THE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2013
Wimbledon Diary - Men United: Djokovic, Berdych & Vidic
Wimbledon, England
ATPWorldTour.com takes a look at the news and talking points at Wimbledon on the second Wednesday.
Men United
Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic came to support fellow Serbian Novak Djokovic in his quarter-final match against Tomas Berdych.
“I was very much delighted to see him in our box today and watching the match and supporting me,” said Djokovic. “It's the first time he actually came to watch me. I've watched him before in the national team a few times... He's a big star in our country. He plays for one of the best teams in the world.”
Though Vidic was a guest of his opponent, even Berdych shared his excitement of meeting the football star.
Shirt Swap
At the end of their historic meeting, an emotional Jerzy Janowicz and fellow Pole Lukasz Kubot embraced at the net and exchanged their match-worn shirts. “I think that was really, really cool,” said Janowicz of the shirt swap proposed by his good friend and Davis Cup teammate.
“I knew it was a big moment for both of us,” explained Kubot. “I said, ‘Let's go. Let's exchange. Let's make our tennis more famous, more popular, and show that Polish tennis is on the map.’ Because this has never happened before. I think that it shows how important fair play is and [it] shows our friendship on the court. We're just fighting on every point, but when match is finished we are friends. We are just showing that this is only sport.”
Heart On His Jerzy
An overwhelmed Janowicz had difficulties getting through a memorable interview with Sky Sport last November after reaching the BNP Paribas Masters final, breaking down in tears before he could finish. On Wednesday, the 22 year old once again choked up during a live televised interview in the minutes following his quarter-final victory.
“I was practicing really tough my whole life,” he explained of his emotions in the post-match press conference. “I had some troubles also during my career. You are practising and working for that kind of moment. So in my case, it's not easy for me to control these emotions.”
Remote Control
On Monday, Andy Murray’s match against Mikhail Youzhny was moved from BBC One to BBC Two due to the nightly 6pm news broadcast. With the British No. 1 locked in a five-set battle with Fernando Verdasco on Wednesday, the News at Six took a backseat - shifted to BBC Two - so that BBC One could show interrupted coverage of Murray’s comeback attempt.
Two Historic
The single-handed backhand enjoyed its day in the sun during Roland Garros, used by eight of the men in the Round of 16, but it’s been a different story at Wimbledon. For the first time in tournament history, all of the men’s and women’s quarter-finalists had two-handed backhands.
“It used to be majority of the top players, maybe up to 20 years ago, who played one-handed backhands,” said Djokovic. “Nowadays it's more two-handed backhands that kind of leads the tour in a way…
“When I started playing tennis, I actually started playing with one hand. My former coach, Jelena Gencic, she actually wanted me to play with one hand. I was feeling very weak because most of the kids at that stage, they were sending a lot of high balls to my backhand, so I would start supporting it with the left.”
Bye Bye Berdych
Berdych bid farewell to London, ending his Top 10 list of ‘Discovering London’ with the Tweet: “Discovering London no.10 - So many airports in London! Bye...”
The Czech began the series last Friday, Tweeting “Discovering London and the second floor of the double-decker bus doesnt have a driver #scary”. He followed with ‘discoveries’ about the London Eye, Big Ben, confusing maps, Jack London, Sherlock Holmes and James Bond.
Ja niestety nie miałem dostępu do kompa, a w mobilnym STS nie mogłem doszukać się lajfa i dokonać jednej z lepszych w życiu inwestycji.
