WIMBLEDON CHAMPIONSHIPS > LONDON > GRAND SLAM > GRASS > R1
After standing at the back of court 2 for 7 hours, on top of 3 hours waiting for admission to the grounds, and on top of a 19 hour journey to reach those grounds.. I can say that come 8 o clock lastnight I genuinely felt fantastic.. because it doesnt get any better than seeing ones gladiator perform victory in the colluseum of tennis heroism. Seeing her stand on the very same ground where once stood her own inspiring legends Monica Seles and Pete Sampras.
As the day wore on it was becoming apparent that Marion’s match was unlikely to get under way on court 2, considering the overrun.
At around half past six, I happened to notice Marion and her father arrive in the players restaraunt which overlooks court 2. Just doing the usual things, father attentively fetching her racquets I assume back from the stringers. And enjoying a little carbohydrate or sugar boost while waiting for the mens singles match to conclude.
Around half past 7, they both left the lounge in rather a hurry.. hmmm I thought..
Sure enough, half an hour later the scoreboard on the outside of centre court lit up with the names Bartoli and Lisicki.
I ran out of court 2 and up Henman Hill, dodging the hoards like a fugitive loose on a public highway, or a chase in a James Bond movie, just to see if the match was being shown on the big screen.
Nope.
Big screen was only showing the usual plucky-Brit cannon fodder.
Glancing to my left I noticed a sign on a portacabin which said, Resale Tickets here.. et voila.. I purchased one for centre court, which was issued for somewhere up in the back rows.
I ran back down to centre court.
Luckily because the court was rather sparsely filled for what was after all a match reassigned from another court, the steward directed me to sit at the front.
There I was, in the corner of centre court, diagonally opposite the coaches box where her father sat, and metres from where Marion stood to serve. Cruising towards a four love lead.
At one in ambition, Intuiting the same reverie. The first step to Venus.
And so under fading light Marion shone brightly on centre court. Defeating Sabine Lisicki 6-2 6-4.
The last match Marion played in centre was last year’s final - If the crowd was a little more sparse last night, the sense of occasion itself wasn’t lost on Marion. At home amidst SW19's verdant charms. Efficiently dispatching her opponent out of the tournament in less than 90 minutes.
From the outset Marion had to stamp her authority and status on the match, and that’s just what she did as she raced into a four games to love lead.
Towards the end of the set Lisicki just about managed to register her presence on court, but whatever she did, Marion did better. A lot of the time Marion just had to step inside the baseline a little, and wait for the errors, double faults, and limp second serves to come off the head of Lisicki’s racquet. The German, with her back turned to the screen, reduced to hoping against hope on line challenges that merely postponed her inevitable fate.
The Bartoli serve was on message, and the returns not far off the accuracy she achieved at Wimbledon last year. Whenever just a touch of magic was required, such as a world class angled winner at the net late in the first set (reminiscent of a similar one against Kleybanova at Eastbourne) or finishing off a rally with an audacious lob that stunned the crowd by dropping inside the baseline, Marion was signalling through her play that every year she visits Wimbledon from now on wont be just to make up the numbers, but to win the trophy.. Irrespect of how many times she is overlooked as a title contender by esteemed experts.
Marion’s commitment and aggression was expressed wit a loud’n’gutsy “cummon” during a critical moment of the 2nd set. Maybe she was unconsciously picking up on me saying it repeatedly. Probably not, her cummon was oh so much more wonderfully fierce than mine.
With breaks early in the second set for both players, Lisicki threatened to at least prolong the match. But Marion just Pete Samprased her way through game after game, grinding down the resistance of her opponent, earning copious break points, and converting a sufficient number of them to seal the match.
In acknowledgement of their support, Marion took the unusual step of walking up stairs several rows behind the umpire’s chair, to hand a match towel to a group of flag-carrying French fans who had been vocal in their good support for Marion throughout the match.
As I exited centre court I heard Marion interviewed in Wimbledon Radio, replete with optimism that “maybe this year I can go one better than the final.” Asked about Mr. James Bond aka Pierce Brosnan, she said it would be nice if he attended Wimbledon again to add further inspiration to her aspiration, just as he did last year.
Well done Marion. Tatiana Perebiynis in the next round on Wednesday.
So I’ll be hopping on the tube down to Southields again tomorrow.
Couple of other things, the stewarding at Wimbledon is 5 star – friendly, courteous, helpful. Reminicent of an England not much in evidence anymore.
Secondly, The cameraphone was set to Basic quality to conserve the remaining battery power, so the pics and vids are poor.
I will get a proper digicam at some point. But the poor quality pics do at least show my vantage point.
I’ll post professional pics later.
Lastly, I just want say hi to the girl from wtaworld whom I had a nice chat with between games during the Kuznetsova match. 
