Excuses, Excuses
‘ITS important to get the excuses in early and, if Tim Henman loses his Wimbledon quarter-final to Mario Ancic today, rest assured that it wont be his fault.
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| ‘It’s a damn shame your lucky T-shirt is red, Tim’ |
Not that Tim is offering any mitigating pleas its former champion Boris Becker who reckons that the changes to the courts have worked against the British No.1.
I dont think the All England Club has done itself or Tim any favours by making the courts slower than they were in my day, the German said.
The grass is a little thicker, but the main reason is that the balls are heavy and slightly bigger.
That is very bad for a serve and volley player like Henman who likes to chip and charge.
However, the All England Club has listened to Henmans plea not to be last on Centre Court this afternoon, and weather permitting he will start as soon as the Serena Williams v Jennifer Capriati match is finished.
And one person who will be hoping that Henman comes through against the World No.63 is defending champion Roger Federer.
Tims a nice guy and popular figure, the Swiss No.1 seed tells the Mail. We talk a lot and I would like to see him win Wimbledon.
Meanwhile, Englands footballers are still making excuses for why it is Portugal who are taking on Holland in the Euro 2004 semi-final tonight and not them.
Steven Gerrard admits that uncertainty over his club future may have had a bearing on his form in Portugal, while David Beckham has tried everything from shifting sands to lack of fitness.
However, Real Madrid team-mate Luis Figo told the England captain to stop making excuses.
It is how you look at it and deal with it, he said. Fitness is an individual thing. You know when you need more work, or less.
At least Englands cricketers werent making any excuses for their pathetic showing in the one-day match against New Zealand as they were bowled out for a miserable 101.
The We Wuz Robbed headline in the Sun refers not to the match, which the Kiwis won by seven wickets, but to a dressing room raid in which both Michael Vaughan and Darren Gough had their wallets stolen.
Vaughans wallet apparently contained £1,200 in cash the result perhaps of a tasty win at the bookies?
Not that we are suggesting that the England skipper would bet against his own side rather that the 20-1 odds against Beckham launching the first football into orbit looked too good to pass up.’
Posted: 30th, June 2004 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
