Another Fourth of July tradition

For me, nothing says Fourth of July like.... Wimbledon. It's rather ironic that this very non-American event always falls around the Fourth of July (even though I guess the finals may be a day or two later, as they were this year). I have youthful memories of popping on the TV on the 4th and seeing tennis players. I spent one fabulous 4th of July in college visiting a friend in Sacramento, and amongst the memories of river rafting, swimming in their fabulous pool, and delicious frozen daiquiris is also a memory of Wimbledon on the TV (my hosts were rather avid tennis players). And when we were in England in June and July of 2001, I remember my father reading from the newspaper that Princess Anne bought a ₤400 hat for Wimbledon, and my mother saying, "A 400 pound hat? Wouldn't that be heavy?"

I'm not a tennis player; I'm no good at it at all. Something about that tiny ball flying at you with great speed just makes me want to cover my face and duck. I don't follow professional tennis except to the extent that certain players get coverage in People magazine. (I do have a great respect for the historical champions like Martina and Chris Evert.)

But when it comes to the beginning of July, something about Wimbledon draws my fancy. I probably just want to be in England eating strawberries and cream. Perhaps wearing a hat. (But not a ₤400 hat, not at this exchange rate!) (And I did love the movie!)

Saturday morning I turned on the TV at 7:00 as I contemplated getting up to go to the Y (eventually), and there were Venus and Serena Williams in the ladies' finals. Really, how amazing is that—two sisters who are both talented enough tennis players to make the Wimbledon finals! When you watch them, they are pure power.


By now, everyone knows that Venus won—I'm not breaking any news here. Then later in the same day she and Serena together won the doubles. Are these women stars or what?

The nice thing is that they seem to have their heads screwed on straight. (Okay, maybe Serena was a little pouty about losing to her big sister, but on the other hand who wouldn't be disappointed to make it to the finals and lose? Regardless of who you lose to.) Here is a nice article on Venus' thoughts about Wimbledon and the Olympics to come.

I also thought Venus' outfit was really cute. That's one thing you can say about tennis, it's very stylish!