It’s coming home
EMPTY GESTURE
PICTURE the scene. It’s five to four on Sunday afternoon.
England are about to have their date with destiny in Moscow. Football has packed its bags and is waiting for a taxi to the airport.
And while the rest of the world stop and holds its breath, here on Henman Hill the big screen will be showing all the drama live as history is made. In the final of the mixed doubles.
That’s Wimbledon’s nightmare scenario and it took a huge step closer to becoming reality on Saturday when Gareth Southgate led his players to within 90 minutes of the unthinkable.
If the All England Club had become the Anyone But England club this time last week, then now their hopes are pinned entirely on Croatia.
But if the tablecloths should prove unable to block Southgate’s path towards immortality on Wednesday night, then things at SW19 are about to move from the sublime to the ridiculous faster than one of Milos Raonic’s first serves. And the big-hitting Canadian clocked an ace at 147mph just the other day.
There is no indication at all that the powers that be will relent or relax their stiff upper lip approach to this potential absurdity. So unless they
KEITH JACKSON AT SW19 should suddenly come to their senses or England fall at the semi-final hurdle – we can live in hope – then images of Jamie Murray and Victoria Azarenka going for the title will be beamed out onto a deserted slope as Wimbledon witnesses the weirdest climax of its wonderful 141-year history.
The men’s singles final will go ahead first as planned with a 2pm start. As of yesterday there was no budging on that one either. With a bit of luck it may even be a rematch of the Roger Federer v Rafa Nadal classic of 10 years ago, settled by a thrilling fifth-set decider just as it was back then.
But, if England still have business to attend to in Russia, then very few outside of this perfect purple and green bubble will be paying attention.
By the time the mixed doubles hit Centre Court, the rest of the place will look pretty much as it did yesterday BY on Wimbledon’s middle Sunday. But this morning the big green gates will swing open once more and more than 40,000 lucky fans will sweep into the concourses as this tournament gets down to the business end.
This is the one day of the entire fortnight when all the big names in both the men’s and women’s draw line up against one another with a place in the quarter-finals at stake.
And even though there will not be a Brit in sight, now that Kyle Edmund has been taken out by this summer’s Serbian panto villain, the old place will be packed to the rafters once more.
Having relieved Edmund of the notion that he might be ready to nick Andy Murray’s mantle, Novak Djokovic takes on Russian Karen Khachanov in a bid to make it into the last eight.
The reception he gets from the galleries will be fascinating given some of the antics on Centre Court on Saturday when he took on the entire crowd as well as the British No.1.
Djokovic bristled in anger each time his service action was interrupted by a strategic cough or splutter from the stands and when he finally began to grind Edmund’s resolve down he began cupping his ears and blowing kisses in the direction of the noisiest offenders.
It’s as if Djokovic feels as if he has never truly been appreciated or even accepted by the locals here but the truth of the matter is, in the absence of Murray and his young apprentice, this tournament needs him to rediscover his blistering best form.
Just as it depends upon Federer and Nadal to progress today as they surely will against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino and Czech Jiri Vesely respectively – and for Serena Williams to continue her surge towards an eighth singles title by taking out Russian Evgeniya Rodina.
The thought of these colossal names being eliminated at this stage is not one the All England Club is even willing to comprehend.
But the prospect of showing the mixed doubles when England are playing in a World Cup final? As absurd as it sounds, they really wouldn’t have it any other way.