Sunday 14 July was an exceptional day for sports aficionados like myself. Thank Heavens there is TV which allowed us to enjoy three great tournament finals in two of my favorite sports.
"Breakfast at Wimbledon" has become a tradition in our household over the years. This year's final was being billed as a particularly special event as it show-cased the two most versatile players in the world, the veteran Novak Djokovic (he is the remaining member of the BIG Three of tennis, with Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal) and the young prodigy Carlos Alcaraz, who at 21 has already won 3 Grand Slams, including last year's Wimbledon. A lot was at stake for this match; Novak's victory would mean he would be THE record holder, men or women, of 25 Grand Slams (he currently shares the record of 24 with Margaret Court of Australia).At 37 years he is also one of the oldest current pros in the sport.The "passing of the torch" in tennis greatness has been talked about for a few years but it kept being delayed as Novak continued to win tournaments and stay at the top of the world rankings.
As for Carlos, his amazing skills and attitude have mesmerized tennis fans ever since he broke into the rankings with memorable wins. His rapidity and tennis know-how have given him a remarkable following in his sport. As defending champion also, he was under great pressure because very few players have ever "doubled" in Wimbledon.
Unfortunately, the match did not live up to its billing..Novak who had a knee surgery a couple of weeks ago, was clearly not up to his standards, while Carlos displayed skills that kept attendees in awe. The straight sets victory for Alcaraz was not what we all expected.The nice thing was seeing Kate, the Princess of Wales, in attendence and handing the vaunted Cup to the winner.
Early afternoon we watched the finals of the EURO 24 football championship where Spain took on England for the title.In earlier rounds Spain had shown that they were one of the favourite contenders, along with France. England had less of a chance it seemed, but they managed to make the final with a couple of last minute goals in the quarters and semi-finals. As under-dogs they have often surprised by winning matches against favoured opponents.On the Spanish team was the amazing teen-ager Yammine (he became17 the day of the finals) who was the youngest player to represent his country at this level of football. He rose to the occasion also by scoring one of the most exceptional goals of the tournament.The team's style of playing has become a hallmark of sophisticated
football that few other teams can match.They showed this in their unexpected win over France, the more favoured team. The final match was a testament to their exceptional abilities and their 1-0 victory was well deserved.Both the King of Spain and the Prince of Wales were in attendence which gave this tournament a royal aura.The host country, Germany,bowed out earlier than expected.
Late in the evening we watched the finals of the COPA Americana, which matched the favourites Argentina against Colombia.Due to a series of organizational mishaps the match started almost two hours later than scheduled. The level of play was quite a bit less than that of EURO in my opinion...there was too much violent action and the football skills not as well developed.The surprising Colombians put up a great fight but were finally overcome by the stronger Argentinian team, even if the latter lost their star Lionel Messi due to injuries.The game had to go into over-time because the two teams could not score during the regulation 90 minutes of play. Of course there were many close calls when goals could have been scored.For the first time in history there was a half-time show at the finals which probably delayed matters even more. Since the US and Canada will host the 2026 World Cup tourney, the respective organizers have some serious work to do to make sure all goes smoothly.
"Breakfast at Wimbledon" has become a tradition in our household over the years. This year's final was being billed as a particularly special event as it show-cased the two most versatile players in the world, the veteran Novak Djokovic (he is the remaining member of the BIG Three of tennis, with Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal) and the young prodigy Carlos Alcaraz, who at 21 has already won 3 Grand Slams, including last year's Wimbledon. A lot was at stake for this match; Novak's victory would mean he would be THE record holder, men or women, of 25 Grand Slams (he currently shares the record of 24 with Margaret Court of Australia).At 37 years he is also one of the oldest current pros in the sport.The "passing of the torch" in tennis greatness has been talked about for a few years but it kept being delayed as Novak continued to win tournaments and stay at the top of the world rankings.
As for Carlos, his amazing skills and attitude have mesmerized tennis fans ever since he broke into the rankings with memorable wins. His rapidity and tennis know-how have given him a remarkable following in his sport. As defending champion also, he was under great pressure because very few players have ever "doubled" in Wimbledon.
Unfortunately, the match did not live up to its billing..Novak who had a knee surgery a couple of weeks ago, was clearly not up to his standards, while Carlos displayed skills that kept attendees in awe. The straight sets victory for Alcaraz was not what we all expected.The nice thing was seeing Kate, the Princess of Wales, in attendence and handing the vaunted Cup to the winner.
Early afternoon we watched the finals of the EURO 24 football championship where Spain took on England for the title.In earlier rounds Spain had shown that they were one of the favourite contenders, along with France. England had less of a chance it seemed, but they managed to make the final with a couple of last minute goals in the quarters and semi-finals. As under-dogs they have often surprised by winning matches against favoured opponents.On the Spanish team was the amazing teen-ager Yammine (he became17 the day of the finals) who was the youngest player to represent his country at this level of football. He rose to the occasion also by scoring one of the most exceptional goals of the tournament.The team's style of playing has become a hallmark of sophisticated
football that few other teams can match.They showed this in their unexpected win over France, the more favoured team. The final match was a testament to their exceptional abilities and their 1-0 victory was well deserved.Both the King of Spain and the Prince of Wales were in attendence which gave this tournament a royal aura.The host country, Germany,bowed out earlier than expected.
Late in the evening we watched the finals of the COPA Americana, which matched the favourites Argentina against Colombia.Due to a series of organizational mishaps the match started almost two hours later than scheduled. The level of play was quite a bit less than that of EURO in my opinion...there was too much violent action and the football skills not as well developed.The surprising Colombians put up a great fight but were finally overcome by the stronger Argentinian team, even if the latter lost their star Lionel Messi due to injuries.The game had to go into over-time because the two teams could not score during the regulation 90 minutes of play. Of course there were many close calls when goals could have been scored.For the first time in history there was a half-time show at the finals which probably delayed matters even more. Since the US and Canada will host the 2026 World Cup tourney, the respective organizers have some serious work to do to make sure all goes smoothly.
Watched quite a lot of EURO 2024 and of course was bitterly disappointed that England did not win despite having many outstanding individual players. Spain were definitely better as a team. I remember watching England win the World Cup in 1966 as a teenager so the 58 year wait for a major trophy has to continue! As for the Copa America, coverage here in Europe was very limited (well, bad planning to have it clash with the EUROs) and sounds like it was a poor quality tournament - in terms of the organisation and the football. The final was a disgrace which almost ended in tragedy. btw re "their 1-0 victory" - it was 2-1 in the EURO Final.
ReplyDelete