as it then becomes an absolute server's court and his serve is ridiculous! The same could be said of Hurkacz last night but he didn't have Berrettini's forehand to finish off the match!
In the women's event I'd be surprised if Rybakina doesn't win again as she is just too strong on the grass. Apart from her, my heart wants Svitolina or Jabeur to win but my head says Pegula. Grass suits ball strikers like Pegula who hit the ball clean and early. Having said that Swiatek may now have more self belief on grass after saving match points last night with Bencic?
Looking forward to week 2 and hope it stays dry!

The draw for Wimbledon has just been made and I'm so excited about this year's event especially as Andy Murray is still playing , Alcaraz is looking like a threat to Novak and the mens doubles has now gone to best of 3 sets! (more on that later)
Andy Murray
I think Andy Murray has a decent draw as he is up against the popular Brit Ryan Peniston (wildcard - 267 in the world) in the 1st round and he could play Tsitsipas in the 2nd round, but only if Stefanos beats Dominic Thiem. I'm hoping that Tsitsipas may also be distracted by his new relationship with Paula Badosa?
At the beginning of the tournament when the courts will still be green I don't think that anyone would like to play Andy Murray and I'd love to see him in the 2nd week, fully warmed up and ready to show these upstarts how to play on the Wimbledon grass!
Will Novak win Grand Slam number 24?
The pressure is on Novak obviously because if he wins he will tie with Margaret Court at 24 Slams. and he will be only one Slam away from doing the calendar Grand Slam again! He could at the same time put a bit of distance between himself and Rafael Nadal to come after him and actually threaten his [Slam] record,
On grass I can't see too many players comfortable enough on the surface to beat Novak ,but I do think that if Alcaraz can get into the 2nd week on a firmer, slower grass (hard) court he might be the only player to challenge the Serbian. I would hope that Carlos has learned a lot from his defeat in Paris thereby reducing the possibility of cramping again.
Tennis needs the best 2 players in the world battling it out in the Grand Slam finals.
Men's/ Women's Doubles
So pleased that it is now best of 3 sets which will keep it in line with all the other slams and maybe help people stay more involved with the doubles world. Lots of Brits in the dubs but look out for the Scot Jacob Fearnley who together with his partner Johannus Monday,they recently won an ATP tour doubles event and have been given a wild card. Good luck to them plus of course Jonny O'Mara from Scotland who is playing with Liam Broady. And not that I'm in any way biased but I really hope that Jamie Murray and Michael Venus can make a good run. They were so close in Rome on clay and I think that the grass courts will suit both of them even more plus they won't have the lottery of the 10 point match tie break decider!
In the women's doubles we have yet another Scot, Ali Collins who is now 110 in the world and is at the bottom end of the draw who could play the no 2 seeds Gauff & Pegula if she can win her 1st round match together with her partner Freya Christie (GB) against the experienced Alize Cornet (France) & Udvardy (Hungary) We seem to be quite good at doubles in Scotland and in the UK in general - We just need to work on our singles players!
Women's Draw
Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina starts her defence of the women's singles title against American Shelby Rogers.
Rybakina, 23, is seeded third and goes into the same half of the draw as Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka, meaning they could face in the semi-finals.
Rybakina and Sabalenka, who first plays Hungary's Panna Udvardy, have been put into the bottom half of the draw.
This half is filled with players who have excellent an record on grass courts, including last year's finalist Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, Czech two-time champion Petra Kvitova, and the Czech 2021 runner-up Karolina Pliskova
Top seed Iga Swiatek has never gone past the fourth round at Wimbledon and starts against the highest-ranked opponent she could have faced. The 22-year-old opens against China's world number 33 Lin Zhu but, otherwise, has a favourable looking draw as she aims for a fifth major title.
American seventh seed Coco Gauff - a prospective quarter-final opponent for Swiatek - faces 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, who came through qualifying after falling down the rankings.
A standout match in the first round pits American five-time champion Venus Williams, 43, against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, who was a semi-finalist in 2019.It's great to see Venus continuing to compete and she will no doubt have the crowd behind her.
All comments appreciated, Ian
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