Underdogs with bite

SO MUCH to look forward to on a significant sporting weekend turned out to be mostly a damp squib for local sports watchers. The portents were not good, probably, given the Proteas’ hapless performance in Galle – losing inside three days to put themselves under pressure with the series against Sri Lanka only comprising two Tests.

Some serious adjustment has to be made in terms of the mindset of the batsmen in Colombo next up.

And hopefully there will be celebrations then for Dale Steyn, who needs a single wicket to become the most prolific SA Test bowler of all time.

But the major expectation of the last couple of days centred on the possibility of two South Africans winning titles at the hallowed enclave of Wimbledon.

Cape Town’s own Raven Klaasen was one half of a men’s doubles pairing (with New Zealander Michael Venus) which fought bravely all the way before succumbing in the fifth set.

Yesterday it was the turn of the tall Kevin Anderson, taking on one of the greatest players of all time in Novak Djokovic. Anderson’s efforts in eliminating defending champion Roger Federer and John Isner in marathon matches to get to the championship match deserved a medal.

But against an opponent who had overcome nightmare injury concerns in the past year, Anderson stuttered badly at the beginning of the first two sets, and although the third set was a much closer affair, he could not stay in the match.

A win for Anderson would have been a victory for the underdog – an underdog with a lot of bite. His courage, tenacity and perseverance were of the highest order.

A win for Croatia in the World Cup final would also have been one for the underdogs.

Again, sadly it was not to be, as opponents France were too good on the day in their 4-2 victory.

The tournament in Russia has been a revelation, though, with regular surprise results, enough to make us fall in love with the beautiful game, and with the beauty of the little guy with heart taking on and socking it to the big guy.

The underdogs may not always win, but their battles are the stuff that history is made of.