Thursday 30 June 2011

It's Wimbledon time



















I’m a huge tennis fan and one of my favourite tournaments on the ATP World Tour is Wimbledon.  There is nothing quite like this tournament, I don’t know if it’s all the tradition or pomp to it but I love it.  Ask any player and they will say the same. 
Wimbledon is one of the last remaining Grand Slam tournament still played on a natural surface, grass.  It is also the oldest even of its time.
Unfortunately I’ve never been able to go and watch any of the games at Wimbledon itself as the All England Lawn Tennis Club has a ballot system - which has been running since 1924 - whereby the public apply for tickets.  Even that is no guarantee for success as demand always exceeds supply.
Year after year, thousands of people also queue up outside the All England Club in the hope of catching some Centre Court action during the two weeks of the championships.  
That is one thing that really irritates me here in the UK, why can they not sell tickets like every where else in the world, as first come first serve system.  Look at the fiasco of the Olympic tickets for 2012, don’t get me even started on that!
This year I have been able to watch Wimbledon tennis day in and day out,  due to my being a lady of leisure and I am taking full advantage and watching as much as I can.   
But may I just say, what on earth is happening to the women’s tennis?  Ladies, what’s with the noises??  The press call it grunting, but does that sound like grunts to you?  It’s more like cats being tortured or something that common decency stops me from mentioning what it does sound like and I think you all know what I mean.  


I have not been able to watch a single game with the volume up because after just 10 minutes of hearing the horrible noises coming out of these players it is just unbelievable.  Every single serve, the high pitched sound that echos and is then reverberated by the other player.  I think there has been only one single game that I watched the other day where the ladies didn’t moan their way through it.  To use a famous argument from one of my favourite tennis players: “YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS”,
It is a sad day indeed when I have stopped watching women’s tennis after so many years staunchly supporting it.  Do none of your families, friends, coaches etc. show you the recordings after or say, you need to stop that moan session.  It is horrendous.  How can anyone concentrate with those high pitch moans.  Are you not embarrassed by it?  I was watching the Nadal vs Del Potro game the other afternoon and could hear from my neighbour’s house the moans coming through the walls and no, before you ask, it wasn’t something else.   
So ladies, clean up your act, you can be a powerful player, look at all the tennis greats, you didn’t hear them moan their way through their games - so stop, seriously, stop, otherwise you won’t have anyone watching. 
I now give my sole attention to the men’s tennis instead and it’s no hardship as hey, I like the eye candy too and may I say, what nice candy it is too. 
So come on Rafael!!  Oh, and if the sports clothes sponsor of Rafa are reading this blog, bring back the sleeveless shirts!!! 



4 comments:

  1. I'm no tennis fan so managed to get through the 2 weeks without watching (or hearing!!) a single match.

    Here's hoping you get tickets next year. :)

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  2. Knowing my luck, I will get tickets for the Women's tennis only!

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  3. How irritating was it - particularly when the roof was on and the grunts echoed all round the court. I kept expecting them to root up some truffles!

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  4. Exactly the reason I haven't been watching a single women's game for several years now - after I originally switched my interest from the gents to the ladies' game when I got bored by the serve-and-volley/endless aces. At least the women were still playing the game. But now the ladies are really doing everything they can to destroy support for their game...

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