London Life Events

Queens Final 2013

June 20, 2013

Let me first apologise to my readers that do not follow or like tennis and don’t know the celebrities i’m going to talk about here. However, if you stick with it, the word ‘charity’ and ‘cancer’are universal. I do hope you at least enjoy some of the photos:-)

The queen’s club was established in 1886, one of the first multi-sport clubs to be founded in britain. As well as tennis, you’ll find courts for squash, real tennis (the game from which tennis evolved) and rackets.

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The aegon championships is one of the top 10 tennis events in the world. The tournament attracts many of the leading players from the men’s game as they begin their preparations for wimbledon on the grass courts of the queen’s club in west London.

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The club is owned by its members and i’m very lucky to be invited every year by a dear friend of mine. I saw andy murray take the title here in 2011 and just witnessed a repeat last sunday.

But the road to victory was not an easy one. Scheduled to go and see the men’s semi-finals (always my favourite) on saturday, it was a complete wash out! This here below was the scene for the entire day until 6pm. Although we knew play would commence at that time, we took the decision to go home and come back for the finals instead!

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On sunday, after another few hours of rain delay, we could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel… or, in this case, a sky that was starting to turn blue! Hooray, there was excitement in the air, a real sense of anticipation as the announcement was made that play would commence at 3.30pm.

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Yes, ladies and gentlemen, and from then forth, this was the vista throughout the rest of the day!

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All ready and waiting, let play begin!

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The boy is looking good, would you agree?

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And for my fellow tennis players, this is how we’re meant to serve:-)

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The moment of victory. It’s rare to see andy smile, so was rather chuffed with this shot!

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I loved, loved, loved this years uniforms for the ball girls. Looked very stella mccartney to me. Do you like them?

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Ah yes, the trophy!!!! Well done andy, your third victory here at queens. That should set you up nicely for wimbledon!

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After the finals, we were treated to a hilarious and much anticipated for charity celebrity tennis match. The charity was rally against cancer. I believe, at the time of announcement on sunday, they had raised around £65,000 for the the royal marsden, the world-leading cancer centre treating british tennis player ross hutchins. After Ross announced that he had hodkgin lymphoma, the entire tennis world came out to support the event and help raise money. Here he is being interviewed by sue barker.

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This signed poster was handed to ross as a souvenir.

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Andy murray and tim henman took on ivan lendl and tomas berdych for a truly entertaining match. Who knew lendl (murray’s coach) had such a fantastic sense of humour. I rooted for him all the way. It was also nice to see henman back in action!

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That match was followed by more of a ‘spoof’ match. In murray’s team you had the rather ‘pissed’ jonathan ross, very funny boris johnson and jimmy carr.

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Henman’s team was made up of sir richard branson, the hilarious michael mcintyre  and the actor eddie redmayne.

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The charity match was really good fun but definitely enhanced by the larger than life boris johnson and michael mcintyre. To my surprise, they were also the strongest tennis players, albeit johnson using a vintage 1956 wooden racket!

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All in all it was magical to be back at queens and i cannot wait for next year! Wimbledon runs from monday 24th june to sunday 7th july. C’mon andy!

Anyone watched the finals or the charity game that was screened on bbc1? Have a great weekend.

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29 Comments

  • Reply Louise - 30s Magazine June 20, 2013 at 4:38 pm

    Hello Miss GIF! Amazing photos! Like you were on the court. My serve looks just like that NOT!:-)

    • Reply tina July 2, 2013 at 11:12 pm

      Hahaha. Mine doesn’t look like that either. (I wish)

  • Reply Igor June 20, 2013 at 7:57 pm

    Wow, I love love love you pics Tina. And you are quite mastering the GIF side of life:-) Looks like you had a fab time at the Queen’s Final!!

    • Reply tina July 2, 2013 at 11:13 pm

      Thank you, thank you, thank you…:-))
      Yes, it was fab once the rain stopped!

  • Reply noreen June 20, 2013 at 10:28 pm

    hello there! i’m not a tennis fan, but you grabbed me with that post. the short videos were really fun! it sounds like the “for fun” matches were really sweet and funny. glad you enjoyed!

    • Reply tina July 2, 2013 at 11:13 pm

      Oh Noreen, I will take this as a compliment!
      Glad you enjoyed it, although you’re not a tennis fan:-)

  • Reply Michaela June 21, 2013 at 10:59 am

    Firstly Tina – thank you so much for such a nice summery post. Tennis really does make one think of summer – even if the weather doesn’t!!!

    And secondly, thank you for showing us pics of BJ in his PE kit. Not because I’m letching at him of course, but purely because these photos make unfit people like me feel that there are others much worse off than themselves – hehe!

    … and it’s all for charidy. Great stuff x

    PS – Liking those animated gifs too – vey swish 🙂

    • Reply Chi @ 106 June 21, 2013 at 7:30 pm

      “Tennis really does make one think of summer – even if the weather doesn’t!!!”
      It does, doesn’t it? And strawberries! 😀

    • Reply tina July 2, 2013 at 11:17 pm

      That’s so funny. Yes, BJ was a hoot and looked funny in his PE kit. Hahahaha!

      Giving the GIFs a bit of a rest. Looking forward to meeting you x

  • Reply Gerard @WalnutGrey June 21, 2013 at 6:02 pm

    Boy am I struggling with this one. Your photos & GIFs are fantastic and I’m so pleased you got to see the tennis in the end.

    I’ll say no more 😉

    Have a fab wkend darlin’ xx

    • Reply tina July 2, 2013 at 11:17 pm

      Hahahaha. You and being restraint?? I appreciate it xx

  • Reply Chi @ 106 June 21, 2013 at 7:14 pm

    Oh, Jesus – Wossy’s really let himself go, hasn’t he? Good on him (and the others) for raising so much for charity, though. 🙂

    Love your use of a GIF to demonstrate the perfect serve (what a treat to watch one of the greats live!) and I had no idea that Ivan Lendl was Andy Murray’s coach. Shows how much I know! 😀

    • Reply tina July 2, 2013 at 11:18 pm

      Wossey looked a mess!

      Always a pleasure to see Murray, especially since he’s being coached by Lendl. It’s done him the world of good! x

  • Reply Alison Sye June 21, 2013 at 10:27 pm

    I’m guessing GIF has something to do with your fab moving pictures.
    So did Andy play 3 matches in a row? Amazing 🙂

    • Reply tina July 2, 2013 at 11:19 pm

      Yes, they are called Gif animations:-)

      Andy did play 3 matches in a row… well observed young lady..:-)

  • Reply Nicola June 23, 2013 at 1:13 pm

    Look at you and your GIFs! Makes your blog even more enjoyable and impressive! xx

    • Reply tina July 2, 2013 at 11:19 pm

      Thank you Ms Nicola x

  • Reply geraldine June 23, 2013 at 1:15 pm

    Looks like a fun day out, and agree with all, you are mastering the gif. Lovely shots Tina (pun). xx

    • Reply tina July 2, 2013 at 11:20 pm

      Hahaha. Funny Pun! Thanks x

  • Reply Doris June 24, 2013 at 11:50 am

    Awww sounds like you had a fab time at Queens Tina. I used to spend my summers as a teenager attending the Australian open but have never made it to a tennis match in London! Have to do something about that :). Your photo’s are wonderful as usual. Thanks for sharing. xD

    • Reply tina July 2, 2013 at 11:21 pm

      Oh, how wonderful. The Australian Open:-) Bet that’s amazing. Bit far for me to go.

      I do recommend Queens. It’s small, intimate and close by.
      Thanks Doris x

  • Reply Catherine Bedson June 24, 2013 at 12:23 pm

    I’m glad the weather finally cooperated so you could watch some great tennis being played! I like tennis & try to go to a few Australian Open matches in out summer when I can. Really great pics Tina & the charity match looked like great entertainment. Xx

    • Reply tina July 2, 2013 at 11:22 pm

      Bet you have fun when you get to the Australian Open…

      The Charity matches were brilliant. Really good fun x

  • Reply Catherine Bedson June 24, 2013 at 12:25 pm

    PS: just realised I should be fined for overuse of the word ‘great’ in my above comment!!!

    • Reply tina July 2, 2013 at 11:22 pm

      Hahahahahaha!!!! xx

  • Reply Trisha June 26, 2013 at 8:14 am

    Wow! Andy is looking REALLY good! I love Michael McIntyre.. how does he manage to be/look hilarious even when playing Tennis?

    lovely photos Tina! Looks like it was a great day

    x

    • Reply tina July 2, 2013 at 11:23 pm

      Thanks T, great you liked it x

  • Reply Holly June 28, 2013 at 3:07 pm

    Wowy! Great job of covering this. You always give me the feeling I was there with you 🙂 Fab pictures and gifs.

    Don’t know anything about tennis, except I have a huge crush on Roger Federer. He’s so handsome 😉

    Xx.

    • Reply tina July 2, 2013 at 11:24 pm

      Thanks lovely Holly!

      Hahaha. Most people have a crush on Roger Federer. He’s handsome, but sooooooooooooo boring!!xx

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