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Wimbledon awards 2009

tvnz.co.nz looks back on the highs and lows of Wimbledon 2009 after another glorious fortnight at SW19.

Best men’s match:

The Andy Roddick versus Lleyton Hewitt quarter-final was a classic dogfight and Andy Murray’s tense battle with Stainlas Wairinka almost lifted the newly installed centre court roof. But for occasion, drama and skill we can’t go past the final. The underdog playing the match of his life, Federer on the brink of history, the longest grand slam final and set in terms of games (77, 16-14 in the fifth set) and a star studded audience.

Best women’s match:

The first semi-final, where Elena Dementieva and Serena Williams battled for almost three hours in an incredible duel. Serena prevailed by the narrowest of margins, and said later she felt her forehand had been on vacation in Hawaii. A downcast Dementieva may have needed a holiday to recover and admitted a miss on match point will haunt her.

Best female player:

Serena Williams is the obvious standout as she swept all challengers aside and the 27-year-old, like a fine wine, seems to get better with age. But the Russian Dementieva deserves a special mention as she played the tennis of her life in the semi-final to be just one passing shot away from sending Serena packing. Nobody else came close.

Best male player:

The standout has to be Andy Roddick. The reborn American had a tough run through the early rounds then had to overcome Lleyton Hewitt and hometown hero Andy Murray just to make the final. Nobody gave him a chance in the decider but he played the match of his life to do everything but beat the greatest player in history.

“Where the hell have you been”:

This award goes to Lleyton Hewitt. The Aussie battler came into the tournament as one of only two previous champions in the men’s draw, but his 2002 truimph seemed a lifetime ago given form in recent years. The world number 56 beat the fifth seed Juan Martin Del Potro, before engineering a classic comeback from two sets down against Radek Stephanek to reach the last eight where he lost a four hour dogfight with Roddick.

“Where did you go?”:

Novak Djokovic looked a shadow of the man who truimphed in the 2008 Australian Open, and admitted he was down on confidence after bowing out to German veteran Tommy Haas at the quarter-final stage. On the women’s side Jelena Jankovic and Maria Sharapova struggled to recapture the form of year’s past.

“The judicious use of a wildcard award”:

Hats off to the Wimbledon organisers, who had the foresight to grant 29-year-old Juan Carlos Ferrero a wildcard into the main draw. The 2003 French Open champion has discovered an affinity for grass late in his career, and made it all the way to the quarter-finals dispatching the tenth seed Fernando Gonzalez and eighth seed Gilles Simon on the way.

The John MacEnroe memorial award for umpire insanity:

Umpire Carlos Ramos managed to take centre stage during the fifth set of the Hewitt-Roddick epic. As Andy Roddick continued to dispute a line call after an apparent mix-up between the man in the chair and his sideline assistant, the under pressure Ramos ended up accussing his own line judge of lying, to the obvious disbelief of Roddick and the BBC commentators.

Father figure:

The TV cameras seemed eternally fascinated with Federer heavily pregnant wife and one commentator thought it all might be too much for her during the marathon final, speculating that the tension may be enough to bring on an early labour. Success and fatherhood will be a challenge now for the world’s most famous Roger, and greats such as Stefan Edberg, John McEnroe and Boris Becker never won another slam after having children. Only ten fathers have won Majors.

The class of a champion:

Pete Sampras showed the class of a champion, arriving unannounced midway through the first set of the final. It was his first visit since 2002, when he was surprisingly dumped out by Swiss journeyman George Bastils. He said all the right things after the match, posed for photographs with the man who broke his record and left in his private jet the same day.

Best commentator:

John McEnroe – by a country mile. The American was insightful, entertaining and passionate. Boris Becker’s german accent was hard to listen to and he seemed obssessed with the prospect of Mirka Federer lurching into labour at any given moment. Tim Henman came across as the posh public schoolboy he once was while Pat Cash was fun, especially with commentating on fellow countrymen Lleyton Hewitt.

The NZRU award for not believing the hype award:

The newly installed centrecourt roof made its debut in Andy Murray’s fourth round match vs Wawrinka, where 15,000 fans, a glatidorial atmosphere and the late night finish made for a fantastic occasion. But Wimbledon were quick to quash ideas that such occasions would become frequent. A spokesman said “”It was an historic occasion but as with all historic occasions, it is best if they don’t happen too often.” Showing a sense of restraint often lost on bodies such as SANZAR and FIFA, who foist upon us more and more ‘must-see historic’ clashes until the last thing you want to do is watch them.

The worst use of clothing award:

Roger Federer took his opening day sartorial bow to new lows in 2009. He sauntered on to court with a military-style jacket and slacks which had the British media comparing him to anything from an extra on Miami Vice to a backing singer for a mediocre eighties tribute band.

The say what you really think award

This stays with Jelena Jankovic. Last year second seed Jelena Jankovic took a swipe at the organisers for making her play her fourth round match “almost in the parking lot”.”I almost need a helicopter to go to my court,” said the Serb after she was not given a Centre or Court One billing. This year Jankovic bowed out early and wasn’t given a chance to have another serve at organisers.

I’m merely a modest male award goes to Andy Murray:

Andy Murray. Britain’s favourite Scotsmen Andy Murray told his fans on Twitter about receiving a letter from her majesty Queen Elizabeth. “Got a nice letter from the Queen saying well done for winning Queen’s. Put it in its own pile away from the bills.” Hard to imagine a 22-year-old multi millionaire actually having to worry about bills, but there you go.

When is number one not actually number one?

WTA chief executive officer Larry Scott seems the only person on the planet who believes Dinara Safina is a genuine world number one.

“The ranking system is designed sort of around king or queen of the hill – who is the strongest, most consistent performer over the years. There are a lot of factors that go into the ranking system.

“While I know it does stir debate, the one place it doesn’t stir a debate is in the locker room. The players believe in that ranking system. They believe the ranking is right.”

Really, Larry, Really? No matter what the surface or circumstances a world number one should never lose 6-1 6-0 in a grand slam semi-final, as Safina did in a 58-minute capitulation to Venus Williams.

The maritial bliss award .

Newlyweds Brooklyn Decker and Andy Roddick. After Roddick made some jokes about his wife at a press conference, the swimsuit model was quick to bite back. She gleefully told the world’s media that her big-serving macho husband was a Rick Astley fan. In a subsequent press conference it was clear she had touched a nerve.

“What do you want me to say? I said I wasn’t proud, but I’m not going to lie to anybody. She brought up Rick Astley. I can’t deny it. It’s in my iPod. I bet it’s in your iPod, too, so shut up.”

“The British for the sake of being British award”.

The Wimbledon organisers were proud to announce that a record 511, 043 spectators had attended during the championships. And in the country that has made orderly and proper queueing an art form, they were also happy to divulge that over 160,000 people had lined up for the chance of a golden ticket over the 13 days.

Stand and deliver

Roddick managed 187 aces in his seven matches while Serena sent down a championship record 78 bombs from the baseline. Not to be outdone, Federer came up with serving success when it mattered most, with 50 aces in the final (just one short of Ivo Karlovic’s Wimbledon record.

Anyone for tennis?

The summer sunshine sent the English scrambling for liquid refreshments, as they quaffed their way through 200,000 glasses of Pimms (up 50,000 on 2008) and 20,000 bottles of champagne (up 3,000) as well as 28,000 kilos of the ubiquitous strawberries.