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At around 16:15 local time (England) on 14 July 2019, two of the most highly anticipated sporting finals were racing towards a tense finish. Both events were taking place in the same city, 11 miles away from each other. Fans of both the games who did not get a ticket for either of the games should not regret. Swapping between the two games from the comfort of their houses would have been far easier.
The Cricket World Cup final was a seesaw ride better than any other we have ever seen. Ben Stokes always had to be the difference and he was. Everyone saw the drama of the final over of the World Cup. When England needed 3 off 2 in the 50-over phase, the Roger Federer - Novak Djokovic final was going into a rare fifth set tiebreaker as both players matched each other at 12 games each in the fifth and final set of arguably the biggest tennis tournament.
The Wimbledon final was equally dramatic, as the two top seeds with 35 grand slam singles titles between them won one set after the other. Both the players broke the opposition's serve twice in the final set. But the real turning point was when Federer was serving with two championship points, with Djokovic defending the game, breaking Federer's serve and winning three out of three tie breakers in the match in one of the closest tennis majors finals ever.
Swapping between the two channels was difficult as neither offered the chance for the viewers to blink an eye. Never before had we seen a World Cup final being tied or a Wimbledon Final going into a fifth set tiebreaker. On this day, we saw both the milestones being reached for the first time – within minutes of each other.
Both finals could individually contest for the best finals ever played in the history of their respective sport - but the overlapping of the two events made it all the more special.
Between 4 pm British Standard Time and 5 pm British Standard Time, while millions of fans around the world celebrated, I won't be surprised to know if more hearts were broken that day.
