Wimbledon Diary

Here we have a day in the life of a Mornick Shirt Dress, taking it for a spin at Wimbledon with the afternoon ending up on Centre Court.

Wimbledon Whites (as we all know) are the essential uniform of all players participating in the tournament but also a huge style staple for spectators too. This year I decided to doll myself up and pull out a classic shirt dress from Jack Wills. Seriously, it's the perfect summer dress; light and breezy, smart but practical (my fave type of dressing).

Upon arrival the heavens decided to open on us (no!) so it was a quick pit stop for tea and cake (any excuse really). As we took in the grounds I got to catch a glimpse of the almighty Hewitt in a doubles match with the young Ozzy Kokkinakis. This is Hewitt's last showing at Wimbledon, so as you could imagine, the crowds were a plenty (people actually peering over the gates surrounding the court).

The first match we saw was the ladies, a three set battle (which very rarely happens in the women's game) whilst we enjoyed our picnic of sandwiches and a glass of Rose, very classy. We didn't have to wait long until the man that pretty much defines Wimbledon graced us on court. It was time for some Federer magic, the most suave and smooth player I have every had the pleasure to watch. With his glorious forehand and unstopable backhand he took control of the match from the start and played some highly entertaining crowd pleasing shots. 

After watching a first class Federer performance it was time for a Pimm's break. It was a much needed refreshment to wet the pallet for the last match of the day. We do tend to enjoy taking in the views and enjoy the sunshine once we have Pimm's in our hands.

Now for the match of the day, seriously if you didn't see this match (or haven't even heard about it) then where were you?! Nadal vs Dustin Brown was just magnificent. There were some incredible shots, Dustin's dreads were flying across the court. Nadal was outplayed by unconventional, brave and superb play from Dustin. It's hard to say whether it was luck or just sheer determination to throw everything he had at the match and try many different tactics. It was one of the greatest matches I have seen and the crowd went mad for Dustin. Nadal just seemed to be totally deflated by the end, whilst Dustin was up on cloud nine.

The match went into the evening taking us to a night time browse around the shops, grab a little snack and perch on the hill to watch Mahut vs Dogopolov battle it out on the big screen. There was still a huge crowd about, everyone enjoying the last of a great day of tennis and watching the sunset.

Exhausted we hopped on the bus back to Wimbledon Station, taking in the views of Wimbledon town and looking out over London city in the distance. Such a fab day of tennis, glorious sunshine and a dress that can take me from Centre Court to dinner and beyond.

White for #Wimbledon? Taking our Mornick Shirt Dress to Centre Court today. 🎾😍 Ace!

A photo posted by Jack Wills (@jackwills) on Jul 2, 2015 at 8:16am PDT

Wimbledon 2015

Oh how I love Wimbledon, let me count the ways:

1. Your Pimm's bubbles.

2. Strawberries & cream is your signature meal (healthy and tasty).

3. Rain or shine we all have a good time.

4. In fact some of Wimbledons top moments have been during rain delays.

5. Your uniform of 'All-in-White' is chic and sophisticated.

6. I love to play 'guess who' to all the fabulous spectators that fill the Royal box.

7. Even though it's agony I love to see Andy Murray playing his best game on grass.

8. I'm happy to sit on coats/blanket/friends on Henman Hill/Murray Mound and watch all the action on the big screen (rain or shine! Pass the brolly).

9. I love the support. Every player has their fandom in their corner, with tshirts, hats and banners to show how much they're loved. The Hewitt chants, the Nadal 'Vamous!' cheers and all the nations flags flying high.

10. Wimbledon is the best place to people watch. Whether it's looking out for the commentators (Annabel Croft, in my eyes, has a brilliant job... She gets to travel the tennis tour, talk about tennis all day and chat with the players, and she always looks fantastic. Major shoe envy. And who doesn't love Sue Barker?), checking out the fabulously dressed guys and gals or hunting out for the players other halves (Kim Sears is a style hero.) You're bound to spot some fantastic (and hilarious) outfits.

11. The atmosphere around the grounds is electric from the show courts to the outside courts and the practice area. I can get so close to the action. And when the Brits are winning, there's no place better to be.

12. I love to dream. Each year we all unite on holding our breath when watching Murray step out onto court. We cheer, we sigh, and we hope. He's done it once and it was magnificent. So this year with toes and fingers crossed we can dream of Murray lifting the trophy once again! 

SS15 Work Wardrobe

Working for Next has it's advantages: a generous work wardrobe allowance for one. Choosing an outfit to take me through SS15 can be challenging when it's still sub-zero temperatures outside in the morning. But this dress turned out to be a pretty clean cut choice.

As you may have gathered from some of my posts and lots of tweets, I'm a tennis fanatic. I love watching all the Grand Slams and ATP world tour series. I'm also an admirer of the tennis style, especially the women's outfits which they collaborate with designers. Caroline Wozniackis' dress choices designed by Stella McCartney for Adidas are always my most anticipated outfit to see at the championships.

So my pick of dress this season for work is a homage for my love of sports style dressing, a smart tennis dress which makes me feel like I could walk out on centre court at any moment. The dress is made of two components, so it does look almost like a skirt and top combined, in classic grey and white it can be mixed with accessories and colour throughout the season. A hint of yellow on the shoulders makes it feel fresh and the cut of the dress is flattering and stylish. I'll be pairing mine with tights for now during these chilly days, but hope to be able to wear it with some block heels and a bright clutch bag during the summer evenings.

Available for £38 in stores or online here 

The Final Showdown

Photos from @tomasberdych (these guys and their selfies together are just perfect)

The Final Showdown is upon us. That is the ATP Masters World Tour's final tournament of the year and it all kicks off in our beautiful city, London.

As far as tennis goes, it has definitely become more glamorous and talked about over the last few years. Much of this is thanks to Andy Murray's great success which finally gave Britain hope. When the top eight players embark down on London for this week at the O2, suddenly London couldn't look any more desirable; the Christmas lights are coming on, festive spirit is rising and the competition is at it's peak.

The battle to win a place in the last eight has been extremely tight this year and we see two newbies making their debut at the tournament; Nishikori and Raonic. Along with some favourites, Federer, Djokovic and Murray amongst the final eight to compete for the last trophy of the year. It looks set to be a fight to the end, with the edge probably being with Djokovic going for his third consecutive win here. But I wouldn't write off Australian Open Champion Wawrinka or US Open Champion Cilic, and of course how could I forget a favourite of mine Tomas Berdych whose form is always exceptional but sometimes lacks that final hit to knock the top boys off their perch.

Notably we will be missing Nadal who is recovering from surgery and who I hope will be fit and ready to get back to Australia in the new year and fight for that trophy that he just missed out on this year due to injury in the final.

I would put my money on Djokovic to win this tournament due to previous form and his achievements here before. I don't know if Murray has quite got enough left in the tank after fighting hard to win a place at the tournament and I will put an outside bet on Wawrinka who started the year with his first Grand Slam title, who undoubtedly wants to end the year on a high.

You can watch all the action live on BBC2 2pm each day and Sky Sports full day and evening matches.

Day trip to Wimbledon

 

 

 

 

I say trip because I quite literally bumped into Laura Robson when I was leaving Court 3 at lunchtime on Monday. I was exiting the premises, after watching the beautiful Lopez win his third round match against the giant that is Isner, as Laura Robson was coming into the court to head up to the commentators box for the start of the women's 4th round match. I must say she is a lot taller than she looks on tv!

The Lopez vs Isner match was full of excitement and big big serves. Three tie break sets, the first in which Isners powerful serve saw him break through, the next two with Lopez's graceful glide across court for some beautiful backhand shots saw him 2 sets to 1 up going into the fourth set. At 5 all in the 4th set Lopez jumped for joy as he finally managed to break Isner, the joy was written all over his face and from there he served out for the match winning 6-7,7-6,7-6,7-5.

True to Wimbledon we did experience some rain delays, which is actually quite exciting as you watch the super quick ground staff get everything off the court and the covers across in a flash. Rain delays mean a chance to stretch the legs have a look in the shops, and be able to go and look at some of the now very historical photographs and score boards... Andy Murray 2013 champion, it is just such an incredible achievement and so exciting to see the photos of him holding his trophy. 

We watched Murray on the big screen at *insert chosen title here* (Henman Hill/Murray Mount/Mound) as he pushed aside 20th seed Kevin Anderson, sat back in our seats to see Makarova dismiss Radwanska in straight sets and watched the start of a quick hit mixed doubles matched which was great fun to watch, but come 7.30pm and the heavens started to open again.... So after a full day of excitement, Pimms and weather woes we headed on our merry way home.

Stars spotted around the Wimbledon grounds:

Judy Murray up in the members balcony watching over at her 'Deliciano' Lopez

Laura Robson

Marin Cilic 

Kim Sears

Trevor McDonald

*as writing this I'm sad to update that Lopez has been knocked out by Wawrinka in the fourth round

**as predicted tomorrow will see a quarter final clash between Andy Murray and Dimitrov (can't wait!)

***new up and coming 19 year old Australian, Kyrgios, is currently at one set all and on serve in the third (Tuesday 1st July 6.30pm) against Nadal, and he looks fierce, fantastic server and very quick player! He is definitely going to be one to watch... But is he ready for the big occasion, can he handle the pressure to knock out this champion? 

Wimbledon 2014

 

Here it is, my favourite time of year. For two weeks I'm blissfully happy knowing that there will always be something for me to watch on TV and keep me entertained. Wimbledon; two weeks of fantastic tennis, enthralling matches and competition, all in the beautiful surroundings of SW19 (with a Pimms in your hand at all times, it's practically mandatory at The All England Lawn Tennis Club)

I just wanted to take this time to reflect on Andy Murray's euphoric win last summer and the emotions that came with it! It was great to see him come out onto Centre Court today as defending champion, breeze through his first round match and look delighted (and if not just a little bit relieved) to have started the tournament well. In the lead up to this year’s Wimbledon I have been looking back on some publications/books and news articles about Murray before and after his glorious triumph. It's so interesting to look back and read about how he was feeling before Wimbledon 2013, before his life changed and the weight was lifted off his shoulders, knowing now that he is the defending champion. 

If you're interested in reading up on Andy Murray's career so far and his road to Wimbledon 2013, then I highly recommend: Andy Murray Champion and Andy Murray Seventy Seven -My Road to Wimbledon Glory. Both fantastic books which really open your eyes to the world that Murray lives in. Also a great read is an article in the July 2013 issue of GQ, just before his Wimbledon campaign began, and they have recently followed up with an online article you can read here.

 

For a fashion fix, check out Mr Porter – The Look: Mr Andy Murray, where Andy Murray shows off that he is more than just the man behind the racket, he is a rather stylish gentleman too.

 

Wimbledon 2014; ones to watch:

Andy Murray; it would be wrong to think that Murray will be anything other than determined to hold onto that trophy and defend his title.

Rafael Nadal; last year he was one of the biggest shocks of the tournament, being knocked out in the first round by Belgian Steve Darcis. But this year, I think he's back to full fitness, he'll be feeling great after his French Open title and in all honesty I can never write Nadal off (especially not after watching him full power on the practice courts up close at the Australia Open in January, what a man!)

Grigor Dimitrov; my third one to watch is the young (and handsome) Bulgarian. At the ripe old age of 23 he is looking powerful and inspired. He won on grass at Queens Club, just a week ago, and is improving at every tournament. Back in January he got his first taste of a Grand Slam quarter final at the Australian Open (yes, I was there to witness this moment, makes me a bit giddy to think I was actually there!) So I think this could be Dimitrov's year to really make an impression at Wimbledon.

Australian Adventure

I could write for hours about how unbelievable my 10 week trip to Australia was. Instead I will share some of my favourite memories, the moments that made me catch my breath, squeal out loud, and make my heart stop.

(All images my own and these few are selected out of probably 3000+ so you're lucky I'm not bombarding you with that many)
1. Road trip to The Twelve Apostles
2&3. My beautiful Sydney
4. 7K hike up Wilsons Prom
5. Visiting the Home and Away set and watching filming (and meeting cast members!) at Palm Beach Sydney
6. My best friend Darryl at Taronga Zoo
7. Feeding Wallabies in Port Douglas/Cairns
8. Learning to surf in Sydney, such a brilliant feeling to catch a wave and spend a weekend cut off from the rest of the world and do nothing but surf.
9. Milla Milla Falls, Cairns
10. Beautiful fish in the Great Barrier Reef
11. Reef selfie
12. 6.30am sunrise in Apollo Bay
13. Meeting Nadal at the Australian Open! (Spent two days there, so much fun!)
14. Eureka Tower, Melbourne
15. Handstand celebration after the hike at Wilsons Prom
16. Celebrating Australia Day