Clashes to rival Waterloo, Battle of Britain

ceremoniously dumped Nadal from the tournament last year and the son of a Greek computer engineer, was sent packing back to Australia, accused of throwing a set to French opponent Richard Gasquet, throwing his racket at the umpire and generally throwing up a finger at All England Club etiquette, to the delight of his teenage Twitter followers and the embarrassment of the Australian old guard.

Former champions Rod Laver and Fred Stolle, who witnessed the bizarre on-court antics of Australia’s most talented young tennis player, shook their heads in disbelief and told me that Pat Cash seemed tame in comparison.

However, if Kyrgios has been the talk of the town in being singled out for his manic behaviour this week, then the British crowds should be running a close second.

Murray Mania has reached new heights with the combined force of Heather Watson’s defiant performance against Serena Williams and Murray’s apparent giant-slaying of record ace-serving Croatian Karlovic – all 6ft 11in (2.11m) of him.

American promoter Donald Dell fumed over dinner, describing a crowd similar to soccer hooligans, who literally booed an opponent – never mind one worthy of utmost respect – for doing nothing other than representing an obstacle to victory. Every time Williams’ back was turned, Watson would dramatically raise her arms, inciting the crowd to yell louder, and as the American became unnerved, so her game unravelled to the extent that she came close to losing to the lesser player.

Both Karlovic and Williams were basically playing both the British top seeds and 40 000 of their fans, baying for blood. While local media compared their performances to Wellington’s at Waterloo, rest assured, these matches were hardly contested.

In fact, the only real court clashes worthy of this year’s anniversary of the Battle of Britain were: 1) The Battle of the Singlehanded Backhands between Gasquet and Stan Wawrinka; and 2) The Battle of the Big Serve versus the Best Return of Serve between South Africa’s Kevin Anderson and defending champion Novak Djokovic. These two five-setters raised the bar in terms of fortune favouring the brave.

I received a text message from Dutch champion Tom Okker, still visiting South Africa, reading: “Are you watching this match? Ander- son is playing out of his skull.”

Anderson was unlucky to lose and, unlike Kyrgios, distinguished himself and showing surprising composure on the big stage.

As for pin-up Grigor Dimitrov – the cause of the biggest ongoing catfight in tennis between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova – he has fired his coach, who apparently doesn’t gel with his current Diva girlfriend, and former South African Davis Cup captain JohnLaffnie de Jager, who recently parted company with Daniela Hantuchova, has expressed an interest in the job.

While Williams may have had