WIMBLEDON 2025 WRAP-UP

After missing what people are labeling the best Men’s Final in the history of tennis at last month’s French Open, I haven’t missed one second of the next Major, The Championships Wimbledon of the past two weeks. And the tournament has been mostly fascinating.

But before anything else, I  have to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the late great Arthur Ashe winning this tournament. It was quite the coup, and more importantly, a historic feat for a black man. I didn’t witness the Championship match against Arthur’s fellow American Jimmy Connors, but I still remember where I was and with whom when he passed away.

I also must spare a thought for Grigor Dmitrov.  The thirty-four-year-old veteran player who had been expected to win at least one Major back in the day, but is now towards the end of his career, was two-sets-to-none up on World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the fourth round. And then…he tore his pec! So, of course, he had to retire from the match and tournament. Sinner’s elbow had just been injured a bit in that match, so it was looking very likely that Grigor would have won, and then move on to the important Quarterfinal! And this is the fifth consecutive Major in which he had to retire with an injury! Sometimes life is just not fair. (But don’t cry for him too much—his girlfriend is gorgeous actress Eiza Gonzalez, so she’s probably nursing him back to health.)

And then, just a few days later, yesterday, Sinner won the Championship!!! Over two-time defending Champion Carlos Alcaraz! They’re both lovely young men, so I can’t be sad, but I was rooting for Carlos. Oh well. He already has a quintet of Majors himself. So congrats to Jannik. And also to Iga Swiatek, a first-time Ladies Champ. I’ve actually never seen someone more excited to win here. And then they got to dance together at the Champions Ball last night, so I can’t wait to see video of that!

Now I have to vent about some of the ESPN on-air personnel right away, before I get to anything else:

Mr. X pointed this one out, and I can’t believe I never noticed it before. When the coverage begins or comes back from break, the unseen announcer calls it “WimbledAn” as opposed to the correct “WimbledOn.” How is that even possible???

I’m very upset with the channel because they deprived me of seeing even one second of Matteo Berrettini’s gorgeous visage! (He lost in the first round, and they never showed any of that match!)

I’m glad the oldsters are still the tennis commentators on ESPN, but I cannot stand the way they infantilize each other’s names, such as “Cliffie,” (Cliff Drysdale,) “Pammie,” (Pam Shriver,) “Stubbsie,” (Rennae Stubbs,) “Chrissie,” (Chris Evert,) and even “John-nie” (for basic “John McEnroe.”) Ugh. It’s sooo creepy. All they’re missing are Sleepy, Grumpy, and Dopey. Doc wouldn’t stand a chance with these peeps!

It was so much better this year to hear Patrick McEnroe start off the coverage each day instead of that annoying woman, Chris McKendry. She gets dumber every year. So let’s get to just a small percentage of her stupidity:

I have no idea why, but they let her take the lead on commentating a few matches, (even though she’s the main studio host,) and she did not stop talking all through Aryna Sabalenka’s entire match!!! McKendry should never be allowed in a match booth again! The commentators are supposed to be mum during the actual points! How could she not know that???

And, later, she told a new member of their team to “remember to talk,” when they’re commentating, making it sound like she had forgotten to do so! All she did was talk through every point!!!

Then she mispronounced Emma RadUcanU’s last name as “RadAcanA!” What a moron. She’s the friggin’ host, for goodness sake—just learn the players’ names before you get on the air and embarrass yourself!

And, when Carlos Alcaraz won his quarterfinal, she said, “…first time Alcaraz is playing Week 2.” What was she even talking about?! He’s won the whole thing for the past two years! So this is at least his third time into Week 2! Why doesn’t anyone at the desk with her correct her already, especially when she gives out such incorrect info! (She later told us that two girls played “fifteen years ago” in…2016! Can she not do basic math??? That was nine years ago, not fifteen. Ugh.)

Then she interviewed Andy Roddick at the end of the first week. (I’m in shock that Andy speaks so well, by the way. He sounds really intelligent. And amusing enough without showing that he thinks that he is.) And she told him how smart he is, when she’s the opposite! Oysh.

And how could she not have asked him why his kids never saw a tennis match?! And why do they not play? Did he try to get them to? Just a few questions that would have been great to ask when he mentioned that situation. How did she get this job? And better yet—keep it?!

Now that I just had a few minutes to calm down about all that idiocy, I can get to a few of my disparate overall observations of this years’ Wimbledon:

The players here are, of course, seeded, so they can be paired up properly against each other. (I’m explaining that for the nescients reading this.) And more seeds went out early here than ever before. I’ve never seen anything like it. Thirty-one of the sixty-four seeded players (between both genders) were out in the first three days!

There were sooo many females in need of better bras! Or bras, period. First of all, the young ladies do not stand-up straight, and with the bad bras, they all look so dumpy. Mr. X watched more of the tourney than ever with me, and he could not believe how awful the majority of them looked. Also, since the girls are all incredible athletes, one would assume that they would have low body fat, which looked to be far from the case.

They now allow women to wear different-colored shorts under their dresses, instead of the usually-required all-white. (Wow—three hyphenated terms in one sentence!!!)  Can you figure-out why? I think I have. It’s to make them less self-conscious if they have their periods!!! I’m pretty sure of it. And…good idea!

Favorites, (but who didn’t win,) Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz are both so charming. That’s really why I root for them, more than for their athletic prowess.

When a spectator needed a bit of medical attention on the first very hot day, Carlos Alcaraz went and got a bottle of water to give to the people working on the heat-affected person! In the middle of the all-important fifth set! Not just because of this incident, but Carlos is one of the most genuinely nice people in sports. (Aryna did the same thing a few days later, along with ice, and she did it at the most dramatic moment in the semifinals for herself. And the ice she gave was an ice pack that she was using to cool her own face down! And she had to walk all the way across the court and the heat to do it. I told you she’s a good girl.)

She also said the cutest and most amusing thing during one of her post-match on-court interviews. The interviewer asked what she thought of all the upsets, to which she answered, “I hope it’s no upsets anymore in this tournament.  I mean if you know what I mean!” That means that she was hoping that she would win the whole thing, because if she lost at any point, being seeded #1, it would be an upset.

Her Wimbledon bracelet, with adorbs tiny strawberries and pearls as the cream, is the cutest thing I ever saw! So not only is Aryna a Majors Champion, she’s now also a jewelry champ!

Eventual Gentlemen’s Champion, Jannick Sinner, is also a good guy. When he won in the quarters only because Grigor Dmitrov had to retire with that pec injury, he did the post-match interview only for the purpose of praising Grigor!

Alcaraz’s first match here was Italian player Fabio Fognini’s last match ever! And it was a great one.  I loved seeing opponents laughing together and having fun.

I like Ben Shelton, but he needs to stop picking his fingers while being interviewed. Or ever!

But I love that Ben mentioned that so many people he loves are there in his box! And most are his family—father, mother, and sister. We should all have a son like that!

Why would British guy Cam Norrie not dye that crazy big gray streak in the front of his hair???

Poor Brit Oliver Tarvet had to play Alcaraz here, and he hadn’t lost a match since November!  He’s in college in the U.S., this was his Majors debut, he needed a Wild Card to get into just the Qualifying, and here he was at Centre Court playing Carlos!!! This is one situation I can truly say is amazing!

Marketa Vondrousova has the worst arm tattoos I’ve ever seen. They look like a kid just drew squiggles on them, with a weak pen, to boot!

Teen-ager Mirra Andreeva’s reaction to seeing Roger Federer “in real life” was adorbs. But get in line, honey!

Some of the commentators were mentioning their fave tennis players, so Patrick McEnroe said, “And my favorite is my brother,” referring to John McEnroe. So cute.

Carlos said, “Tennis is really a mental sport. How you talk to yourself is really important.” I say that’s a lesson for all life.

I give Fabio Fognini soooo much credit. He lost in the first round to Alcaraz, but then came back for his fellow Italian Flavio Cobolli’s quarterfinal match against Novak Djokovic!!!

And I give Cobolli credit for hanging in there with Novak!

Throughout the tourney, the ESPN people kept discussing mental health, which is good to talk about. But I thought that I was going to go mental if I heard about the players’ mental health any more!!!

On that topic, I am now very worried about Sasha Zverev. He was the #3 seed, but lost in the first round. And then in his press conference, he said he feels very alone. And his father and brother are his coaches, so he always has people who love him! It’s so sad. I hope someone helps him, and soon.

On the other hand, Naomi Osaka, who has always suffered with her mental health, just seems like a bitter woman these days.  Her constant screaming and missing her tosses is so rude to her opponents.  She needs to get it together or just stop competing again.

Chris Evert said about mental health, “It’s very important to have a balanced life.” I hope the players heed her wise words.

Now to the Semis and Finals:

Thirty-eight-year-old Novak Djokovic has hung in there on the tour only because he’s desperate to win what would be his record-breaking twenty-fifth Major! But, with Alcaraz and Sinner in his way, it’s highly unlikely that that will ever happen. He was a shadow of his old self in the Semis against Sinner, losing in straight sets. With his truly beautiful children at home, and many charitable works, I think he should give it up already. I wonder if his long-suffering wife agrees with me.

The Ladies Final was a true humiliation for runner-up Amanda Anisomova. At least she made over a million dollars for the appearance. So maybe she can take some more tennis lessons. (Too soon?) (Or she could buy her mom a manicure—she had just flown in that morning, but her nails were beyond a mess! Petty of me to mention it, I know.)

But Amanda’s concession speech was great! I’m so impressed that she did so well. Good for her. But she should have ended with, “I’m going to take my team out for more bagels now.” (She didn’t win even one game in the Final, which means she got “bagled!”)

With new Champion Iga Swiatek’s stunning victory, everybody is going to start eating her nauseating fave dish, pasta and strawberries with yogurt!

During the Gentlemen’s Final, someone popped a champagne bottle in the middle of the match, and the cork flew onto the court! Just as Sinner was serving. Now I truly have seen everything in tennis.

And lastly, I hate that Princess Kate, who presents the Championship trophies, doesn’t acknowledge every ball kid as she arrives on court. I know that it’s tradition to do it that way, but it’s a terrible policy.

Okay, that’s it for this year’s Wimbledon. I wish that my two Faves, Alcaraz and Sabalenka, had won, but I’m happy with, and for, Sinner and Swiatek. Now on to the US Open next month! I need that time to calm down. And sharpen my fangs for the occasion!