AT WIMBLEDON TODAY: RAIN COMES DOWN, ROOF STAYS OPEN, TWITTER GOES MENTAL – GLOBAL CHICK’S DAY 9 DIARY

Written by: Global Chick on 8th July 2015

AT WIMBLEDON TODAY: RAIN COMES DOWN, ROOF STAYS OPEN, TWITTER GOES MENTAL – GLOBAL CHICK'S DAY 9 DIARY

Rain interupts play during the men's quarter finals during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 08 July 2015. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA |

As if the pouring rain that beat my alarm clock to the pip this morning was not enough, a strike by tube workers (that’s the underground/metro to you at the back) made for a fairly grumpy start to the day.

The men’s quarter-finals were on the menu today, and if there were any hang-ups on the side of Vasek Pospisil after two five-setters the other day, they certainly did not show as he and Andy Murray scampered about the court, switching from thuds from the baseline to deft touches at the net, but wouldn’t you know it – no sooner than Murray had obtained a break before his future king, the rains came.

Well OK we exaggerate a little – a brief shower, and at the restart it was very much Pospisil the aggressor, and Murray literally gritted his teeth to hold on for the first set.

After another brief rain delay, and with more intermittent rain-clouds expected to wring out their contents over us, finally the roof came over, and when that happens the mood in the Centre Court changes. The echo as the racquet makes contact with the ball, the amplification of the crowd’s cheers for their hero, and in turn that crescendo of noise seems to lift them still higher. That and the fact they are relieved at being able to watch a match!

It has to be said though, Pospisil was on the wrong end of two somewhat harsh time penalties, one at 5-5 30/30 in the second set and the second at with him serving at 4-5 in the third set probably means umpire Pascal Maria is in no hurray to head to Canada any time soon.

Vasek Pospisil of Canada in action against Andy Murray of Britain during their quarter final match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 08 July 2015. EPA/GERRY PENNY

Meanwhile we had our first edition of Switzerland v France as Roger Federer ended the good run of Gilles Simon, but not before (shock horror) his unbroken run of service holds at this year’s tournament was, well, broken. Simon snapped that streak with a break to love, only to be broken straight back. It was his best chance to have made an impact on this match, surrendering the third set to send Federer into a mouth-watering clash with Murray on Friday.

The quarter-final of the day though was the five set battle between Stan Wawrinka and Richard Gasquet looking to defend France’s honour. He started promisingly enough taking the first set.

French Open champion Wawrinka soon redressed the balance though, as he picked up the next two sets, and Switzerland 2 – France 0 headlines were being written all over. That was until Gasquet put in a sneaky break right at the end of the fourth set to take us into those anxious moments of checking watches and gazing at darkening sky lines.

Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland returns to Richard Gasquet of France in their quarter final match during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 08 July 2015. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

Having waited for a fair while to listen to Mr Murray’s thoughts on the day, we gathered around the TVs in the restaurant, thinking we would at least be able to chomp our pie and chips to the end of the match. Hmmm perhaps we should have invested in some of those strawberries. On and on the match ticked, with first blood going to Gasquet, for a 5-3 lead, only to be broken straight back as he served for the match.

By now pie and chips were getting cold, as the scoreboard clicked on and on. Gasquet’s first match point came as he built up three match points, squandering two of them but sealing the deal on his first semi-final since 2007.

He will now face World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who breezed past Marin Cilic with the minimum of fuss.

· The women return as Serena Williams closes in on the Serena Slam in he semi-final against Maria Sharapova

· Agnieszka Radwanska will face Garbine Muguruza in the other semi-final

Topics: Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, global chick, London, Richard Gasquet, Sports, Stan Wawrinka, Tennis News, Vasek Pospisil, Wimbledon

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10sBalls_com says:

July 8, 2015 at 2:37 pm

AT @Wimbledon TODAY: RAIN COMES DOWN, ROOF STAYS OPEN, TWITTER GOES MENTAL – GLOBAL CHICK’S DAY 9 DIARY- http://t.co/gSX9LOA5yh #wimbledon