The old good tennis

Those were the words from the public announcer as youngster Laura Robson became the first Briton to win the girls title at Wimbledon since Annabel Croft 24-years ago in blustery conditions on number one court.

After the match Australia-born Robson admitted that she thought she was going to be sick as she walked out onto the show court – such was the level of interest from both the press and public for this historic occasion. After seeing Jamie Murray claim the mixed doubles title last year, the negative press our players have received over the last decade or so could be dealt a blow if the Londoner could claim the title and she did not disappoint.

Those nerves of the 14-year-old did not show as she raced into a break at the earliest opportunity but unfortunately for the home support Robson handed a break straight back to her Thai opponent Noppawan Lertcheewakarn and the Number one court crowd would have been forgiven for predicting another capitulation from a Brit at Wimbledon.

This time however it was not to be as Robson took the initiative after her set-back, showing well constructed points and strong ground-strokes to take the first set 6-3 and raise the level of expectancy and atmosphere up a notch going into the second.

Lertcheewakarn, two years the senior of Robson – the youngest competitor in this years draw – dealt with the level of support for Robson extremely well for a girl of her age and after twice going a break down showed brilliant composure and fight to chalk off four straight games and take the second set by the same score.

The opening two sets saw a number of breaks from both players which is highly understandable, neither girl had ever played in front of such a large crowd and the intensity of the occasion would have been great enough to rattle the cage of many an experienced player.

The final set was clearly the most impressive from a British view-point as Robson – brought up for six years in Singapore – came out of the blocks flying and the power in the shots of such a young player was truly a sight to see, firing a rocket down the line to take the opening point of the decider, one must bet that British tennis will continue to improve if this performance is anything to go off, however there were still signs that there are areas which will require tweaking.

Robson once again handed her service game straight back to her 16-year-old opponent but this time there were no more further errors from the Brit as she rattled off five straight games, taking the title on her second Championship points.

After Robson’s victory the odds for more juniors taking up the game and breaking through in Great Britain will have shortened dramatically and with three Brits making the second round at Wimbledon, the future of the game in Britain looks as healthy as it has for quite some time.

A calm and collect Roger Federer spoke about the ‘beautiful feeling’ of reaching his sixth successive Wimbledon final and the ‘opportunity’ of reclaiming his title once more on the hallowed turf of SW19.

Federer spoke to the BBC following yet another record breaking victory over Marat Safin as he took his unbeaten record on Grass to 65 matches following yet another straight-sets victory. What is more remarkable about this achievement is that before the match, many had Safin down as the man who could take the first set off of Federer at Wmbledon since Rafael Nadal in last years final after the Russian had knocked out third seed Novak Djokovic in the early rounds.

Many were betting that Safin would cause at least a slight trip as the five-time Wimbledon Champion looked to make it six but in truth it was as much of a breeze for the Swiss as in any other round this year.

Safin had predicted in an earlier press conference that he had little chance of battling his way past the World number one claiming that he would have to ‘run like a rabbit’ if he had any chance of reaching his first Wimbledon final but it was the favourite who began to dominate as early as the second game.

After taking his service game to love, Federer swept into a double-break point position against the Russian’s big serve and after a lengthy exhange took the intitiative to seal an early break with a  trademark driven backhand down the line.

The rest of the opening set was a walk in the park for the number one seed as he showed frequent shots of brilliance, the like of which we have come to expect from him and only him on the lush green grass of Centre court in recent years. Safin did not look as though he believed that he could take the first set, returning shots at a pedestrian pace seemingly conserving energy for the second set. Federer ‘eventually’ took the set after just 25 minutes as many of the onlooking crowd began to think that this match was going to be a relative walk-over for the 26-year-old.

Safin dusted himself down for the second set however and came out fighting in the second. He engineered a couple of break points in the fourth game of the set but could not find the telling shot when it mattered, Federer coming in-court to mop up a couple of half-hit Safin returns and get himself out of trouble.

The Russian is well known for his lack of mental strength on the court when things are not going his way, such is the reason why this former number one has slumped down to 75th in the World rankings. This years Wimbledon however has been the canvas to which Safin has painted a new image for himself as a calm, focused competitor and the rest of the set was a fine example of this new attitude as he took Federer to a tie-break.

Unfortunately for Safin though the breaker did not go as smoothly as he had planned with the score at 5-1 at the change of ends. His oponent has never been one to let a single point cheaply pass him by and as Federer sealed the second set with a heavy forehand the feeling amongst the crowd was that this match was practically over already.

The Champion upped the gears in the third set which unfortunatey brought about the traditional raquet abuse we have become accustomed to from Safin and as Federer danced around the court hitting one subime shot after another Safin’s temper got the better of him. He did not have to endure Federer’s onslought for long however, as he sealed victory with a delightfully angled backhand on his first match point to take the match 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 6-4.

Following the match Federer told the BBC,

“I was a little bit surprised how intense it was – but it was because Rafa played so well in Paris and then winning Queen’s. He’s been playing fantastically as well.

“Don’t write me off too quickly because this is my part of the season now”, It will be interesting to see just how many will be betting on Federer to beat off the challenge of Nadal at Wimbledon for another year or whether the Spaniard can claim victory on grass before his rival on clay.