Off of the back of an immense heat wave which swooped across the UK bringing unwelcome Red Weather Warnings here, there and everywhere, Sorana had arrived at London once more for the most prestigious of all the Grand Slams, Wimbledon, SW19, the Championships, ‘you cannot be serious’, Henman Hill and Strawberries and Cream, one of the highlights of the sporting British Summer. This time joined by her brilliant coach, Adrian Cruciat, who was again kind enough to assist us with tickets.

For the first round I travelled to London early Tuesday morning with my penguin where Sorana was to play Czech player, Sara Bejlek. Her match was the final one on Court 17 but we had lots to cram in before, fellow Romanian Irina Begu who is returning to tennis after a year away played Great Britain’s Katie Swan, from my home City, Bristol, so my loyalties were split. Begu had just found good form at Bad Homburg the week before but she was up against an inspired Swan who, with a strong crowd behind her put in an exceptional performance, particularly on serve.

I next watched one of my favourite Swiss players, Viktorija Golubic, her single handed Backhand is a joy to behold especially live, some gorgeous tennis in an entertaining 3 set victory. All the time I had my eye on Sorana’s court, I had to be there well before she started to ensure a good seat. She had a potential clash with Gabi Ruse’s match, another Romanian who I love and also had an amazing Bad Homburg. There was a men’s match before Sorana’s and one of the players was two sets up so it was close. I went to the court and gradually got in, an epic 5 setter unfolded between Ugo Humbert and Zizou Bergs and although impatient to see Sorana this one was an incredible one to watch even though I missed Gabi (who lost 😟) . As the capacity crowd dispersed I edged closer in and got to the front row. I was soon joined by the Cirstea team, thank God I was sitting on the right side. I had my Sorana T Shirt and penguin and was ready.

Sorana’s victory was comfortable on paper 6-1 7-6 and she played very well, Bejlek played her part in a tight second set but Sorana was too strong for her. Sorana seemed a little agitated and was coughing a lot so might not have been 100 per cent well. Also there were nerves, despite her age, the freedom she is playing with on her last year and all the happy interviews of being grateful and loving tennis, trust me when the racket is in her hand, she is a perfectionist and can be quite tough on herself. She is playing the best tennis of her life, and after a brilliant run to the French Open Quarter Finals recently, her Top 20 debut and dispatching the World Number One in Rome, she has made herself a contender, albeit an outside contender but a contender no less, she can win Wimbledon and she knows that deep down but she also knows this is her final chance (unless she changes her mind 🙂)

Sorana’s match finished in the evening, gone seven as the sun was dipping, I was able say hello to the team and thank Adrian for arranging a player guest ticket for me and I headed to my final match, another of my favourite Swiss players, Simona Waltert who was heavily beaten sadly. I then took the long walk back to the tube station to begin the journey home to Bristol after a wonderful day and a sweet Sorana Sunset Win 💪

Sorana’s next match was Thursday, my friend Cristina, who you can read about in the February Cluj Sorana Swansong had just returned from her father’s funeral in Romania and sadly was unable to go with me to the first match. Adrian called the night before to explain that they had used all the guest passes however he could arrange a direct link for us to purchase tickets without joining the famous queue so we bit his hand off at the kind offer. Sorana’s second round match was against Australia’s Kimberley Birrell on Court 12 and we had our Ground Passes. Cristina was so happy, especially after the sad loss of her father, I think Wimbledon is her favourite place in the world and she might even love Sorana more than me which would be impressive. I once again caught an early coach and as Sorana was on third I had a little more time to kill. I had breakfast at Victoria and met Cristina at The Drop Shot Cafe in Wimbledon which is Robbie Koenig’s favourite coffee place.

We spent some time exploring the grounds together, Cristina visited an AI photo booth to have a special Wimbledon photo taken but the one I took of her tripping on the step as she left was better. I kept trying to lure her to Court 12 where Sorana was playing later as I wanted us to be there for the match before to guarantee the best seats. There was a huge queue and we were warned that once we were in we had to stay in or lose our seats. We got to the front row and thankfully Cristina had a bag of Romanian food to feed us with. The match before was Great Britain’s Jacob Fearnley against the experienced Munar. Fearnley had his moments but was far too inconsistent and surrendered his serve multiple times, contributing to a straight sets defeat.

Sorana’s match was again early evening by the time she came on. Another straight sets win, she definitely looked more settled today but was still occasionally coughing, Birrell made it as hard as she could manage but as with the match before Sorana was too good, serving strong once more and returning very well. 6-3 6-4 in under 75 minutes. Winning these early ones quickly is essential for Sorana to best prepare her for the challenges ahead, she has been brilliant all year but whenever she has saved energy early in tournaments she has looked a huge threat. After the match we were lucky enough to say hello to Sorana and her team, Cristina was talking Romanian to them I just smiled and nodded. Sorana was kind enough to give Cristina her wristband which she cherished and PP got another photo with the Champ.

We left the grounds very happy. You may remember from the Cluj Swansong Cristina took me on a tour of Romanian Shopping Malls using several Ubers to meet a friend who was actually in another city. She went for a sequel to this by encouraging me on to a District Line Tube going in the wrong direction so I had to get a Circle line back, the Ubers were more fun. But I made it to my coach in plenty of time after enjoying watching Sorana win live for the 8th time this year.

For the third round, Sorana was to play the young Czech, Linda Noskova, if you are reading all these articles that name will ring a bell as this will be their 5th meeting this year. Sorana winning the most recent in Rome.

Once again Sorana’s team helped us to secure tickets; Court 3 I had never been to before, I was confused if it was a show court or accessible with a ground pass, it’s both it includes unreserved and reserved seating, some on the same level, how they can justify charging some people 90 pound for exactly the same view you get for 33 pound ground pass is beyond me. Money, Money, Money!!! More strawberries? More Cream? More Pimms? Would you like to buy a silly hat?

I digress!!! I travelled down again from Bristol on the same coach, breakfast in Victoria, Cristina would join me later as her son had drama class. The queue for Court 3 took about 75 minutes to get in but super seats when I did and a great match with Australia’s Alex De Minaur who is always good value.

Cristina was still traveling at the end of the first match and needed the next one between Paolini and Sakkari to be nice and long so she had time to get there for Sorana, the Italian did not get the memo, she destroyed the Greek player in less than an hour, I had now reached the front row. Cristina eventually arrived just after Sorana had won the first set. I had a spare seat next to me as I indicated this to her I accidently hit the woman on the end of the row who was getting up to leave. I apologised with all sincerity making sure she was okay. She said it was her fault, well I suppose her head did get in the way.

Sorana’s match was a gripping three setter rich in quality from both players. Our Champ was excellent in the first set and won it convincingly with the strong tennis she has played all week. The second set the nerves and indecision seemed to plague her, she started breaking away from many of the things which had been working so well; she lost confidence in going after the serves on the return games and started trying block returns and also came forward a little more but hesitantly and did not finish points at the net with conviction meaning she was a sitting duck to Noskova’s attack. The first serve fell away and almost inevitably Sorana was broken and Noskova took the set. She took an early advantage in the third too, Sorana looked tired and defeated but she summoned all her courage and experience to break back and the level from both got better and better in a thrilling final set. We had a match point which we lost after a lung busting exchange. We were broken again but broke back to force the 10 point match tiebreak which could not have been closer. It was a super match which sadly Sorana lost and her final dance at Wimbledon is defeat in a third round against a player she keeps running into. She was hurt by this one, in the post match press conference she regretted not doing more on the second serve on Match Point but that’s far too tough on herself it was a great match from both. Sorana said it hurts more than something like 6-3 6-3 I am just a fat bloke with a penguin and play for fun not a living but I find losing matches like that does hurt initally but after a while you become very proud of your effort, I would rather lose in a match tiebreak with match points then in straight sets, I’m proud of Sorana and she should be proud of herself too.

So a sad end to Sorana’s Wimbledon and still early evening Cristina and I went for a coffee and plotted our next move. She had brought Sorana a little present so she was sad to not have a chance to give it to her so I have offered to take it to Iasi. As we walked past Court Two (A ticketed court) Cristina ran past the stewards and encouraged me to follow, I was of course stopped and refused entry and PP and i were alone. We went to Henman Hill to see Arthur Fery’s famous win and watched a little of the tennis after before Cristina joined us once more, and as the sun set on Wimbledon 2026 for the last time for us we walked to the tube station together.

That is the end of this Sorana Swansong but the next one will be very soon as Sorana goes to Iasi in a week’s time and PP and I will be there once more to support and watch her play professional tennis for what will almost certainly be the final time.