Bill Simons
THE END OF AN ENGLISH TRADITION: Dissing British women’s tennis is a minor pastime in Britain. Sue Mott observed, “Only Britons interpret the umpire’s opening word ‘Play!’ as a knell of doom…After all, the back view of receding British women with towels around their hunched shoulders is a familiar sight to regular Wimbledon watchers.”
After all, a British woman hadn’t won a grass court tourney in 40 years and no British woman had prevailed in Britain since Sue Barker in 1981. Then, on June 13th, Jo Konta halted the slump by winning a Wimbledon warm-up tourney in Nottingham.
Similarly, despite getting a slew of wildcards, no British woman had gotten through the Wimbledon qualifying for 20 years. But Katie Swan prevailed this year. NEWSFLASH: Just as we posted this, we learned the wretched news that Konta won’t be playing Wimbledon due to close contact with a COVID-19 case. Now she has to spend 10 days in self-isolation. She must be devastated.
SUPERHEROES IN KILTS: A reporter referred to Federer practicing with Andy Murray and said, “I think the last time you and Andy shared a court…you were both in kilts in Glasgow [at a fundraiser] a few years ago.”
GO FIGURE: There’s just one gap in Federer’s incredible resume – he hasn’t won an Olympic gold medal in singles. Roger said he would like to go to Tokyo, but won’t decide until after playing Wimbledon. Serena announced she won’t be playing. BTW, Venus will be pairing up with Nick Krygios in mixed doubles.
JUST SAYING: Virtually everyone was presuming Rafa would win the French Open – just hand him the trophy. It didn’t happen. Now, many are presuming Djokovic will sail through to the Wimbledon title. He is the prohibitive favorite. It would be startling if he didn’t win, but their is a lot of ball to be played.
QUIRKY INJURIES: Matches aren’t the only places tennis players suffer injuries. Petra Kvitova had to pull out of the French Open when she suffered an ankle injury as she was going about doing TV interviews at Roland Garros. There were no explanations then and it still remains shrouded in mystery. When asked about it, Petra said, “It was just an accident. I will not really talk about it that much…I was pretty disappointed.”
Plenty of others have been disappointed by quirky accidents. Just before he was scheduled to play the Miami Open, Goran Ivanisivic stepped on a shell on a Key Biscayne beach. Goran mused, “The beach is 10 kilometers long, there is one shell and only one person can find it and step on it – me. I can injure myself getting out of bed.” Just before his Miami final, Thomas Muster’s leg was shattered in a freak injury in a parking lot. Serena stepped on a glass in a German bar and needed 18 stitches. It derailed her career.
Dave Wheaton rode his skateboard into a plate glass window at Stanford. Genie Bouchard suffered a concussion in a US Open locker room. Pain and litigation followed. Russian star Yevgeny Kafelnikov was sidelined for months after hitting a punching bag at a Melbourne gym. Sam Querrey sat down on a glass table to tie his shoes. Instead, his arm was cut and soon he was in surgery. Tracy Austin’s career was devastated by a car accident. Maureen Connolly had her career ended when she was thrown by a horse. Helen Wills Moody had her finger bitten by a dog. Kim Clijsters was briefly sidelined after she tripped over her dog while playing football in 2006. Five years later she hurt her ankle while dancing at her cousin’s wedding. Lleyton Hewitt tumbled down a flight of stairs while carrying his laundry.
THE WOMAN WITH AN “X” ON HER BACK: When Serena was asked if it was hard mentally, knowing that her opponents so often lift their games when they play her, she said, “I’ve had a big X on my back since ’99, since I won the US Open. When players play me that hard every single tournament, every single match, every single Grand Slam…you just get better…It’s been difficult mentally when someone…beats you and they lose directly in the next round almost every time. At the end of the day, that’s why I’m Serena.”
AMERICA FIRST: The first news out of Wimbledon about American tennis was about the player (sorry Taylor Fritz) with the best two first names in the game. The injured Tommy Paul, No. 52, withdrew. Speaking of names, young Northern Californian Katie Volynets came through qualifying and is into the main draw. She may be ranked No. 200, but (sorry, Katie Swan) when it comes to lovely tennis names in the women’s draw, she’s ranked No. 1. By the way, just as he did for the French Open, Mackie McDonald qualified for Wimbledon. Other American qualifiers include Thousand Oaks’ Claire Liu, Denis Kudla and Brandon Nakashima (who plays Fritz) and Danielle Lao, No. 238. The 30-year old Arcadia resident, will face Brit Katie Boutler. Kristie Ahn entered as a lucky loser.
WHY WIMBLEDON MATTERS TO ROGER FEDERER: Usually at Wimbledon, Roger and his lively clan gather in a large white house just across the street from the All England Club. In New York, the Carlyle Hotel has an entire luxury suite called the Roger Federer Suite, where he traditionally stays. But the COVID era is different, and Roger was asked about life in the bubble and whether he has a nice room. He responded, “It’s the bubble. It doesn’t matter what the room size is, just living the bubble life is different. [It] took some getting used to the first day or two, understanding what we’re allowed to do. Same thing with the on-site protocols. How does it work? By now I’ve gotten used to it – I’m embracing it. It feels totally different than the last 20 years…[when] we’d arrive with the family, our kids would be running everywhere. We’d organize the grocery shopping, get the house set up and all that stuff. Here, we’re [just] with the team.
“I still feel [it’s] a big privilege that I’m actually able to play Wimbledon…I’m not going to be complaining. Wimbledon tries to put on the best bubble possible.” As for his troubles at the Halle warm-up tournament, where he suffered a tough loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime and was surprisingly negative, he explained, “I had a mental moment where I was not happy with how things were going in the match – that feeling…when things derail, let’s say, mentally, for me. I was already down a break in the third…[I may have] lost anyway. It was Felix’s good play that got me. Also there are ways to lose, and a standard I set for myself…
“The good thing is, I know it will not happen here because I’m ready, I’m excited, I’m pumped up. I know I can do so much better. “If I look back at how many years [going off the rails] has not happened to me, I guess I can be very proud of myself. It reminds me more of the junior times in the beginning of my career…where all of a sudden you didn’t see the positivity any more. [In Halle] I was maybe having higher expectations. Maybe it’s also part of the comeback. Very few fans.
“I don’t know what it was, to be honest. I think I’ve got to take the positives out of these last few weeks…Here at Wimbledon I have a chance. If I get rolling, I get into the second week, which is the goal right now, and I get stronger and stronger as every match goes by, I believe it’s very much possible. “I come here feeling mentally strong [as opposed to] the last set in Halle, which was clearly not the standard I like.”
When asked whether he had much in common with Serena, who is also 39, and what it’s like to play at his age, he noted, “We’ve found ways to keep ourselves happy, motivated and entertained, and not let the negatives dominate our daily struggles…like any other players. When you have family, it’s much easier to walk away from it all. Everybody goes through ups and downs. Our careers have been very much up for a long time. Arguably it’s easier to stay happier and motivated when you are in this position. At the same time only the best is sort of good enough for us. Also [we] put a lot of pressure on ourselves.
“My goal wasn’t to play ‘til 39 or 40 or more. It was more like 35, which was already a high number at the time. Borg retired early. Agassi played a bit longer. Also Edberg and Becker and as well Pistol [Pete Sampras], they were all retiring earlier. I remember a conversation with Pistol 10 years ago. He was wondering how much longer I had in the tank. This was when I was just hitting 30. He was thinking I was coming towards the end…For him, normal was 31, 33.
With the careers we’ve had, with all the sacrifice…it’s hard to keep on pushing. I think I’ve made the most of it…I enjoyed my travels, made it fun with Mirka and the family and the team, persevered somehow. No, the goal was not to play until 40…I never thought, with the last surgeries I’ve had, I’d still be going. Look, I feel I still really love it, and enjoy myself. I’ll see about the results, if they’re going to come back. This is why Wimbledon is clearly very important to me right now.”
BARTY HONORS GOOLAGONG: The thoughtful No. 1 seed Ash Barty noted, “You walk through the gates here at the All England Club and you’re instantly filled with gratitude…It’s a feeling that you can’t take for granted.”
The Aussie will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wimbledon victory of her fellow Aboriginal, Evonne Goolagong, by wearing a FILA dress similar to Evonne’s. Barty said, “This is a really special anniversary for a lot of Australians, but for indigenous Australians in particular…For me to be able to wear an outfit inspired by Evonne’s iconic scalloped dress is really amazing…Her most iconic dress is something that inspired me and our generation of indigenous youth. I hope that my version can do the same. Evonne guided the way. She’s created a path for all of us…as a family, and those of our heritage, to know there is an opportunity to chase your dreams and do what you love. She’s created a legacy like no other in Australia. [This is] something that I’ll never forget.”
CZECH OUT CZECH WOMEN: After Petra Kvitova announced she would be donating part of her Wimbledon winnings to victims of a horrid tornado in the Czech Republic, Tennisstats noted that the two-time Wimbledon champ was “a true Samaritan – with a heart of gold and a cutthroat backhand!”…Only a small handful of elite players (Federer, Serena, Djokovic etc.) are chosen to field reporters’ questions on Wimbledon’s Media Day. Czech Barbora Krejcikova was chosen. The freshly minted French Open champ has never played a main draw match at Wimbledon. She noted that she could no longer turn to her original coach, the late Jana Novotna, for advice. But another pretty good player who was born in the Czech Republic, Martina Navratilova, suggested to Barbora, “Just go and enjoy, have fun. Now’s the time to have fun again – continue doing the things you love and work for you.”
