Two weeks ago and a few days' change, our mates across the pond hosted the biggest and best Grand Slam in tennis: Wimbledon.
I'm not going to lie, I don't really keep up with the women's side of the tournament, and that's nothing against the ladies out there. It's just a lot easier to tune in to a five set match (men's) than a three set match that could be over in less than an hour (women's), so I'm going to be focusing on the men's singles.
For those of you who didn't keep up with the tournament, Andy Murray, who is Scottish and British, became the first British man to win their home Grand Slam in 77 years.
I mean, most of the British people alive don't even remember the last male champion, Fred Perry, who won in 1936. That's way back when Hitler was in power, people, but I digress.
While Murray's victory in three sets over world No. 1 Novak Djokovic was immensely impressive, it was also a bit disappointing.
When I, and many other Americans, woke up early Sunday morning to watch the finals, we were hoping for a four, and if we were lucky, five set match that would see both players pushed to their limits.
Unfortunately that was not the case, and the British wait was over in the minimum three sets.
Where the men's final was a bit anticlimactic, the men's semifinals were anything but. The first match last Friday, July 5, saw Djokovic pitted against top ranked Argentinian Juan Martin Del Potro.\0x2028 It was the match of the tournament, there's no doubt about it. \0x2028It went to five sets, and two of the sets were determined by tiebreakers, with each competitor taking one of those.
The match lasted four hours and 43 minutes, which was the longest semifinal ever at Wimbledon.
It was back and forth the whole way, but in the end the conditioning of Djokovic paid off, and he emerged victorious over a completely gassed Del Potro.
The other men's semifinal was exciting as well, coming later in the day.
Murray faced Polish international Jerzy Janowicz in Friday's second semifinal, and while Murray showed some obvious frustration when he lost the first set, he pulled his game together and won the next three sets and consequently, the match.
All that being said if you got to watch a large share of Wimbledon, good for you. Tennis is one of the oldest sports in existence, and has been around this long for a reason. It's spectacular, and those who play it at the highest level can do some incredible things on the court that you have to see to believe.
If you missed Wimbledon, that's a bummer for you, but hey, it comes around once a year. Plus, the U.S. Open Grand Slam event will begin August 26, and it's held in Queens, N.Y.
So I urge you to watch, if only one semi-final match. You never know, it might hook you on a new (to you) fascinating sport.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
