MY father was a Wimbledon widower.
For a fortnight every summer, we Morgan children ate beans on toast, huddled together in rags as dad washed the dishes with a hose as my mother perched on the edge of the settee wailing and cheering as her favourites, John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova, swatted away all-comers on the yellowy-brown swards of SW19, the courts a veritable Pantone chart of grass degradation.
Eventually, we kids would join her on the couch and become just as enthralled. The next logical step was to set up a court outside our front door, not least when Bjorn Borg (boo!) faced McEnroe (yay!) in 1980.
Haphazard, spindly lines were etched on the ground in chalk, string would be stretched between two lampposts, a small child on a trike would almost suffer decapitation and the match would end in fevered debate over who had won and what to do with the severed head.
It was as far removed from strawberries and cream, champagne and Pippa Middleton tennis tips as you could get – it was working-class tennis, played by middle-class kids. We were tennis devotees but with an asterisk. It was for two weeks of the year only.
MEN'S SINGLES
Let's dispense with the pretence: there are four contenders for the title, although that number might be reduced by Roger Federer's apparently diminishing powers and the potential for Rafa Nadal to pull up lame at any time. That said, the men's championship hasn't been won by anyone but Federer, Nadal or Novak Djokovic since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002. The obvious point that must be made is that the last winner of an event to be staged at Wimbledon was Andy Murray at last year's Olympics, albeit in the truncated two-set format. The caveat was where Nadal would land in the draw and as fifth seed he is scheduled to meet Murray in the semi-finals if he can get past the still formidable Federer.
The Spaniard is 3-0 against the Scot on grass but 1-2 against the Swiss. It must be stated, though, that Murray is a different proposition than he was when the pair last met on grass at Wimbledon in 2011. Youwin are the bookies to follow in the outright market. They are best priced across the industry for the first nine in the men's market with Federer at 25/4, Murray 19/4, Nadal 15/4 and Djokovic 19/10.
With Djokovic hardly unbeatable on the surface and Federer finally showing signs of wear and tear, Nadal presents the biggest challenge to Murray should he reach the second week and even then there are question marks. At a shade more than 5/1 he is worth the punt. In the fastest serve market, Milos Raonic is worth considering. He has the third-fastest serve of all time, has the potential to reach the second week and is 9/2 to achieve it.
WOMEN'S SINGLES
The Serena question will dominate the women's draw (as a measure of her perceived invincibility, she is 3/37 against the field). I fancied Sabine Lisicki for a semi-final berth but that was before yesterday's draw scheduled her to meet Williams in round two. As it stands, I'll be body-swerving the women's championship unless there's an unforeseen injury to you-know-who.
SEASON'S TOTAL
Hear ye, hear ye, a couple of winners at last. The 18-odd quid from a football double last weekend made amends for the £40 dunt the win column had taken in recent weeks. If you have followed the column's tips at Royal Ascot this week you'll be a further £40 to the good. Total: £107.77
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