WIMBLEDON (The Soul of Lawn Tennis)

          Wimbledon- the royalty of tennis tournaments, definition of elegance, glimmer and what not. Started in the 1980s, a trend that initiated the beginning of tennis, also known as ‘The Gentleman’s Sport.’ The green court filled with grass gives one the feel of nature. A strict dress code of ‘White Clothes’ does limit the wardrobe selection of a sports person. However, it is not the worst part; someone whose body color matches the white dress code perfectly could end up resembling Miss Havisham’s tablecloth. 

However, amidst its royalty, the dark side of Wimbledon often gets overlooked. The All-England Lawn Tennis Club has a pretty grotesque history of sexism and ignorance; Venus Williams asked to play on Court-18, i.e., not in a center court, even after being a five-times Wimbledon Champion, something that wouldn’t be done to the top male tennis players like Federer, Nadal Djokovic and Murray. Unequal prize money is another example, although thanks to Serena Williams that the trend ended in 2009 due to her protests and campaigns against the unethical practice of women’s exploitation. All the controversies that happened from Pablo Guevas & Marcel Granollers threatening to urinate into a tennis ball to John Inverdale’s disparaging remarks about Marion Bartoli could have been an arsenal to destroy the reputation of Wimbledon. Well, relax, everything was covered up, so, be thankful to Queen Victoria- she can sell you an avocado without the avocado inside the shell. Damn, influential people and their ability to control everything as they desire.  

Despite numerous controversies, Wimbledon has got a class of its own that no other ‘Major’ or ‘Masters 1000’ can be at par with. Now, what class are we talking about? Undoubtedly, not about school classes, right? Well, the class that Wimbledon holds is the beauty of the grass courts, big serves, and volleys, overwhelming drop shots with extra topspin, booming groundstrokes, crafty backhand slices; it has everything. Last but not the least, the class and vigor of Sampras, Federer on one side and Steffi Graf, Serena on the other side, which took Wimbledon to its unmatched glory in the modern era of the tennis world.

The serve-volley style of play that was a big part of Wimbledon’s tradition is slowly fading into irrelevance with time. The dominance of baseline players has put a fear amongst the last few remaining serve-and-volleyers that the famous playing style is on the verge of disappearing for good. Gone are the days when the sole tactic was to approach the net after hitting a huge serve quickly and was seen as essential for good grass-court players throughout the eighties and nineties, with the likes of Boris Becker, John McEnroe, and Stefan Edberg all mainly accomplished in the art. With the incoming of baseline players like Nadal, Murray, and Djokovic, the game has changed a lot. Slower courts and heavier balls just added to the decline of serve-volley style. Ok, I am building a time machine and going back to the 80s, not going to tolerate this boring baseline play in Wimbledon. See you all later!

Getting bored with all the facts? Okay, let’s talk about some fun facts of Wimbledon. Do you know that it is easier to survive Aarambh of IIM Rohtak than actually qualifying for the post of a ball boy or a ball girl (BBGs) in Wimbledon? The insane selection procedure and rigorous training afterward, itself is enough to make one go savvy across the shore. Phew, good thing that I did not apply for the same. Next, fun fact. Do you know that an English man did not win the Wimbledon for 77 long years until Murray broke the curse since 1936 and restored the reputation of England or we would be looking at many internet memes regarding that? Wait, but isn’t Murray Gaelic- Scottish origin!  I see grass court is not hospitable home turf for English men, even though every morning, they mow, paint and mop Wimbledon's grass courts. Pity! You get to see Federer’s explosive aggressiveness on a good sunny day in Wimbledon. Nevertheless, do you know that the Nazis bombed the ‘Center Court’ in 1940 with explosives? I guess they wanted to play too, but with bombs. Though entirely different experience for the spectators. Laziness leads to disaster! Too lazy to cut the grass in the court, ok, then let snakes crawl and bite players. Yeah, that happened, the sole reason why Wimbledon grass was cut short by two inches from back then. 

Even though Wimbledon has its ups and downs, it still and always will be the epitome of lawn tennis. Fans and viewers will always look forward to this particular tournament unless aliens invade the Earth and ban tennis for good. Also, let us hope we get good grass specialists in the near future after Federer retires, as it will be horrible to watch baseliners dominate Wimbledon. Well, for now, let us hope to see Federer lift the eighth Wimbledon Trophy and his nineteenth Major. Au Revoir!