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Tennis as we
know it today was first played in 19th century England, an
open-air adaptation of an indoor game popular with French
royalty that was set within marked boundaries on a crisp
lawn of flat, low cut grass. The immense popularity of the
sport in London soon gave rise to what would become the most
prestigious and important tournament in all of tennis: The
Wimbledon Championships.
Tennis
evolved over the next century; its athletes changed from
amateurs to professionals, all-the-while becoming stronger
and more powerful via advances in fitness and racquet
technology. Court surfaces would evolve, too. Grass and
clay were the earliest surfaces of choice, but while clay
has survived to become the most prevalent type of court
worldwide, grass-covered courts have dwindled in favor of
truer hard courts that provide a more reliable bounce and
easier maintenance. The modern grass court season in tennis
is now barely a month long.
Despite the
growing lack of relevance grass holds on the modern game,
however, Wimbledon remains the defining pinnacle of
achievement in any player’s career. Wimbledon can seem to
be a stodgy beast that is reluctant to adapt to the
ever-evolving state of tennis as organizers insist that all
participants wear predominantly white outfits and
continually refuse to provide equal prize money to female
players, yet there is a comforting weight in knowing that
these grass court Championships are now much as they always
were. Perhaps Wimbledon is somewhat blinded by the
traditions it upholds, but it is always clear enough of
vision to crown only the most elite of athletes. Rather than
being irrelevant, Wimbledon is rarified.
Wimbledon and
the brief grass court season follow the much more prolonged
clay court season, a transition which is not only incredibly
difficult for players but one that is also remarkably
symbolic of the style of play that each surface rewards.
Clay is about physicality, endurance, and patience. Tennis
on clay and the clay season itself is slow and often
arduous. Grass courts, conversely, are quick to reward
strategy and improvisation. Grass tests the higher skills
of tennis players – their mind, their reflexes, and their
resolve – thereby transcending basic ability to harken
players and fans alike back to the lineage of the game. A
Wimbledon title is security in history, validation in the
present, and an enticing prize for the future of the 128 men
and 128 women set to compete for the single most coveted
trophy of the calendar year.
The
Gentlemen
The defending
Wimbledon men’s champion is World Number One Roger
Federer, who seeks his fourth consecutive title at the
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Federer has
distanced himself as the best of his generation and is
already looking for a premiere spot in the pages of tennis
history. In fact, many consider Federer to be the greatest
man to have ever played. It comes as no surprise that his
most demonstrative success has come at Wimbledon, for both
his game and his personality embody the purity, class, and
historical reverence that make Wimbledon such an
unimaginable treasure.
Federer has
tied the all-time record for consecutive grass court
victories with a warm-up win in Halle, Germany, and is sure
to shatter the mark he shares with fellow legend Bjorn Borg
in London. Roger Federer is the heavy favorite to capture
the crown, but he has been issued a tough draw and will have
to earn the distinction. His early round path includes
inconsistent-yet-dangerous French talent Richard Gasquet
in the opener before a likely second round encounter
with unseeded Brit Tim Henman.
Henman has
been the hope of a nation at Wimbledon for nearly a decade
now, having suffered a couple of near-miss heartbreaks. His
serve-and-volley style was designed to capture a Wimbledon
title and he is always to be taken seriously on grass;
however, opportunities to win his home country’s Grand Slam
title have passed Henman by. Other formidable men in
Federer’s section of the draw include Germany’s Tommy
Haas; big-serving Australian Wayne Arthurs; Czech
up-and-comer Tomas Berdych, who may be injured but
was runner-up to Federer in Halle; phenoms and rivals
Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils; the giant
Croatian serving machine, Ivo Karlovic; and a
projected quarterfinal against the very tough Mario Ancic.
The next
quarter of the draw features American James Blake,
who is perhaps the best U.S. men’s player these days. His
confidence is high and his comfort level on grass is
growing. Blake should be able to handle the few early
challenges presented to him, perhaps a third-round scuffle
with Australia’s Mark Philippoussis. Philippoussis is
not the player he once was, but his serve alone should be
good for a few wins on grass. Nonetheless, James Blake
could easily have his overdue Grand Slam breakout in London,
potentially facing former runner-up David Nalbandian
in the quarterfinals.
A pair of
former Grand Slam champions who are desperate to reestablish
themselves among the game’s elite bookend the third quarter
of the men’s draw. Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt
appears to be finding the form he displayed in winning the
2002 Wimbledon title, as he comes into this tournament
having won the Stella Artois warm-up event. He could be
tested in the early rounds by Belgian Olivier Rochus,
who pushed the almighty Roger Federer to the very brink of
defeat in Halle, or perhaps the winner of an enthralling
first-round encounter between another big server, Greg
Rusedski, and the infuriatingly gifted Russian Marat
Safin.
Should the
seeds hold, Hewitt’s quarterfinal opponent would be the
player in the men’s draw with more at stake than any other –
American Andy Roddick. Since reaching last year’s
final in London, Roddick has endured disappointment after
disappointment. Overshadowed in America by the surge of
success from James Blake and supplanted as Federer’s chief
rival by French Open winner Rafael Nadal, no top man
is more desperate for Grand Slam glory than Andy Roddick. A
Roddick loss at any stage before the final could very well
be the death knell on his hopes to be known as more than a
“One Slam Wonder.” Roddick’s path to a quarterfinal clash
with Hewitt looks relatively safe, although new British hope
Andy Murray, Oz Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis,
and grass court capable Sebastien Grosjean lurk
close by.
Two stories
should emerge from the final quarter of the men’s event,
where second-ranked Nadal will look to prove he can play the
same brand of powerful, intimidating tennis on grass that he
produces on clay, and living legend Andre Agassi will
return to the All England Club for what is likely to be his
swan song. If Agassi is healthy and playing well, he is
seeded to meet Nadal in the third round and could be the man
to take the reigning king of clay out on the lawns of
Wimbledon.
The
Ladies
The women’s
event at Wimbledon suffers greatly from the absence of
Americans Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport, both former
champions and the latter of whom held championship point
before falling to Venus Williams one year ago.
Williams is seeded sixth but plays some of her most inspired
tennis on the lawns of London. Venus appears to be
recommitted to the game and will hold a strong desire to
repeat as champion, which is terrible news for top-seeded
Amelie Mauresmo. Australian Open winner Mauresmo is
Williams’ projected quarterfinal opponent, although Amelie
faces a rough road to meet the defending champion with
potential hazards in young Michaela Krajicek or
doubles specialist Sam Stosur, as well as Mauresmo’s
personal nemesis, the tall and powerful Ana Ivanovic.
2004 Ladies’
champ Maria Sharapova leads off the next quarter of
the women’s draw. Sharapova also loves the grass and wants
to reclaim some of the WTA spotlight after a year slowed by
various injuries. Sharapova’s powerful, flat groundstrokes
and killer instinct took this tournament by storm two years
ago and Maria looks poised to tear through the draw yet
again. Sharapova would potentially play seventh-seeded
Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals and should sail
into the semis.
Former
champion Martina Hingis resides in the next quarter
and looks capable of making her way into the quarterfinals
of a third consecutive Grand Slam this year, having been
stopped in the last eight at both the Australian and French
Opens. Her projected opponent in the fourth round would be
number eight Patty Schnyder, a very winnable match
for Hingis should it even come to pass. Awaiting Hingis in
the quarterfinals would be French Open queen Justine
Henin-Hardenne, although potential fourth-round matchups
with either the unpredictable Daniela Hantuchova or
surprising American Jamea Jackson should be cause for
concern from Justine, who was upset in last year’s first
round after claiming the title at Roland Garros.
The last
quarter of the women’s draw features an intriguing
first-round encounter between second-seeded Kim Clijsters
and this year’s champion on the grass courts of
Birmingham, Russia’s Vera Zvonereva. Other players of
note in this section include French Open runner-up
Svetlana Kuznetsova; Na Li, the first Chinese
woman ever to be seeded in a major event at number 27; hot
young gun Ana-Lena Groenfeld; and 10th-seeded
Nicole Vaidisova, who will be looking to follow-up on
her stunning run to the French Open semifinals.
“If you
can meet Triumph and Disaster and treat those two imposters
just the same …”
This quote
from Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If” marks the players’ entrance
to Wimbledon’s Centre Court, a fittingly ominous ode to the
brilliance of passing the truest test that tennis has to
offer and to the devastation of having dreams that are cut
short on sharp blades of grass. One man and one woman will
proudly stand alongside the greatest players that tennis has
produced for more than 100 years now. The quest for this
honor will be fought with a contained intensity, passion,
and zest that is appropriate to both tennis history and
modern day sport, for past victors and hopeful combatants
alike each know that there are no finer tennis champions
than those who triumph at Wimbledon.
Men’s Semifinals: Federer
d. Blake; Hewitt d. Davydenko
Men’s Final: Federer
d. Hewitt
Women’s Semifinals: Sharapova
d. Williams; Vaidisova d. Henin-Hardenne
Women’s Final: Sharapova
d. Vaidisova
Wyman Meers is a writer living
in New York. He is
Gaga4Gaby on the Outsports Discussion Board.
June 25, 2006 |
