Day 6 @ Wimbledon 2009

An Ace: If you have been lucky to get the autographs' of Becker and Stich on your debut at Wimbledon Centre Court, you should be happy as if you have scored an ace.

The Game: If you see that you have secured very good seats just opposite the chair umpire so that you can literally breathe the players, you should be esctatic as if you have won a rare game.


The Set: If you have seen the top tennis stars like Venus Williams, Andy Roddick and the brit sensation Andy Murry live displaying their skills throughout the day, you have reason to believe that you have just won a crucial set.


The Match: The presence of Martina Navratilova in the Centre court royal box is a good enough reason to be feeling lucky as if she is around just to award you the match winning cheque.


The Championship: If you witness the centre court roof closing towards the end of the day for the first time during the match days in Wimbledon history, it's like you have been triumphant winning yourself The Championship....hahaha!!!

Boris Becker being interviewed for television

Martina Navratilova in the Centre Court Royal Box. Can you spot?

Venus Williams serving on Centre Court

The Day 6 @ Wimbledon 2009 for us was scripted as described above and it was clearly one of the most memorable days for all four of us. Venus Williams and Andy Murray had easy victories over their lesser known opponents but the match between Andy Roddick and Jurgen Melzer was one of the very good tennis matches with both players matching each other shot by shot. While the entire audiance was in favor of Roddick, probably only me and Vaidehi in the stadium were supporting Melzer screaming "Come on Jurgen!!!" point after point, throughout the match. All we wanted was a five setter but Melzer did not listen and true to his reputation remained the best player on the tour to have not yet reached the Quarter Finals of a major tournament.

Andy Roddick playing against Jurgen Melzer


Andy Murray with a huge fan following @ Wimbledon


Electrified Henmen Hill getting ready for Andy Murray game

Roddick proved to be the sensation of Wimbledon 2009. I wished he should have won the marathon fifth set against Federer in te finals and I would have loved to see him crowned as a Wimbledon champion. Then, we would have seen a Wimbledon champion playing live @ Wimbledon. Unfortunately, tennis does not have any draws otherwise the finale could aptly be called a draw. But, sometimes sport is cruel and clearly it was so during this time.

My Dear Sania

As the match between Venus and her Spanish opponent Suarez Navarro became one sided, we headed to check the other courts on the venue. We could see all desis supporting Indian sensation Sania Mirza in her doubles endeavor. No offense, but my impression about Sania Mirza as a tennis player has been that she thinks as if she has the forehand of Venus Williams, back hand of Serena Williams and looks of Ana Kournikova. This time on the court in person, I found her pretty languid and a touch nonchalant as well, may be because her Chinese partner was suffering from a backache and clearly they were on their way to end up on a loosing side. She was full of confidence though and on an indicidual basis could very well have been the best player of the four. Along with Bhupati, she also won the mixed doubles match on the same day. We missed that match but this particular match was an excellent opportunity for Guru - The Photographer and photographer was not at all prepared to trash it.

Sania Mirza playing doubles on Wimbledon grounds

Sania Mirza serving on Wimbledon grounds

Last Five Balls
Last summer, I had the Roland Garros 2008 tennis ball as a souvenir and this time i wanted to be sure that I get the Wimbledon 2009 balls to add to my collection. I was not allowed to leave my seat because of the breathtaking play by Melzer and Roddick and I left the seat only during the initial games of the third set. As I approached the counter ~4pm there was a huge queue for the used Wimbledon balls. I reached the counter with excitement screaming "Two, I want two. Give me two. Can I have two boxes.......please". The lady at the counter must have been the most patient Brit. She said, "Please do not get excited Sir. All I have left with are one box and two separate balls and it will cost you 5GBPs." I got calmed down and enquired,"Is there going to be another sale of the Wimbledon balls" and she responded,"No Sir, These are the last set of balls we have for the day. There will not be any other sale scheduled for the day." Lucky, quite lucky!!! I could buy the last five Wimbledon 2009 balls, who knows Federer might have touched one of those...