“From where I come
from, from the capital of Serbia, Belgrade, there’s a special sparrow bird
called jivjum. I believe this bird came all the way from Belgrade to help me.”
- Novak Djokovic on the invasive Centre
Court blue tit in the opening match of the tournament !
The Eurasian blue
tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) is a small
passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. The bird is easily recognisable by
its blue and yellow plumage, but various authorities dispute their scientific
classification. Eurasian blue tits,
usually resident and non-migratory birds, are widespread and a common resident
breeder throughout temperate and subarctic Europe and western Asia in deciduous
or mixed woodlands with a high proportion of oak.
At Wimbledon, this
year, it was easy for the World no.1
Novak Djokovic as he claimed his third Wimbledon crown defeating no.2 seed and seven-time former
champion Roger Federer in four sets 7-6 (1), 6-7 (10), 6-4, 6-3 on Centre
Court. Novak capitalised on four of his 10 break points, while the Swiss
converted one of his seven chances. The match-up was the 40th between the pair,
they are now tied 20-20.
Federer broke first
for 4-2, but Djokovic broke back immediately and held to level. The Swiss kept
pressing and earned two set points with Nole serving at 5-6, only for the Serb
to save both with big serves. Novak forced a tie-breaker and took the first
three points of the shootout, raising his game to race through it for 7-1. The
real excitement came towards the end of the second set, when both players
produced their best tennis. The top seed failed to convert seven set points, as
Federer fought to level the match at one set apiece, sealing dramatic tie-break
12-10. Nole recovered superbly from the disappointment of missing the chances,
hitting back to win the third and fourth sets. One championship point was all
he needed to clinch the victory after two hours and 55 minutes of play.
This is not about
the finals, but more of the start – the 1st match of his – of course
little opposition he had from Philipp Kohlschreiber on Centre Court – and he
finished him in straight sets winning 6-4;6-4;6-4. In between came an unusual threat – not from
the opposite player but from a small bird which Nole himself described as - 'bird
from Belgrade' that had the best seat in the house at Wimbledon 2015.
As Novak Djokovic
began his title defence at Wimbledon with a straight sets victory, there was an
amusing halt to proceedings in his opening match with Philipp Kohlschreiber. A
blue tit, who the world No 1 claimed was a fan of his tennis, took the
opportunity to gatecrash the match as Djokovic lined up a serve early on in the
match. The fun didn't last for long though,
as a ball boy scuttled over to hurry the bird off court so the match could
resume.
The bird originally flew onto the side of
Philipp Kohlschreiber on Centre Court before flying over to Djokovic. The Serb took it all in good heart though as
he lowered his racket to help the bird move off the court – and then came the
tweets :
For those watching
Novak Djokovic v Philipp Kohlschreiber at home! I have the best view!
#Wimbledon2015#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/yGt58QNuYo
— CentreCourtBird
(@Centrecourtbird) June 29, 2015
Did anyone else see
Djokovic try to splatter me! He must know I'm trying to distract him!
— CentreCourtBird
(@Centrecourtbird) June 29, 2015
However, it was not
long before the bird had its own Twitter account, supposedly professing its
support for Djokovic's opponent. After originally appearing not to take a shine
to the Serb, it warmed to him, with a picture of Djokovic smiling and trying to
help out by lowering his racket appearing on the Twitter feed. Djokovic, who
spoke to the bird, claimed the visitor as a fan afterwards. ‘From where I come
from, Belgrade, there’s a special sparrow. I believe this bird came all the way
from there to help me.
‘But I was feeling
for its safety. I mean, it just loves tennis. ‘At one point when Kohlschreiber
was serving at the advantage side, the bird landed literally very close to the
sideline. She stayed there until I won the point. So I said, “Be my guest, stay
around, if you want”.
The bird from
Belgrade really stayed for the entire match – but there are not further reports
of it turning again to enjoy Nole winning the Crown.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
19th
July 2015.
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