FAULTS AND WINNERS
MIKE DICKSON’S WIMBLEDON AWARDS
STANDOUT WOMEN’S MATCH
SERENA WILLIAMS was not here, but other women stepped up to the plate in delivering some fine battles, at least until the semi-final stage. The pick of them was probably the comeback by Jo Konta (main picture) to win in the last eight, downing second seed Simona Halep (left) 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 to excite thoughts, ultimately deflated, of a home winner after 40 years.
BIGGEST VILLAIN (INDIVIDUAL AWARD)
QUITE a deep field to choose from this year, but it probably goes to the Russian Daniil Medvedev for throwing of coins at the umpire after losing his second-round match and crudely accusing her of being biased against him.
BIGGEST VILLAIN (TEAM AWARD)
THOSE players who stepped on court when clearly not fit and withdrew after making a token effort to play and picking up their £35,000 first-round losers’ cheques in the process. the opening tuesday was a dreadful day for the Centre Court with two consecutive retirements, against Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
SCHEDULING SCHEMOZZLE
NOW a hardy annual, this came on Monday night when Djokovic (left) was left waiting to play. The Serb and his team privately infuriated officials by sending mixed messages about whether they wanted to play or not as Nadal’s epic continued. ’Elf and safety had the last word over crowd movement fears. Result: nobody ended up looking very good.
GARDENER’S QUESTION TIME
AFTER a spell of unseasonably hot weather, the courts began to stress, and Kristina Mladenovic was unsparing in her assessment of Court 18. The worst look for the All England Club in the era of high definition TV was the state of the Centre Court baseline, subject to critical comments from Murray and Djokovic. Grass is not the most practical surface.
HANDLE WITH CARE
AUSTRALIA’S Nick Kyrgios ( right) and Bernie tomic continue to attract criticism, the latter when he admitted he was prone to get bored with his job. the condemnation of tomic was understandable to a point, but tennis also needs to be careful that it does not just become a sport for the worthy, the conventional and the grinding (or for those over 6ft 4in tall, for that matter).
STANDOUT MEN’S MATCH
NOT a vintage men’s tournament but there was a smattering of great contests. You would expect nothing less from Rafael Nadal (right) than a fight to the end, and he provided it before clocking another disappointing Wimbledon in losing 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 15-13 to Gilles Muller in the fourth round. A great effort from the Luxembourger, even though he may be the least expressive player of all time.
TV CONTROVERSIALIST
JOHN MCENROE started upsetting people before even getting on the plane from the us. But he did not commit the ultimate sin of a pundit, that of being bland and boring. An honourable mention for Kim Clijsters, who was a welcome addition to the BBC team with her reasoned and insightful analysis.
UNSUNG HEROES
THE ballboys and girls, who also act as towel attendants for the players. they can be subject to snapping from stressed-out performers, who ought to be reminded that the ballkids are not to be treated like their personal butlers.
LOCAL HERO
ALJAZ BEDENE may not be able to play for GB in the Davis Cup, but he showed what a plucky performer he is by knocking out Croatian Ivo Karlovic. Derby teenager Jay Clarke emerged as a player of real promise, narrowly missing out in the final singles qualifying round and making the doubles third round with Marcus Willis.
ONE WORD HERO
ANDY MURRAY was lauded for pulling up a journalist who asked about Sam Querrey being the first American to reach a major semi-final since 2009, pointing out that he was the first male. The reporter will probably not make the slip again, learning the hard way that these days there is no crime like a thought crime.