Service with a smile

There was a big big reason to celebrate here at HQ yesterday. Wimbledon, third round, Centre Court....picture it. Feliciano Lopez steps out onto court against Andy Rodick, a player he's lost to seven times,, including reecently at Queen's. Then...BOOM...Ace. A pattern begins. But not just a pattern of big serves, a pattern of some beautiful volleying and exquisite passing shots. Flic is ON his game today. Then sudddenly he's making the eighth seed look very ordinary in the first set tiebreak. Then it happens again in the second tiebreak. In the third set the damn breaks and so does Flic. It's glorious, fist-pumping, vamos-ing, hair shaking glorious. I could not be prouder. I've been supporting Flic for a long time, since number 90 in the world to be precise, but his ranking has never mattered to me, its his game in  all its flowing aesthetic glory. In full flow he's a beautiful sight to behold, he has awonderful languid grace to all his movements and i could honestly write reams about how gorgeous his tennis strokes are. Another highlight of Flic's match was the commentary of the man, the legend Boris Becker. He's fast becoming a favourite a HQ with his left-field remarks. The other day, one of his fellow commentators pointed out Noel Fielding in the crowd, to which Boris promptly responded "the guy in the middle? That's not a woman?!" Then during Flic's match he began musing to himself about the state of Andy Roddick's nails, reasoning that biting them that far down must hurt. The piece de resistance came when he spotted Roddick's wife (a swim wear model, who's been in Sports Illustrated.) His thoughts? "Anyone seen the swimsuit issue? (pause) I HAVE!" Genius.

A good vintage

Something unusual has happened at HQ. I've been watching Wimbledon this week and the most affecting match I've watched and the one that has moved me to blog was on the women's side of the draw. Yes you read that right, there's a wave of feminism going on here at Sports Wall. And its all because of Kimiko Date-Krumm. Mrs Date-Krumm was Venus Williams' second round opponent at SW19 this week. Normally everybody would be commenting on the fact that she is ranked number 57 in the world and Venus is a multiple Wimbledon champion. But there's something else everyone was commenting on. Kimiko Date Krumm is forty years old. She turned pro in 1989. I'll put that in context for you all, that's the year I was born. She retired in 1996 and came back in 2008. That in itself is inspiring. But watching her in the match was something else. Her athleticism was amazing and her shot making ability was absolutely sublime, her ability to change her game to suit the moment was so impressive. It was a display of proper vintage tennis. She pushed Venus Williams all the way eventually going down with a more than creditable score of 7-6, 3-6, 8-6. I hope her match was as inspiring to all the aspiring tennis players out there as it was to me. What a fantastic example she's setting for us all, Kimiko we salute you.

Two Dani-less rounds

I've been slightly remiss about my moto GP postings, largely because there's been a Dani shaped hole in the grid for the past two rounds. I had to tape Catalunya because I was on holiday. I was hoping for a Valentino Rossi win since I was in Italy but fifth wasn't too bad, given he's still in the developing stage with the bike. I spent quite a bit of my day out in Riva skulking around bar canopies, leaning over in a super unsubtle way trying to surreptitiously watch their highlights. Luckily my mum then handily sent me a text informing me that "stinky" had won and Rossi had finished fifth. Stellar.
Then it was the British GP. It was eventful to say the least. Lots of rain meant crashes for Spies, Lorenzo and Simoncelli and lots of sketchy moments besides. Which means its all change in the leaderboard again. Unfortunately stinky is now leading but it does mean narrow the gaps at the top which lets Dani back in if he returns sharpish. A friend of mine attended the GP and has returned with autographs! I haven't managed to find out whose yet and the suspense is killing me, I can't wait to hear all the exciting stuff from the weekend.

The start of crazy season

Well here I am back on the shores of dear old Blighty once more. I've been gone a week and I've returned to find crazy season in full swing with rumours flying all over the place about Samir Nasri. I've heard all sorts of nonsense linking him to Manchester United and even saying talks had been opened but I refused to put too much stock in them given the sketchy nature of the speculation and general lack of official quotes. Then lo and behold today I check twitter and there's a tweet from the man himself saying "Don't believe the newspapers and the rumours I'll let you know if something happens." To me that sounds a lot more postive for Arsenal fans than any of the nonsense printed in the papers. We've also been subjected to speculation about a bid for Gael Clichy from Liverpool and the continued, tedious debate about Cesc Fabregas. I for one hope Gael Clichy isn't going anywhere, I don't understand the amount of criticism that's been flung his way this past year. And as you all know I'm heartily sick of the Cesc saga. I wish they would just settle it already. Either sign him or shut up its that simple. I've also heard tons of supposed transfer targets that i'm not happy with; Chris Samba- NO, Gary Cahill- NO, Oxlade-Chamberlain-no, Gervinho- no. One rumour however, stood out: Falcao. Now that would be a huge and resounding YES.

Post-Season Break

Big early morning greetings to everyone from Newcastle Airport. That's right I'm out of HQ for a holiday. Where are you going, I hear you ask. Well I'm going to the beautiful home of all things Calcio. Ruth's Sport's Wall is decamping to Bella Italia for a little break. So if things are quiet for a few days that's why. Anyway, the football season ended on a little high with justice prevailing and Barcelona (and football) winning the champions league against Manchester United. Also football triumphed in the Premier League with Wigan staying up instead of Birmingham's anti-football. I've been watching more of the French Open, in particular Mr Nadal, who I must say is starting to look more assured as he progresses. I also enjoyed the endurance clash between my favourite catalan lion David Ferrer and Baby G Monfils. Five sets of showpiece tennis, get in. Now we're down to the serious part and I'm hoping to catch some of it on Italian TV. I'm pretty sure they show Moto GP there as they might have a rider or two in the championship. Anyway, ciao for now