tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post1360216892085405259..comments2024-02-06T16:17:25.826+00:00Comments on THE GRĂNMARK BLOG: BBC Wimbledon: please replace Andrew Castle and Boris Becker with Simon Reed and Frew McMillanScott Gronmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118026157459333174noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-87329221447407973522017-07-15T10:07:50.879+01:002017-07-15T10:07:50.879+01:00Three things have put me off Wimbledon in the past...Three things have put me off Wimbledon in the past:<br /><br />!. The braying crowd. The great waves of spastic tittering are quite intolerable. Like opera audiences waiting for the humorous bits. <br /><br />2. The match when Jimmy Connors started pulling out a letter between games and reading it with such intensity that his whole body shook with emotion. It was from his mother, apparently. Who reads their correspondence in the middle of a major tennis tournament unless he is a posturing berk?<br /><br />3. Pat Cash's self-conscious and embarrassing clambering up the stand to greet his friends and family after his victory in 1987 [the tittering brigade collectively wet their pants]. That seemed to mark the change-over from great Australian players to a generation of flashy yobs.<br /><br />[Yes, Andy Murray. Some of us have not forgotten.]<br /><br />But Federer is something else. A great sportsman who demands to be watched.SDGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-20507773214914521932017-07-14T13:53:23.967+01:002017-07-14T13:53:23.967+01:00Spot on, MartinD. You wouldn't find Federer vi...Spot on, MartinD. You wouldn't find Federer vigorously exploring Satan's Alley during a match. Time and a place, etc. In the unlikely event I'm ever introduced to Nadal, I'll have to think carefully about whether to shake his hand - after all, I know where it's been.Scott Gronmarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15118026157459333174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-52335878497353516672017-07-14T13:31:02.676+01:002017-07-14T13:31:02.676+01:00There is something rather unsavoury about Nadal, f...There is something rather unsavoury about Nadal, from his rutting hamster grimace to his constant fossicking in his posterior. He is just too sweaty. MartinDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-68972169098699197902017-07-10T22:15:38.246+01:002017-07-10T22:15:38.246+01:00There - I told you Nadal would win against Muller ...There - I told you Nadal would win against Muller and go on to win the tournament.<br /><br />I should have been a bookie, I really should. <br /><br />I think we're going to have to write off Dimitrov as a future grand slam contender. A real shame - great talent, but lacks that one big, crushing shot, and something between the ears. <br /><br />It's a pity that Thiem and Zverev both got beaten today - and typical of the way tennis has changed over the past 10 - 20 years that the thrusting young hopeful who dumped Nadal out of Wimbledon is 35 years old. As McEnroe remarked to Tracy Austin, they were both over the hill at 25!<br /><br />Still, I'm looking forward to enjoying the men's quarter finals, semis and final without the gnawing fear (a feeling of absolute certainty this year, for the very first time) that Nadal might win. Obviously, I hope it's Federer or Murray - but I could live with any of the others winning (although preferably not Berdych or Cilic, for different reasons). Scott Gronmarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15118026157459333174noreply@blogger.com