This is your daily post for discussing today's matches at Wimbledon - the Order of Play is here. With a ladies' singles final to be played, the rest of us will be forced to choose between the men's semifinals - Federer versus Gasquet on Centre Court, or Nadal versus Djokovic on Court 1. The vagaries of the scheduling this year have been cruel to spectators - not just those who were rained off, but also those who were hoping to see a lot of great matches, and who might think that seeing both men's semifinals isn't too much to ask for.
I was on Centre Court yesterday to see a feast of tennis. I also ended up with a sunburned nose - something that seemed impossible only a few days ago. It was windy and quite chilly out there for large parts of the day, but the sun was out for some of the time. My personal highlight was, naturally, Rafael Nadal's efficient disposal of his old nemesis, Tomáš Berdych, from whom I had expected more of a fight. In fact he was heckled by some spectators for what looked to them like a lack of resistance. Meanwhile there was a handshake with some warmth between Rafa and Tomáš at the end, something fans might not have expected to see, given some ill-feeling that existed between them until recently.
Then followed Roger Federer versus Juan Carlos Ferrero (my first sight of the warmup trousers and The Bag - and some fine tennis), and Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic. With this one I missed most of the the first set, which seemed to go very fast - left the court to say hello to Pete, watched a few minutes of the Djokovic-Baghdatis match on TV, then had to queue to get back in. If you leave the court during a match, it can take two changeovers before you get back in, due to the sheer numbers of people moving around, and that's what happened this time. The wind seemed to bother Venus on her serve a lot - some of the serve preparations were very extended because of it. I have to say that this year's version of Centre Court has been windier than any previous year I can remember - a combination of missing roof and weather, I'd assume.
The added bonus was, of course, Justine Henin's match against Marion Bartoli, moved from Court 1 to Centre Court due to the long first men's quarterfinal, which meant that the last of the men's quarterfinals was in its early stages when the programmed action for Centre Court was over. The crowd was expecting Henin to finish off Bartoli, much as many others did, But they also warmed to Bartoli - the way she kept moving her feet, staying positive and aggressive, and showed that she wanted to win every point. Towards the end of the match there was a huge buzz around the court, as it became clear that Justine the Comeback Queen was not going to be able to resist the tide. The chatter afterwards about Marion Bartoli was very enthusiastic - she won quite a few friends out there; I'm sure many people hadn't seen her before.
I don't think I will be at Wimbledon today. Seats for Court 1 on the final Saturday are a challenge to find, and time is running out. But today in SW19 is expected to be fairly sunny, so either way, plenty of tennis should be played; right now the forecast for tomorrow, men's finals day, is for "sunny intervals".
Finally, I'd like to thank those of you who nominated me to receive the Rafael Nadal biography "Crónica de un Fenómeno" mentioned on Pete's "Jonas Goes Postal" thread. I didn't have time to read all the comments in the small hours, so was unaware of most of them, but I'd like to say that doing these Crisis Center posts has been fun, and thank you for reading. I have some more photos from all of yesterday's matches - will post a link to those on the final Crisis Center post tomorrow. Pete asked me to call him before I left last night, which I duly did, and I am now fortunate to have the biography in my hands. It was a big surprise, and I have to say it means as much to me that it was all of you that nominated me as it does to have the book; a few tears were not far away. The inscription that some of you requested says "Para Tennis Magazine con todo mi afecto squiggle that looks like RN Rafa Nadal". My spoken Spanish is limited, but I guess I'll be expanding my vocabulary now - luckily, I read it better than I speak it! And the baby Rafa picture is unmistakeably him!
-- Rosangel