Your Call (Queen's, Day 7)

By Rosangel Valenti, TW Contributing Editor

Good morning. This is the Tribe's regular space for discussing tennis, or match-calling any of the finals that are taking place. You can also use this post to go off-topic.

I've had a terrific week so far at Queen's Club. Apart from the cheerful atmosphere of the event itself, there's the feeling of anticipation building towards Wimbledon. Attending as a photographer, the BBC's presence is very obvious, as its courtside cameras are right beside us, and there are frequent sightings of its presenters, many of whose faces will also be seen when play kicks off at the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, exactly eight days from now. The BBC Queen's-followed-by-Wimbledon package is simply one of the greatest TV experiences there is.

Yesterday was semifinals day, and I spent most of the time during the matches sitting close to the seats containing the players' support teams. Last year I had a front row seat as a spectator for the semifinals, and felt privileged to have an excellent view of the back of Jimmy Connors' head; this time I was close enough to hear everything that was being shouted by the Nadal supporters' camp, as they were in the same row. Nothing unexpected (Vamos! Vale! Animo!). Number two coach Francisco Roig was in attendance, and he shouted encouragement after every point. It was a good place for a photographer to be, because Nadal usually glanced at his support team after a hard-fought point, win or lose.

During the second semifinal, between David Nalbandian and Novak Djokovic, Nalbandian's supporters were in the same spot, although there were only two of them. They were much less animated than the Nadal camp had been, and spent most of the match simply looking anxious. With justification, because Nalbandian appeared unable to move well, find his serve, or hit a backhand properly. I can't say for sure that he was injured or unwell, but don't know how else to explain his performance - a huge contrast to the animated player seen in the quarterfinal against Richard Gasquet. Djokovic did everything well, and on the day, this was more than good enough. The match was mercifully short, at 47 minutes, 6-1, 6-0.

Today I'm heading back to west London for the final - Nadal versus Djokovic, for their third meeting of the past month, and their second encounter on grass. With Wimbledon looming, and these two so close in terms of ranking points, with Djokovic threatening for the number two spot soon, it surely must be a dream final for the organisers. Their only previous match on grass took place last year at Wimbledon, in the semifinal, when Djokovic made an aggressive start, taking the first set, then lost the second, trailed in the third, and retired due to injury. He should start as the favourite today, but has also been tested less this week. Meanwhile, the Nadal serve has surprised me in the past few weeks; he seems to be winning more cheap points with it than in previous years. It was surely one of the keys in his win over Andy Roddick yesterday. As was, of course, the return of the Roddick serve.

As always, enjoy today's tennis.