I made it to Nirvana. Wimbledon is the Holy Grail for tennis players. I was 22 the last time — and only time — I was here as a fan. I was in my first year as a sportswriter and still dreaming of one day covering an event like Wimbledon. Eighteen Super Bowls and six Olympics later, I have returned.
It isn’t the Wimbledon Championships. That much is obvious by the colored outfits the players are wearing (rather than white), and the colors, other than green and purple, surrounding Centre Court. But it is the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. It’s grass courts and strawberries and cream and tennis at its best. I could not have picked a more perfect day. It was 70-something degrees and sunny, and I witnessed a match that might be the most memorable in Olympic tennis history. Roger Federer won 19-17 in the third set of a match that lasted a record 4 hours, 26 minutes. Federer wasn’t always at his best, which is why Juan Martin del Potro was able to hang in so long. “I was very tense at certain times,” Federer said. “I was seeing myself as a loser many times during the match.” He horribly shanked two forehands and a backhand in the third set, and he hit two drop shot attempts into the net. As a tennis player, it’s nice to know even the pros can do that.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
