What a week for Heather
EVEN for those watching optimistically, there was a hint of foreboding once the relatively unknown German tennis player, Jule Niemeier, had reeled off her first service game yesterday.
Despite playing her first Wimbledon, there were fears that her big-serving game might be too much for our Heather Watson, and so it showed. Heather put up a decent fight at times, interspersed with some routine errors, but Niemeier also demonstrated some lovely touches and fully contributed to what might become the point of the championships.
But for a Guernsey audience, this has been Heather’s tournament. Three thriller matches, the first two stretched over two days each, ran the full gamut of emotions, and resulted in the second week of a grand slam tournament for the first time in her career.
Having just turned 30 and securing her best grand slam result after more than a decade on the circuit, Heather will no doubt want to take this grass season sucess into the US Open and beyond. She might fear that these moments – TV commentator Tracy Austin called it a ‘magical first week’ for her – might not come around again.
As her local support knows, Heather at Wimbledon is an experience in itself – both exasperating and exultant – and they will want to experience it again. We remain steadfastly proud of one of our finest sport exports – and grateful to have enjoyed this past week.