'I'd love to be number one but it will be tough'

12.07.2016 16:01

I knew I must have achieved something special on Sunday because I got a hug from Ivan Lendl.

It's usually just a handshake but for Wimbledon he makes an exception - and I think he might even have got a bit emotional.

My mum was teasing him about it while we were on our way to the Champions' Ball, because a few people messaged us with Gifs zooming in on Ivan during the final - his eyes definitely looked a bit red and teary!

I asked him: "Did you have a cry?" He said: "No, of course not. I've just got hay fever."

There was no dancing for me and [ladies' singles champion] Serena Williams at the ball - I think the tradition had finished until Novak Djokovic wanted to do it last year.

It's a nice thing to do but it never really happened this year, and I was just lucky to leave the stage in one piece.

When Serena and I were coming off the stage together a few people were shouting "dance, dance" - and I got distracted and literally fell down the stairs. I had dress shoes on with slippy soles and things almost got a bit ugly.

Fortunately, I got away with it and think a few of my team definitely woke up feeling worse than me.

I had a few drinks, which I would normally only do to calm down if I'm on a bumpy flight, but some of the others pushed it a bit harder.

I got to bed at about 4am and was up at 8am, and I'm happy to report there was no sore head - although maybe a bit of dizziness!

It was a great night though, everyone enjoyed themselves, and those moments after winning something as big as Wimbledon are really special.

There was no thought of skipping my regular ice bath after the final - I needed it.

I remembered that the last time I won in 2013, I didn't do recovery after the final - and I then sat in a car and went to the ball.

I felt awful that night. Just standing up was trouble, so I thought I'd better do something this time around. I am 29 now, after all.

The nicest thing for me after the match was the time spent in the locker room with some great champions.

Stefan Edberg was there, Boris Becker, Pat Cash, Richard Krajicek, and obviously Ivan - he wasn't a bad player.

We weren't talking about tennis but just chatting about other stuff, like kids and life in general. That was really nice to be a part of.

It just feels surreal chatting to them about other things and having them come to see me play. When I remember watching them as I was growing up - and even now - I still sometimes look at videos of them playing. It's weird.

To see my name go up on the winners' board for a second time is amazing but it's hard to process where I fit in among all those great names right now.

I think maybe that's something for when I finish playing and look back.

(BBC)

www.ann.az

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