The Art of Tennis (eBook)

1 WIMBLEDON 2019

DAY 1

A First Major Upset in the Bag

There are shocks aplenty as Wimbledon returns with a ‘bang!’ Seeds are surely running scared after the first day’s play; such has been the impact upon the supposed strongest – a good number scattered to the wind, a storm brewing, a storm delivered.

A player of the ilk of Naomi Osaka being ejected from the third major of the year by Yulia Putintseva, recent victor over her in Birmingham, stops folks in their tracks. Osaka has won two of the previous three majors. There is no escaping, whether she likes it or not; as the number two seed and ranked player she is expected to win such matches, even on a surface less than her favourite. Osaka finding herself a set down again to the wily Kazakh causes a ripple, if not yet a wave. The win is in the post. Perhaps. When it arrives thus, a space has presented itself in the draw, a shock logged.

And then Stefanos Tsitsipas saves several Thomas Fabbiano match points to get to a final set and, at the very least, prolong an early upset for another set. Catching the last embers of that match, the hopeful young Greek is unable to keep the Italian force at bay. The seeds look fragile, and everyone taking to the hallowed green turf is inspired, not just the instantly recognisable names in the draws. Only a short while later, Alexander Zverev tumbles out (after his older brother Mischa). While this might not rate the level of shock the Osaka exit does, once again, young hopes have disappeared. None of these younger players have yet proven their grass court worth. Ah! And the day-one-upset-train hath multiple wagons as the Tsitsipas defeat to Fabbiano is followed by the 15-year-old American qualifier Cori Gauff seeing off Venus Williams, one of her heroines. The 24-year age gap is an extreme rarity in the sport, further lending a huge spotlight to an already fascinating match on paper. A brutal first day for seeds and well-known faces of the game. Teenager Gauff impresses both in maturity of performance and how she carries herself. She has, indeed, learned a great deal from the Williams women.

Kid Qualifier Gauff Beats One of Williams’s Heroines

When she got through qualifying and expressed her view regarding round one of the ladies’ main draw, Cori Gauff had wanted to play Serena Williams. She had been drawn against Venus Williams. There is little denying it was a dream come true for the young starlet in waiting.

There’s no ‘I shared the court with my idol’ about this girl as she pockets the match two sets to love and slays one of the biggest names of women’s tennis over the past few decades, and in doing so, announcing herself on the biggest stage. This is a moment to record in the annals of Wimbledon folklore. While it may not deliver Venus to her retirement just yet, it does show the changing times. Unlike the men’s game, most Grand Slam winners of the female variety are now in their twenties.

DAY 2

Testing Out the New Roof

Here is the story of the ‘been and gone’, with the roof being drawn over court one, showing off its shiny newness. And only two games come to pass under the roof, and it is done. None of the matches lean towards 12–12 and the new capped ending – the introduction of a final-set tie-break at Wimbledon (one of the latest changes introduced this year).

After a short delay, Donna Vekić and Alison Riske resume at 5–5 in the last set of their first-round encounter, and Riske swiftly breaks and then holds to put the roof’s work to a minimum as the two women – one hunched over and gutted, the other beaming – head off into the London night to lick wounds or contemplate round two. Vekić loves grass and always seems to come alive at this time of year, piecing a run together in Nottingham each June, priming herself for what is to come. Her Wimbledon ticket is yet to be the one she wants. No deep run or otherwise this time around. The seed is shown an early exit.

The court one roof has debuted, making its first appearance at this year’s main event, and there is no doubt it will witness some great scenes in the future of the tournament.

DAY 3

Gasparyan the Unlucky

Margarita Gasparyan is rather unlucky. Having a one-set lead and being at 5–5 in the second when playing Elina Svitolina is no mean feat, and the closeness of victory, accompanied by the smelling of blood and the fruits of such a win, is appreciated from all corners with a shower of praise and attention.

Having returned from terrible injuries and a year and a half away and being back at Wimbledon, getting back to a level to find a winning position against a top tenner and someone of real calibre, and then to be so unfortunately crippled by severe cramp must be a bitter pill to swallow as she has to withdraw. While initial thoughts of serious injury come to mind, she goes on to compete the following day in the doubles, indicating she was just extremely unfortunate to have had to pull out (owing to the short-term nature of the issue, which she will doubtless be grateful for in the longer term) from a winning position.

Gasparyan, surely one of the unluckiest faces to compete at this Wimbledon, may pass unremembered although she is fully deserving of praise, respect and wishes of good health for the future.

I Spy, With My Little Eye…

… something beginning with ‘Box Office Thursday’. Centre Court has scarcely had a second-round match to cause the tennis fan masses to salivate the way the upcoming Nick Kyrgios versus Rafael Nadal match does. Nadal was moved from where he might ordinarily have been in the draw – for whatever reason, let’s face it, a great injustice – to what turned out to be a much harder section of the draw compared with his number one career rival, Roger Federer, and now has a huge task in the shape of the wholly unpredictable young Australian wizard, Kyrgios. The match has been built up for months, unbeknownst to all, as both men have spoken in the media about one another and, while they wouldn’t say it directly (or am I mistaken in this pondering?), they seem to strongly dislike one another. Kyrgios stating that Nadal is the opposite of him (and that evidently being the best reason to dislike someone), and Nadal speaking of Kyrgios’s lack of respect for the sport he himself loves. Nadal also mentioned Kyrgios’s education, although it seems the young Aussie lost the translation from Spanish to English and thought Nadal was referring literally to schooling. Alas, Centre Court will be bubbling, simmering, heating up even before the pair take to the court, such is the anticipation around a rematch of their 2014 fourth-round encounter (in which a teenage Kyrgios shocked Nadal and the world watching on). It is show-time come Thursday – a real treat for the early days of the tournament.

Did the match even need such a build up? It’s like a late Saturday night much-anticipated and salivated-over boxing bout. Of the heavyweight variety. Two heavyweights. Trading verbal blows via the media beforehand. Okay, not quite, but almost. Nadal is a gentle soul with little intention of hurling anything even remotely vicious – except tennis ball missiles – at anyone. Two heavyweights. One winner. One takes the chance to line up in the last 32. One might rue the day, although that probably depends very much on who the winner is.

Khachanov v López

Karen Khachanov and Feliciano López are at 5–4 in the fourth set. Khachanov leads by two sets to one after López stormed through the first set. López is serving. Multiple deuces have occurred. Match points for Khachanov saved well by López. Game points that López failed to take. An almost never-ending game. A real excitement to it, one of those moments typical of the finest magic of the first week of a major tournament.

Khachanov does get his man there in the end and wins 4–6, 6–4, 7–5, 6–4. A brilliant second-round encounter. A challenge for both men. Khachanov’s power and spirit seeing him past the reinvigorated López, hot on the heels of his Queen’s Club victory. López didn’t look like he wanted to let go of the match. At all. His determination was seen and raised by Khachanov, who will play Roberto Bautista Agut in round three. López gave a great showing, but was it his final one in the singles at Wimbledon?

The Follow-Up Outcome

Backing up a giant killing with another win would seem to be something that eludes most players in that position. The next match is a comedown. Cloud nine has taken effect, it’s hard to keep feet on the ground, and many cannot overcome the next obstacle – often a player closer to one’s own ranking or perhaps even lower.

Jiří Veselý, however, and Thomas Fabbiano a little while later, both backed up their round one wins (over Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas respectively) by reaching round three. Veselý dropped the opener and then battled to a four-set win over Pablo Cuevas. Fabbiano needed five to despatch of Croatian 40-year-old giant Ivo Karlović, fighting as ever as if his very life depended on it. His racket, released from his grip upon missing the shot that gifted the match to Fabbiano, showed his immense frustration at his (possibly last Wimbledon) match coming to an end.

Yulia Putintseva, ranked 39, didn’t follow up her defeat of Naomi Osaka (seemingly a good match-up for the Kazakh player) and tumbled out to Swiss world number 81 Viktorija Golubic....