[@Wimbledon on Twitter]. There’s an 8 in there, for the eight Wimbledon championships that Roger had won, the most of any player, ever since the tournament was first held in 1877.I got up at 6 am this morning to watch Roger Feder (Swiss, he turns 36 on Aug 8!) and Marin Čilić (Croatian, 28) play in the 2017 Wimbledon final. Federer won in what was a one-sided match with Čilić saddled with a painful blister on his toe. The best part for me to watch, was Federer’s little tour afterwards through the VIP lounge, here. His family was there, of course, and Prince William and Kate, and Rod Laver, Stefan Edberg, and many other well-wishers, saying ‘well played’.
I hope in a London that had recently suffered a spate of terrorist attacks, and the terrible Grenfell fire, the tennis brought some sense of normalcy back. I sorely appreciate Roger’s grace – in his speech on the court, and in his tour of the lounge afterwards.
