A wonderful Wimbledon and World Cup, despite the distractions!

If you blinked too much over the last three weeks, you might be forgiven for not comprehending all that happened.

Let’s recap. The war between the United States and Iran revived itself with no feasible end in sight. England divorced another Prime Minister and welcomed its seventh in ten years. Andy Burnham assumes the office today, with his only advantage being that never have expectations been lower about what he might achieve. Europe has just emerged from the worst of a blistering heatwave, which may be a metaphor for the febrile state of the continent’s politics.

The murder of well-known former Conservative MP, turned Reform supporter, Anne Widdecombe, has only added to a sense that all is not well with many bodies politic. Oh, I nearly forgot that Taylor Swift tied the knot in a suitably subtle American extravaganza at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Wimbledon, overshadowed at it was by the World Cup, generated more history. The tournament’s fortnight was relentlessly hot. No rain at all. Jannik Sinner commented on this meteorological first when accepting his trophy.  There were other firsts. Wimbledon celebrated its first champions from El Salvador and Latvia when Marcelo Arevalo and Jelena Ostapenko won the Mixed Doubles title.

A Filipino player, Alexandra Eala, became the first from her country to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament. For the first time a British wildcard player, Arthur Fery, progressed to the semi-finals. Fery’s run to the final ended with a predictable loss to Zverev; however, his semi-final loss did not generate the same reaction as England’s semi-final loss in the World Cup to Argentina! More on that later.

Novak Djokovic broke more records, but his 25^th Grand Slam title remains elusive. His fourth-round victory delivered his 105^th Wimbledon win, eclipsing Roger Federer’s record. Martina Navratilova’s record of 120 Wimbledon victories remains the seemingly unreachable Everest. Novak then won an epic five set quarter-final- Wimbledon’s longest- against Canada’s Felix Auger-Alaissame for victory 106. Even with the advantage of a day’s rest, Djokovic was no match for Sinner in their much anticipated semi-final, losing in straight sets. Having passed Federer’s match record, Djokovic clearly took it upon himself to channel Roger’s sartorial manner, reprising the wearing of bespoke jackets!

Serena Williams’ wildcard appearance created much media interest. The winner of 23 Grand Slam titles, Williams returned to Centre Court in the first round, only to be defeated by Australia’s Maya Joint in three sets.  

The Women’s Singles went to script: mercurial, chaotic and entirely unpredictable. Sabalenka confirmed her ability to defeat herself with a fourth round loss to the sartorially challenged Naomi Osaka, whose ‘killer kimono’ outfits became the talk of the town. Sabalenka was then quickly followed by the inexplicable exits of Swiatek and Rybakina.

In the end, Wimbledon produced another female champion from the Czech Republic when Linda Noskova outlasted her compatriot, Karolina Muchova, in a wildly fluctuating Women’s Final. Martina and the Princess of Wales looked on dressed in almost identical scarlet jackets- a future Queen and the Queen of Wimbledon side by side! Navratilova, Novotna, Kvitova, Vondrousova, Krejcikova and now Noskova prove that the Czech Republic has been ‘ova’ represented in the Champions’ Honour roll in recent years, but Noskova is the first female player to triumph wearing a nose ring.

Regrettably, the script for Australia’s players continues to be the same. Only one Australian player, the Russian born Daria Kasatkina, made it to the third round of the Women's singles. In the Men’s, Alex de Minaur, with his highest ever seeding of No.5 again led the Australian charge. Again, he failed to make the breakthrough he desperately seeks, losing in the fourth round to French Open runner-up, Flavio Cobolli in straight sets. Away from the courts both Kasatkina and de Minaur found happiness at the end of the tournament with both being wed to their long-term partners.

The Men’s Singles went to script: straightforward and entirely predictable. The top two seeds contested the final. Alexander Zverev has now reached the finals of all Grand Slam tournaments. Unfortunately, his opponent, Jannik Sinner, is his ultimate nemesis. Zverev has now lost his last ten matches to Sinner and has failed to break Sinner’s serve for a mere 87 games. Zverev played to the height of his powers to win the first set in a tiebreak, but Sinner steadied and only two breaks of service were required for Sinner to defend his title.

The slim, but clear difference between the qualities of the players was epitomised in the final game. Sinner reached match point after a 23 shot rally where Zverev tried everything to win. The penultimate shot of the rally was a Zverev drop shot that no other player could have reached, but Sinner could and replied with an even more improbable angled winner.

Sinner’s fifth Grand Slam title confirms his dominance of the game along with the injured Alcaraz. Since 2024, they have won 10 of the 11 Grand Slam titles played.

Football’s World Cup confirmed not only how sport can galvanise the attention of the world, but also how sport can quickly become infused with the shameless motives of politicians and players.  Football’s world governing body, FIFA, has never been known for its scrupulous behaviour. However, FIFA’s decision to accede to President Trump’s intimidation to rescind an American player’s suspension proved there is much rotten in its headquarters. Needless to say, the effect of Trump’s intervention was to intensify loathing of his unsporting conduct and unite the world in support of Belgium who proceeded to dismantle the American team 4-1. Not even a President’s hubris can defeat karma and kismet. Both FIFA and Trump have red cards on their hands.

Restraint is an undervalued quality. It is much noted in its absence. Argentina had a memorable semi-final win against England. The defending champions overcame a 0-1 deficit with two goals in the last eight minutes of the game, both of which were orchestrated by the extraordinary Lionel Messi. Victory over England on the field, however, was not enough. Argentina’s players took to the field to reassert their nation’s claim to the Falkland Islands, reigniting the bitterness that has lasted since the military conflict between Argentina and England in 1982.

Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has also reminded us of how lack of restraint and dignity can be damaging. During Wimbledon and the World Cup, your author was overseas. It was entirely unedifying that the only news heard of Australia was that its leader had displayed unimaginable levels of vulgarity and crudity.

Foolishly appearing on a podcast designed to attract a ‘youth’ audience, Albanese offered his opinions on who he would like to “shag” in the event that his recent marriage foundered. More horror was to follow. There was commentary on his conjugal activity. Worst of all, there was an unforgivable slur of Japan’s first female Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi. On a recent visit to Australia, the Japanese leader brought a gift of two prized Japanese melons as a symbol of a new trade agreement between the countries. Albanese likened her appearance with the melons to Pamela Anderson of Baywatch ‘fame.’ This from a man who for political purposes gushes about the numbers of women in his Cabinet and the Parliament. If confirmation was ever needed of Albanese’s baseless conceit, his lack of gravitas and crude approach to politics, we have it.

How ironic that Mr. Albanese recently gave a speech on the role of artificial intelligence in Australia. Only a person of minimal intelligence could have behaved as Albanese did. No doubt any AI search engine,-especially Claude-would have advised him accordingly.

Equally appalling was the total lack of condemnation of Albanese by his female party members. It must be hard to be distracted from climbing the greasy pole. This cowardice was matched by Keir Starmer’s parliamentary members applauding his valedictory address to the House of Commons after executing him.

For the record, Spain won its second World Cup with a deserved 1-0 victory over Argentina. As Sinner is with breaks of serve, so too the Spanish with conceding goals. The World Cup champions only had one goal scored against them during the entire tournament. They have not been beaten for 38 international matches. The spiteful behaviour of Argentina after the match confirmed that decency was also victorious.

Kudos and “Vamos” to Spain and a happy anniversary of the moon landing! It is well worth remembering that the world still has great feats and accomplishments to celebrate and remember.

  ***********************************

This post is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Margaret Smith AM in Perth, Western Australia who died on her Bastille Day birthday last week aged 94. A family friend of six decades, Margie was a pioneering obstetrician and gynaecologist in Western Australia. She delivered close to 6000 babies in her career and revolutionised health care for women from pregnancy to menopause. Margie was a polymath who could recite Keats as easily she could diagnose patients. Zealous, powerfully intelligent, thoughtful, and caring, she has left an enduring legacy.