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WIMBLEDON – When I was a kid and a tennis lover, I watched the Wimbledon finals from the basement sofa and, at critical moments, I stood still, barely breathing, to being able to channel all my strength and psychic powers through the TV screen to help my favorite player to break through the break point, set point or match point.
So it was surreal, in 2004, when I walked through the doors of the All England club to cover the tournament as a reporter for the Washington Post. It was as if I had finally crossed the screen of my childhood and had entered a world that had always been a world apart.
I was amazed by the quiet beauty that was not captured on TV. The smell of verbena, petunias and hydrangea lining each alley on the ground, each grown for the event and timed to bloom over the two weeks of play. Stunned by the meticulousness of the grbad courses. How far were the seats on the smaller side courts – close enough so fans could reach out and pick up a souvenir grbad. And how, at the turn of a random turn, you were able to surpbad one of the big game, a champion long retired but as a coach, broadcaster, guest in the Royal Box or simply a tennis fan. 19659004] But with each month of June that I returned to mission during the next decade, these wonders gradually disappeared in my mind, supplanted by the anxiety about daily deadlines, Internet connectivity and the bbadities of the exchange rate. of this year. In time for dinner
Sunday afternoon, I returned to the All England club after a four-year absence. And the details that make this Grand Slam event so special have struck me again, just like the awareness that life does not last forever, nor does the job duties. And it increased everything about setting up to cover Wimbledon when the first round matches start on Monday.
Why is it so often that what seemed so inaccessible loses some of its magic once it becomes familiar, like a true love? take for granted after the 10th morning spent preparing coffee, paying bills and scribbling to-do lists of everyday life?
For the next two weeks, I'll enjoy every step of my 30-minute walk. through puddles or on dry pavement. I am going to make sure that the church steeple that runs through the sky in the village of Wimbledon is in its place and look for the pale outline of the London Eye much further still visible on the rare cloudless morning.
I will make mental note of the wrought iron entrance doors black with the acronym of the club, AELTC, in gold, as well as the absence of business signage at the # 39; inside.
In my mind, at least, I will try to record the multilingual soundtrack of the press room, where the sportsmen are grouped by nationality – the Spaniards, Italians, Germans, Americans and the rows of British. I will record quietly before the doors open at 10:30 every day. Better still, the calm of the turf game itself …
At Wimbledon, the ball does not hit so much the playing area as the land on the grbad with a thud, like a heartbeat . And the audience listens with a veneration almost muffled, especially when artists such as Roger Federer are at work, sparing applause and cheers for the intermediate moments
As at Wimbledon, the defending champion will open the game on the Central Court. Monday. This means that Federer will face Serbian Dusan Lajovic
Center Court, where I saw for the first time the Swiss at Wimbledon, in 2004, that he opened the first Monday as champion of the Previous year. Since then, Federer has compiled a remarkable longevity and excellence career, with eight Wimbledon titles among his 20 Grand Slam championships – a record for men.
Even today, with his 37th birthday looming in August, he is considered the master sport on the grbad, a fast and unpredictable surface. He boasts of every stroke of his repertoire. And he has both the intelligence of tennis to find his way through a problem and the talent and reflexes, the raid in hand, to hit the winners when there is no time to think .
The longevity and excellence of Serena Williams has seven Wimbledon championships among her 23 Grand Slam record titles. She was only 21 years old, as was Federer, who won Wimbledon in 2003. Their rare talent was evident at the time, but none could have predicted that 15 years later they would have 15 Wimbledon titles between them and would continue to compete in the grbad. clbadic. Both, still feared.
Federer, seeded No. 1, has won 20 of his last 21 lawn matches. And Andy Murray abruptly withdrawing on Sunday, acknowledging that he's not fully recovered from his hip surgery, the tournament has only two other former Wimbledon champions in the men's 128-man roster: Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Maternity leave during the tournament last year, was ranked 25th on her return – recognition by tournament officials that her ability is well above her current 132nd world rankings. After three weeks of recovery from an injured pectoral muscle that forced her out of the French Open the day before her fourth-round match, she will open Monday afternoon against Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands. Low.
Speaking to reporters Sunday, Williams said that his competitive fire is even more intense after the birth of his daughter, Olympia, on September 1.
"I'm a little shocked at how much I'm almost craving for this pressure," Williams said. to describe his competitive race as a new mother. "You know, I almost want to feel the need to go out there and be the best you can."
Williams and Federer are champions, with 43 Grand Slam titles between them, because they're not taking moments for granted. Their legacies were cemented long ago, but the stakes of a set point or a match point – especially at Wimbledon – have never become old or familiar. They savor the pressure. They enjoy the fight.
From Monday, they will go to work at the All England club. And for me, a world that once only existed on a television screen comes back to life.
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