The Hindu : No room for surprises

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 23, 2003

Sport

Sport - Tennis

No room for surprises

By Nirmal Shekar

A Filipino worker puts tennis balls into plastic containers on a conveyer belt at Dunlop Slazenger's factory in Bataan, north of Manila. When champion Lleyton Hewitt or opponent Ivo Karlovic slams the first tennis ball at Wimbledon on Monday no one will be watching more closely than Julius Manalo thousands of kilometres away in the Philippines. Manalo manages the Dunlop Slazenger's Philippine plant, which made the balls. — Reuters

London June 22. Enough about tennis, let's talk Wimbledon. Bring out the brolly, and we'll go for a stroll down leafy Church Road, admiring the patience of men, women and children queuing up in the rain, waiting for the All England Lawn Tennis Club gates to open 24 hours later, and praying for the rain to stop.

Then again, how about joining the celebrity-spotting game, fixing your gaze on the Royal Box and the Players' Guests Box, rather than on forehands and backhands. Or spending time discussing Prince William's choice of girlfriends, or Venus Williams's latest fashion statement, over a glass of Pimms at one of the corporate marquees.

Ah Wimbledon! That piece of anachronism in modern sport that still resembles a two-week long coronation ritual rather than a sporting event. Wimbeldon it is, if you are hearing an American say it. And WimbleeDon if you are German or Swiss. That grand Victorian era garden tea party which still manages to cast its spell on players and paying public alike!

This is perhaps the only sporting arena in the world where tens of thousands still manage to have a jolly good time--or so they believe when they go home--on a day when not a single serve is struck because of rain. After all, Wimbledon is, among other things, also about tennis.

Through 126 years, this unique summer spectacle which crowned Spencer Gore as its first champion in 1877--he was given a Silver Challenge Cup valued at 25 guineas--has overwhelmed us with its mystique and drama. Run by proud, upright gentlemen in purple and mauve club ties, the only great sporting event in the world that constantly changes without ever appearing to change, without ever swapping its soul for survival and success, will pull up the curtains yet again on Monday.

And, not surprisingly, after several days of Indian summer weather, the skies turned charcoal grey this morning and by 8.30 a.m. a steady rain forced the thoroughly efficient ground staff to leave their breakfast unfinished to get the covers on sooner than Andre Agassi might walk, pigeon toed, from one end of the baseline to another to receive serve.

Ah, Wimbledon! No Pete Sampras. No Monica Seles. No Goran Ivanisevic. No Pat Rafter. Yet, the spell descends. And it is time to call "play". Of course, play will be in partnership with rain, as always.

As the last week of June approaches, not only do tennis fans' thirst become rather acute, but the green, green grass of Wimbledon also get thirsty. But, then, there is lots of sunshine on the way if you want to believe the weathermen.

Hewitt-Agassi final?

And you can rest assured that Lleyton Hewitt will step out on time (5.30 p.m. IST) to defend his title on the centre court on Monday afternoon. Hewitt, the first baseliner to win here since Andre Agassi in 1992, certainly deserves his top billing, although he is ranked No.2, below the marathon man from Las Vegas who he is expected to meet in the final on July 6.

Since beating the Argentine floater David Nalbandian handily in the final here last year, things have not really gone swimmingly for the 22-year-old from Adelaide. But the fleet footed Hewitt is the game's greatest street fighter of his generation and will not part with the coveted trophy easily. Hewitt, fearing burnout, has drastically cut down his schedule this year and you might also see him venturing up to the net more often during the fortnight, responding to advice from a gentleman called Rod Laver, who, it must be said, knows a thing or two about grass court tennis.

Andre Agassi may not do that too often--serve and volley, that is--but given how well he strikes the ball from the back of the court, taking it early, the second seed will feel confident that he can recreate the magic of 1992 eleven years on.

It is tough to recall the last time a 33-year-old was installed as the favourite for the title by the bookmakers here. Perhaps never. After over 1000 matches in a remarkable career spanning 18 years, Agassi says the desire still burns deep and he constantly thanks his wife Steffi Graf for her support, without which he says, "I can't be doing what I am doing."

Moving as well as he might have when he won his only Wimbledon title in 1992, Agassi is playing some of the best tennis of his career and the draw has been kind to him too.

The two young men who have it in them to go all the way--apart from Hewitt--are in the top half. Roger Federer, who looked every bit a champion when he beat the incomparable Pete Sampras here two years ago, and Andy Roddick, the red hot 20-year-old American who at last seems ready to challenge for the big one, are both in Hewitt's half of the draw.

Federer has disappointed since that big win over the great man in 2001 but his form is impressive and he seems quite confident that he would be able to rise to the occasion at last.

As for Roddick, his serve is working wonderfully well and he has matured considerably this year, as was evident during that epic quarterfinal match of the Australian Open against Younes El Aynaoui last January.

Brad Gilbert worked wonders with Agassi and now with Roddick he has the chance to nurture the man all the way to the top. The young man's backhand is still a weak link but it has improved in the last year.

And do not at all be surprised if two Americans, 13 years apart in age, walk on court to contest for the title on July 6. Andre Agassi versus Andy Roddick would be a final made for American television in this era when most things--including wars--are made for American television. If that is a popular script, then there are men in this draw who can tear it to shreds, and, on their day, do a lot of damage.

Tim Henman, still not completely recovered from a shoulder problem, will surely fancy his chances and so will Greg Rusedski the not-so-English Englishman who won at Nottingham yesterday.

Big serving hulks like Mark Philippousis and Taylor Dent--if fit--will also dream of their big day and this is an event where surprises can begin rather early in the first week, as we found out last year when Sampras and Agassi went out in the second round.

There may not be quite as many surprises in the women's championship where Serena Williams would hope to reassert her dominant role after the French Open hiccup. And she can be sure that the crowds at Wimbledon would, even in their worst moments, never do anything like the Paris crowd did during her semifinals against Justine Henin-Hardenne.

Once again Serena and Henin-Hardenne are in the same half of the draw and if all goes well for both, they would cross swords in the semifinals here too.

Henin-Hardenne had a bit of an injury scare yesterday when she retired in the second set in the Ordina Open final against Kim Clijsters, slipping and injuring her left wrist while chasing a ball.

"I sprained two or three fingers but I don't think it is anything serious," said the French champion. "I won't have to play until Tuesday and that gives me time to recover."

Venus short on desire

In the bottom half, once again, as in Paris, you might expect Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters to make it to the semifinals. Venus surprisingly appears short on desire but is still a wonderful athlete who is a joy to watch on grass.

The former champion Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati will also be hoping to make an impact but do watch out for Chanda Rubin who is playing superb tennis these days.

Then again, whoever lifts the trophies over the July 5-6 weekend, one winner can be predicted right now: Wimbledon. In 126 years, it has never once lost. That is some record!

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