I like tennis. A lot. More of an avid supporter than an actual player – well, by more of, I mean completely and utterly, as I don’t actually play tennis at all. Far too much effort and potential sweating involved in playing the game, and I find it tense enough when I am just watching – I don’t think I could stand the pace if I was playing it myself. So, I like watching tennis. A lot.
My enjoyment of tennis-watching was further heightened today by the appearance of Britain’s number one tennis player, the energetic yet taciturn Scot, Andy Murray, in the semi-final of the Australian Open. And not only did he appear in this match, he actually won it – yay!!!!
One of the highlights of my year is Wimbledon fortnight. I love it. All the excitement, the strawberries and cream – just the utter Englishness of it all. I watch as much of it as possible, and for the past few years I have managed to have a television in my office at work, so I didn’t have to miss a minute. Fantastico.
The lovely BBC is brilliant at providing footage of Wimbledon. The coverage is superb, and I love it. However, getting such brilliant coverage of the other Grand Slam tournaments is not quite as easy. However, the BBC have done their best, and for this, we salute them. Andy Murray’s match this morning was broadcast on BBC 2, and you could also watch it on your desktop, via the BBC’s sport website. Worth the license fee alone methinks.
So, this morning I managed to watch bits of the match in between the training sessions that I was leading. One of my lovely colleagues had the match streaming via the interweb onto his computer, and, not to be outdone, I switched on the 38” plasma screen television that lives in my office, and started to watch. I caught the end of the second set, which Murray won in order to draw level with Cilic at one set all. I got called away to do something else, and when I came back, Murray took the third set as well. I also managed to slip back into the office a bit later and watch as Murray won the final point and, therefore, the match, securing himself a place in the men’s singles final on Sunday.
So, I shall be watching on Sunday morning (8.00am – must remember to set my alarm) and my fingers, toes, legs and arms will all be crossed for him. Please do the same – I would love him to win!! Go Murray!!!
