An alternative view of Wimbledon (From Your Local Guardian)

An alternative view of Wimbledon

3:49pm Friday 9th July 2010 in

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In the build-up to this summer's feast of sport, you couldn't open a newspaper, turn on the evening news or even strike up a conversation in the pub without encountering an overwhelming sense of hope and expectation aimed towards the English and British sporting contingent.

A month or so ago, belief filled the air. England, primed with a talented squad and one of the most respected managers in the game, were going to win the World Cup, and Andy Murray was going to finally achieve his dream of winning Wimbledon.

A few weeks, four incisive German goals and yet another exquisite master-class in tennis from Rafael Nadal later, things are back to their predictably bleak self. It's now 44 years of hurt for England and, despite an impressive tournament, Andy Murray is still without a Wimbledon title, beaten by perhaps the greatest tennis player of all time at the height of his powers.

Not even a faltering Rodger Federer, who has shown signs that his awesome powers may finally be waning, left a gap for Murray to wiggle into, as the rampant Spaniard powered to the top of the pile, cruising past those who stood in his way.

But take nothing away from Murray. A hysteria-fuelled visit from Queen Elizabeth herself, her first to Wimbledon since 1977, not only set the stage for a splendid victory for him against Jarkko Nieminen in the second round, but also for a wonderfully witty line from former bad boy of tennis John McEnroe. As Murray awkwardly bowed to the Queen, McEnroe remarked: “I've never seen such applause for a bow. We gotta get some replays... hand in front, hand behind, really well rehearsed. I'm giving it a solid nine.” Alan Shearer, Lee Dixon and the other monotonous robots who dissect the BBC's World Cup games, take note.

As England's footballers returned home to irate fans and with the press baying for blood, Murray thrived under the adoring eyes of the public as he progressed through the latter stages of Wimbledon, disposing of American Sam Querrey and Frenchmen Gilles Simon and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga along the way, endearing himself further with the British public.

Unfortunately for Murray, Nadal delivered the performance of a seven-time Grand Slam champion in their semi-final match, beating him 6-4 7-6 (8-6) 6-4, bringing the Scot's hopes of being the first British man to reach the Wimbledon final since 1938 (meaning Fred Perry's record will last for at least 75 years now) to an abrupt end.

As for the rest of the home contingent, results were mixed. Chris Eaton, along with his doubles partner Dominic Inglot, provided one of the shocks of the tournament when they stunned two-time defending champions Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in their second round meeting. The euphoria was short-lived however, as the duo lost out to Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra in the third round. Ross Hutchins, from Wimbledon, was another Brit who progressed to the second round, impressing with his partner Jordan Kerr, easily disposing of British wild cards Alex Bogdanovic and Alexander Slabinsky, before falling to the 11th seeded Spanish pair Tommy Robredo and Marcel Granollers.

Kingston-born Melanie South crashed out in the first round, along with many of Britain's hopefuls, losing 6-1 6-2 to Russian Regina Kulikova, ranked No. 69. South was just one of seven Brits who failed to win their first game. Of that group, progression to the elusive second round seemed to be in sight for a few of them, particularly Heather Watson and Katie O'Brien. But, despite early optimism, the old British nerves set in and an early exit soon followed. Andy Murray was the sole Brit in the second round in the singles category, marking Britain's worst Wimbledon performance in the tournament's 124-year history. So much for the All England Club.

Despite the pessimism surrounding the current generation of Britain's tennis players, some of whom may have turned up at Wimbledon armed with a snooker cue by the sounds of things, there have been signs of potential emanating from the junior division. Sixteen-year-old Laura Robson made it to the semi-finals, only to lose out to 10th seeded Sachie Ishizu from Japan in straight sets. Fellow junior Brit Oliver Golding fell at the same stage, losing out to Australian Benjamin Mitchell. Golding impressively eased past world number one Jason Kubler in the last 16, but could not topple his unseeded Aussie opponent in the semis. With Robson, Golding and Murray all in the semi-finals at one stage, the most optimistic fans hoped for a hat-trick of British honours, a short-lived fantasy.

But after the build-up, the indignation and disappointment surrounding the England football team's pathetic attempts and the satisfying efforts of Andy Murray, who did all British tennis fans proud, things are back to normal now. The England national team is in disarray once again, with the manager's head precariously close to the chopping block, and Andy Murray is once again Scottish, rather than British.