Whilst most of us were fixed on England’s crucial game against Slovenia, down in SW19 two relatively unknown tennis players were locked in a gladiatorial battle of wills in what became the longest tennis match in history.
Suffice to say the stamina, courage and sheer dogged determination of these two players namely John Isner and Nicolas Mahut belies belief. Although it was highly unlikely that either player would ultimately progress to win the tournament it is testament to their character that their refusal to concede defeat was founded solely on the will to win rather than the promise of a hefty pay cheque. In fact for his part in this 11 hour epic, Mahut received just £11,250 in prize money.
That though is of little consequence as he will forever be remembered for his participation in what has been described as the greatest match of all time as well as his indefatigable attitude and graciousness even in defeat.
In stark contrast his fellow countrymen representing “Les Bleus” at the World Cup have been vilified in the French press both for their failure to progress from the group stages but more particularly for the farcical events off the field. This has even escalated to the political hierarchy prompting one Socialist to comment
"The atmosphere that prevails in the French team is one that Nicolas Sarkozy exults -- it's all about individualism, egotism, everyone for themselves, and the only way to judge human success is the cheque you get at the end of the month,"
Not that the England team have exactly covered themselves in glory. After two uninspiring performances against the USA and Algeria and the stories of divisions within the squad, a victory against a Slovenia team ranked 25th in the world should not convince us that we have suddenly been transformed into potential World Cup winners. But at least the team finally showed a sense of spirit and desire previously lacking.
Of course Sunday’s match against Germany will prove to be a far sterner test of our resolve with history very much against us.
Whilst the England players should certainly require no greater motivation than the opportunity to achieve a victory against our old adversaries, if they require any form of paradigm for all that is expected of them when they take to the pitch on Sunday they would do well to reflect on the performance of Isner and Mahut.
