Chapter 1680 Waiting for Witness
July 11, Friday, sunny.
The sky was cloudless, the sun was shining, the grass was green, and the breeze was blowing. It was a perfect day for playing tennis, and even the temperature felt exceptionally cool.
Yesterday, the two women's singles semi-finals brought a visual feast. Serena Williams defeated Sharapova in straight sets and remained unbeaten against her old rival for ten years; Muguruza defeated A-Radwanska in three sets and entered the Grand Slam final for the first time in her career, setting off a youth storm.
"Legend vs. Rising Star", the WTA tournament also continued with a similar pattern, and at the same time, all eyes were on Serena Williams -
There is only one step left to achieve the second "Serena Grand Slam" in her career.
Cheers and excitement !
Everything seems to be foreshadowing:
The All England Club on Friday may be about to witness something exciting and legendary. Just imagining it makes me uncontrollably excited.
The game starts on time at 1:00 p.m.
In the first game, Djokovic faced Gasquet.
Objectively speaking, the game was exciting, more exciting than expected, and Gasquet, who was not favored by the majority, really played a masterpiece of his career.
Gasquet had a hot hand and decisive shots, and his smooth offense covered the entire court. Even when facing Djokovic's world number one backhand, he was not at all nervous. He faced Djokovic head-on with dignity. He was brave and courageous enough to win the support of the whole audience.
However.
Djokovic is still more skilled. After Murray was eliminated, the world number one has become the favorite to win this year, slightly ahead of Federer and Gawain. Facing Gasquet's hot hand, the battle-hardened Serbian king also gave a powerful counterattack and his performance remained strong.
"7:6(2)", "6:4", "6:4".
At the end of the game, the final score was fixed at "3:0". Djokovic won in three straight sets and advanced to the final with his head held high to defend his title.
Gasquet's performance is worthy of recognition, at least much better than his performance at Roland Garros a month ago, but it still lacks a bit of heat -
Whether it was the first set tiebreak or the next two sets, Gasquet was never able to really threaten the defending champion. The confrontation seemed to be full of sparks, but he was always at a disadvantage. Djokovic passed easily without any real test, which was inevitably disappointing.
Sure enough, Gasquet is still the same Gasquet.
However, no one could blame Gasquet, as such an outcome had already been expected; moreover, Gasquet had already burned everything.
So... it all depends on Gawain, right? We can tell from the audience's reaction.
The seats were packed.
The stadium was packed to the brim, with the attendance rate for the center court soaring to 100%, and even Murray Hill outside the stadium was so crowded that not even an ant could fit in.
In the words of ESPN commentator McEnroe, "I'm afraid the attention will even exceed that of the final."
It is true that no matter whether the final lineup is "Djokovic VS Gawain" or "Djokovic VS Federer", it is indeed a peak showdown, and the excitement is guaranteed, and the outcome is also unpredictable, but people have already watched it, and more than once, so the expectations are naturally different.
However! This semi-final is different. It carries all the expectations and madness of the glory of the giant era, and also carries the determination and tragedy of Wimbledon as the backyard of the giants. Thousands of emotions have continued from Melbourne Park to Roland Garros and finally arrived here after a long journey.
No one is exempt. No one.
It has nothing to do with winning or losing, but with an era, a memory, and a history. Even McEnroe couldn't help but sigh.
"To be precise, this should be the biggest carnival at Wimbledon since the epic final at the All England Club in 2008."
Murray Mountain was bustling with people, even more crowded than the center court, spreading out before our eyes in a mighty force.
What's more, it's not just ordinary audiences?
The VIP box is also full of stars——
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson showed up, French football star Thierry-Henry, who announced his retirement at the end of last year, showed up, Beckham showed up again without a doubt, and C Ronaldo's appearance was an unexpected surprise. It was a feast of football superstars.
As a small surprise, British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was just re-elected last month, also appeared at the scene.
Most importantly, the queen also showed up.
As we all know, Queen Elizabeth II prefers horse racing and she often appears at the racecourse, but she has only appeared at Wimbledon twice in the past 35 years. Now, the one who came to the All England Club to watch the game on behalf of the Queen is Princess Kate, who loves tennis very much.
The Queen last attended the All England Club in 2010, watching Murray's second-round match against Nieminen.
However! Unexpectedly, the Queen actually appeared at today's historic game.
The Queen, dressed in a mint blue dress, appeared in the royal box accompanied by the Duke of Kent, chairman of the All England Club, and all the media went crazy.
It is also because of this that when Federer and Gao Wen came on stage, professionals from the All England Club came to teach etiquette, and even the Swiss king seemed a little nervous.
Gawain was a little surprised, "Roger, is this your first time?"
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Federer gave a wry smile, "Yes, this is the first time. Three years ago, Prince Charles came to watch my second round match with Fabio, but this is the first time for the Queen."
As he spoke, Federer could be seen taking a deep breath.
Gao Wen swung his racket and turned his arms. "Phew, then I can relax a little. Even Roger Federer has never experienced this. It shouldn't matter if I make a mistake."
"Hey!" Federer protested.
But because of Gao Wen's little joke, the atmosphere became much more relaxed.
Federer looked at Gao Wen with a calm face and was a little surprised. "You don't seem to care much."
"They all have two eyes, a nose and a mouth, right?" Gao Wen said as a matter of course.
Federer: …
"They don't have any interest in tennis, just like Mesut, they just want to watch the fun and listen to the noise. I want to put on a good show, but it's like flirting with a blind man, so there's no need to be nervous." Gao Wen continued to warm up.
Federer burst out laughing, "No wonder Rafa said you are a funny guy."
Gao Wen was very surprised. "Do you and Rafa still keep in touch privately? Looking at those media reports and the reactions of your fans, it always feels like you two will draw your swords against each other in the next second if you stay in the same room."
“Haha.” Federer laughed out loud, “Hahaha,” he couldn’t help laughing again, “Rafa and I…”
Think about it seriously.
"It's not a friend who is not a friend, but it's not a simple rival either. It's a friendship between the two. I won't invite Rafa to my wedding or my children's birthday party; but I think I should invite Rafa to my retirement ceremony."
Gao Wen was a little surprised.
Federer thought about it, then nodded again, "Well, I should invite him."
(End of this chapter)