Absolute, nailed on SPOTY. I bet the bookies won’t even take your money!
2 Likes
It was not a flawless performance by both players, and apart from the blood incident, played in good spirits with lots of smiles between rallies. Both ladies are mature characters, as their speeches at the award ceremony showed.
I found the commentary too gushing in the use of superlatives; however, it was a joy to hear Martina Navratilova give a balanced account, and to see Virginia Wade beaming. Tim Henman was a bit vacuous but his support to Emma has been tremendous. All in all, a wonderful achievement by an adopted Brit, as it could have been an all Canadian final.
2 Likes
If there ever was such a thing, the match would still be playing!
1 Like
I thought Martina had put the ‘commentator’s curse’ on Emma around 5 games in, as she’d already pencilled her in as the winner and Fernandez was playing like having an extra Duracell battery on hand, what with saving so many break points.
Technically (in terms of hitting/positioning and tactics), it was a brilliant match to watch, and some of their shot-making was outrageous (e.g. Emma’s 83mph line drive in the second set). Unfortunately, as ever, the high camera angle didn’t portray the speed of the game - and there was far too many shots of the crowd for me. I’m not sure what attendees at the very top can see - it almost looks like they need binoculars, unlike the cloistered amphitheatre that this Wimbledon (so long as you sit away from the posts).
4 Likes
Yes indeed all the above plus some.
A great game played so well by both players
And yes Emma will be SPoTY for sure & what a super personality she has for someone so young.
Not impressed by the TV coverage, the main back court position was too high & other court views were not good. The BBC Wimbledon team are the benchmark.
It fitted in nicely with the Proms, change over to tennis after the first half, then back to the Proms on iPlayer.
3 Likes
A truly wonderful match, much closer than the straight sets win would suggest. Credit to both players showing such tenacity and skill. Well done Emma, and thanks to Channel 4 for showing the match - a real treat. Difficult to sleep after such excitement and tension.
2 Likes
I see the anti-BBC mob are out questioning why C4 was successful in showing the game, having seemingly out-bid Auntie.
Best I could tell, C4 showed Amazon’s production (? - with plentiful branding on show) and I wonder whether such overt advertising would have been too much for the BBC?
2 Likes
Yes, I groaned at that.
2 Likes
Agreed that the BBC do these things better, but in the circumstances I was just pleased that the game was on terrestrial TV for a wider audience.
My immediate thought too!
2 Likes
It’s all to do with the camera locations, not whose operating the cameras.
The back of court camera locations at the AAA are higher and further away from the court than at WCC.
1 Like
Dad, don’t worry about the pocket money.
5 Likes
Skip the Muso and go straight to Statement !
I hear that she likes jazz. This lady is perfect.
1 Like
A remarkable match and a remarkable achievement! Emma Radacanu’s life will now change considerably. I hope that the media allow her the privacy to enjoy her life, both within and outside of the game.
3 Likes
@Alley_Cat It only happens in tennis, no other sport. The crowd and people watching on tv admire the wrong shots, don’t know what a good quality match is and always just state stats. Wins and rankings, that’s all they go on about, because they don’t have a clue.
We’ve been here before on this forum about Murray and it didn’t get anywhere then. This is not the place for decent threads on tennis, neither is the Mailonline.
Both girls were lovely and perfect examples of how to play a sport. They were both naive in the way they played, but that’s obviously due to their age. Funny things is, Becker didn’t play a naive match when he won the first time and went on to be one of the greats. The after speeches were so good, I almost feel they were pre-written, but that wouldn’t surprise me as these two (especially Emma) will be huge in the advertising world and no doubt would have been advised.
Navratilova was awful on the commentary. Wow here and everywhere. Just saying anything to be liked.
1 Like
If going for winners and winning 10 straight matches against experienced opponents is naive, I would like more naive tennis please.
2 Likes
You are John McEnroe and I claim my £10.
5 Likes
If she drops aa set she’ll be finished !!!
@Dozey I said the match, not the tournament. BTW go watch Sirena Williams matches or even the great Navratilova who literally used to kill her apponents with not only her strengths, her clever strategies.
@Collywobbles I wish I was. My favourite player of all time.
The match was perfect then for those there and watching on TV! And, at least according to my brother in law who takes tennis dead seriously, you play it to win it. Their tennis may not have had the content or style or whatever other marks of quality an aficionado may demand - but the two finalists seemed to have an odd ability to beat other players in the competition, who presumably were all somewhere near the top of the game, so they must have done something right!
5 Likes