I started my day Friday by guesting on the Sam Lloyd show at Radio Wimbledon. Totally fun. I think I’ve missed my calling. I’m really good at sitting around chatting! I’ve done this now for several years and Sam and I have a nice rapport. She’s an excellent interviewer, and makes it interesting and comfortable. I always feel like I’m just having a drink with a friend and talking about The Championships, and my role here.
Radio Wimbledon is the official radio station of The Championships, broadcasting from 8 am to approximately 10 pm daily. They do a great job of covering a variety of aspects of the tournament, in addition to match play. The station is available on 87.7 FM or online at www.Wimbledon.org and has a listening audience of up to 600,000. Wow, were that many people really listening to my words this morning?
Needing a bit of fuel before the possible long semifinal matches, I tried my luck at the media dining room. I say tried my luck because if you’re lucky, you’ll find something edible and non-artery clogging to eat. The main menu here consists of heavy cooked and deep-fried food, like fish and chips, or the big favorite, all day breakfast, which consists of … are you ready… fried eggs, fried tomatoes, fried sausage or bacon, fried mushrooms and fried potatoes. Are they kidding? Who can live on this?
There is also a variety of sandwiches, the descriptions of which totally crack me up. “Creamy free range egg, mayonnaise, and baby spinach on malted brown bread” or “Medium mature Cheddar cheese, juicy tomato, and crisp lettuce with tangy sweet pickle on white bread” the ham sandwich sounds yummy too, “Gammon Ham, with juicy tomato, crisp lettuce, baby spinach on white bloomer bread.” I have no idea what “bloomer bread” is but it looks suspiciously like wonder bread. Note that they all have juicy tomato and crisp lettuce. This is a big selling point.
Speaking of food, it has been reported that the secret to Andy Murray’s success this year is his daily lunch of two large chicken baguettes.
A special lunch of salmon, honey-marinated chicken and the Wimbledon staple of strawberries and cream was preparred for the Queen. Note, no fried food for her highness.
Saturday features the women’s final, and I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I think Serena Williams will make it short and sweet. During Friday’s semifinals, I noticed that Novak Djokovic was using a plain white towel, rather than the official Wimbledon one. Andre Agassi used to do this too. I have no idea why, and no one has been able to give me an answer, but if it’s a good luck superstition, it’s not working.
On Sunday, Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych will play in the final. I’m predicting Rafa…surprise, surprise. He is looking very tough. It should be a good match up, power shot for power shot, but it’s the Czech’s first major final and experience will be on Nadal’s side.
Nadal was all business in his defeat of Murray, relentlessly hitting huge topspin forehands on the big points. Murray would put up a great shot, win a point, and the Spaniard would answer with an even better one. From where I was sitting, there was no doubt that this would be a straight-set victory for the world No. 1.
So, it looks like Andy will not be worth the 50 million GBP that newspapers were claiming a Wimbledon title would bring him. Looks like he’ll have to scrimp by on his 500,000 GBP prize money.
– Cynthia
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Cynthia Lum is one of the world’s most celebrated sports photographers and has traveled the world covering all the major tennis events for 18 years. In addition to tennis she is currently shooting horse racing, golf, surfing, and beach volleyball. Visit her on-line photo archive at www.cynthialum.com where her photos are for sale for professional and personal use. She is available for hire for corporate and editorial clients. She is based in Hermosa Beach, Calif.