Roger And Out

‘NO, Tim Henman has not had cosmetic surgery, grown his hair long and adopted the look of a winner. That man holding the racket and Wimbledon trophy on the cover of the Independent’s sport section is Roger Federer.

Swiss ace

Roger is the first Swiss man to win at Wimbledon, or to win any tennis Grand Slam event for that matter. And he did it by beating Australian Mark Philippoussis in straight sets.

Of course, the paper’s tennis ace, John Roberts, knew Federer would win all along. In a section entitled ‘You read it here first’, Roberts takes out his trumpet and gives it a hearty blow.

‘He will have to overcome his suspect mental strength over the course of the championship,’ said Roberts of the now champion in the run-up to Wimbledon. ‘If he does, he will make a splendid champion.’

Nothing like a good ‘told yer so’ to make someone feel important, even if it is blackened by a big ‘if’ and masked by thousands of words about all the other players and a certain Tiger Tim.

The other major tennis story is found in the Guardian, where Martina Navratilova is seen winning her 20th Wimbledon trophy, 30 years after winning her first.

She tied Billie Jean King’s record of a score of Wimbledon titles by winning the mixed doubles contest with her partner Leander Paes.

At 46-years-old, the durable player is now the oldest person to be a Wimbledon champion – a fact that means Tim Henman has years to go before he can call it a day.

Meanwhile, the Formula One motor racing procession is still going on. Yesterday, Ralf Schumacher won the French Grand Prix, beating Juan Pablo Montoya and brother Michael into second and third places respectively.

The Telegraph says that Williams, for whom Ralf Schumacher drives, is ‘running hot again’.

We simply say, ‘Told you so’. We told you Schumacher would win the race. And we’ll tell you now that if he drives better than everybody else, he’ll win the drivers’ title.

You heard it here first…

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Posted: 7th, July 2003 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink