Reaching the sharp end of Wimbledon

Beckenham celebrates

Maria Esther Bueno enjoyed the band at Beckenham Lawn Tennis Club in celebration of the Beckenham Cricket Club’s 150th Anniversary on the eve of Wimbledon.

“We were so lucky because it poured with rain in the afternoon and they had to cancel some activities but in the evening it dried up so the band got to play and it was very entertaining.”

The group that played was called London Soul and they had a wide repertoire of music that everyone enjoyed. There was a Hog Roast alongside so fun was had by all.

“I love going to the club so I was happy to go along for the festivities even we had to shelter under canvas during a thunder storm!”

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All coming together after a difficult week

Wimbledon is coming to the sharp end of proceedings and it has all been a bit of a whirl for Maria Esther, who has been loving every minute of it, apart from the weather, that is.

“For a Brazilian, it has been miserable,” she lamented. “The first week was cold, windy and wet… how Wimbledon managed to catch up, is amazing really. Of course, they had to play on the middle Sunday to do so.”

The Championships struggled with rain that kept coming and going, trying the nerves of players, officials, media and spectators alike.

Without the benefit of the roof on Centre Court, the worldwide television audience would have equally frustrated but it exists to guarantee play and so it did.

“It’s great for the players scheduled on Centre because they know they will get their matches done, but I feel sorry for those who had to keep running for cover and then having to wait for goodness knows how long before being able to continue,” Maria Esther said.

“Many matches got held over to the following day and that is really tough too.

“It certainly was a factor in the biggest upset tennis has seen this year – the departure of Novak Djokovic at the hands of Sam Querrey.

“They were off and on several times and then had to come back to Court 1 to finish it the next day when there was a further rain delay.

“I know that it is the same for both players but actually, we all react differently to situations like this and it was clear that Djokovic was out of sorts and he lost in four sets.

“Amazingly that match was only a little short of three hours long but it took all day on Friday and was finished on Saturday afternoon!

“Venus [Williams] had to leave the court at match point down against [Daria] Kasatkina and eventually managed to win 10-8 in the third the next day!

“It is definitely hard to play in those kind of conditions but the fans benefitted from People’s Sunday, whic was a great success as usual.”

In the Royal Box

Maria Esther was in the Royal Box on the first Tuesday and had the privilege of sitting in the front row next to the Chairman of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Mr Philip Brook.

“It really is the best seat in the house!” she says. “It’s not the first time I’ve been there and I greatly appreciate the invitation, every time!”

She has also met up with a lot of VIPs, many of who have important roles to play with the coming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

“I was pleased to meet the Minister for Sport together with the directors of the Rio Open,” she continued. “It’s good to keep up with what is happening back home with these important events.”

And the Rolex Suite

Maria Esther also made an appearance in the Rolex Suite at Wimbledon to meet the directors and to help entertain their guests.

“That was a wonderful occasion, I must say,” she said. “They do everything beautifully and hosted a fantastic lunch with all sorts of wonderful goodies.

“I also got to chat with Caroline Wozniacki, who is a Rolex Ambassador, and she was very disappointed to have lost in the first round to [Svetlana] Kuznetsova.

“I encouraged her to play doubles because that really helps your singles play.

“I remember years ago saying the very same thing to Arantxa [Sanchez Vicaro] at Eastbourne after she suffered an early loss and was very down.

“She did just that, and she became one of the best doubles players around and really improved her singles game too.”

In fact the Spanish former World No 1 went on to win four Grand Slam singles titles, six Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, and four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles.

“Every time I bumped into her, Arantxa told me how she was rising in the doubles rankings!”

Maria Esther has also been working for TV Globo / SporTV.

“They are covering the matches live from Rio so we are doing features from here,” she explained. “Sometimes it is live or we film for use in between the matches or, as it was last week, in the rain delays.”

Maria Esther usually manages to hit early in the mornings ahead of her days at Wimbledon.

“That’s been a bit difficult too because of the weather. We have had to go indoors, like everyone else.

“I have been taking every opportunity to promote the Olympics whenever and wherever I can,” she says.

“I hit at Beckenham today and met 64 young kids who were playing mini tennis with the coach there so we gathered them all together and I told them all about Rio 2016 and how excited I am to be carrying the torch in a short while. They were fascinated and the teachers were delighted!”

And predictions for the tennis?

“Well, it is amazing that both Venus and Serena have made it into the semis and could, possibly, meet in the final after so many years!

“Serena was very lucky to still be in the tournament at all, having almost lost to Christina McHale in the second round. She managed to get out of that in three sets but it was very tight.

“She also had trouble with Kuznetsova in the first set but, as always, she found a way through and looked very confident against the other Russian in the quarters [Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova]. She is very strong mentally and just does not give in.

“It will be very hard to stop her now, equalling Steffi Graf’s 22 Grand Slam wins, I think.”

And in the men’s?

“As soon as Djokovic was beaten I felt it became a two-horse race between Roger [Federer] and Andy [Murray].

“Roger staged an incredible come-back from two sets down to Marin Cilic today [Wednesday] but he fought really hard, never gave up and eventually began to read his serve to make it into the semi-finals.

“I don’t see him losing to [Milos] Raonic now, but the Canadian is playing really well, as we saw at Queen’s, so it will be tough and it also depends if today’s match took a lot out of Roger.

“As for Murray, he works so hard and is very professional, as we saw when he played [Nick] Kyrgios and beat him in straight sets, so I don’t see him too much trouble getting through to the final.

“You saw his determination in the first tiebreak against [Jo-Wilfried] Tsonga today, when saved something like four set points before winning it 12-10… that took a lot out of the Frenchman and ut is hard to come back after that, especially when Murray keeps up the pressure.

“If they both make it, who will win?,,, my heart say Federer but my head say Murray!”

Go figure!

“What’s for certain is that we are in for some great tennis over the coming few days!”