Wimbledon II

If you can meet with triumph and disaster etc.

And then one day, it stopped raining. It was unexpected and sudden and people were confused. What is this, they said, the…sun? As long and arduous as the bad weather had been laying upon us it was swift when it disappeared and the air felt warm on our faces. It rained when Andy Murray bid farewell on Centre Court in the most Murrayesque way possible and it rained when player after player slipped, fell and got injured. But then suddenly, it was final’s weekend and the rain stayed away.

So many times in the past, the men’s final Sunday was the place to be. Best of five, the best two players, drama guaranteed. This year, too, ticket prices went up to 10.000 pounds for the cheapest seats in eager anticipation of last year’s re-match between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. This time, however, it was the Saturday who stole the drama, nicked tragedy and triumph like a pickpocket on the subway. I am only partly talking about the women’s final. There was a men’s doubles final for the ages, the winners Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara not only surprised but straight up shocked by their victory, so much so they forgot to congratulate each other. Katerina Sinaikova is a women’s doubles champion again with yet another partner. And even though she is so good she might just as well pull me through to a major final by her side, it was her partner Taylor Townsend who shone just as brightly as Katerina. It was Taylor’s bravado and bravery that got them through a tough semifinal match. Triumphant at last was Taylor and it feels like it won’t be the last time either.

many players won trophies in wimbledon…and i was there, too

Barbora Krejcikova on the other hand snuck through a draw plastered with obstacles until the very moment she beat the heavy favourite Elena Rybakina in the semifinals. Despite Barbora being a former single’s major champion (among her 10 other doubles and mixed major titles), despite her beating Danielle Collins and Jelena Ostapenko on Court 1 in impressive performances people only realised she could win it all when she was serving for the match against Rybakina in the third set at 40:0 and 5:4 in the semifinal. It’s poetic justice that an understated personality like Barbora should win in the country of understatement. Her tennis is beautiful. A study of the game like no other – you see her regularly in the stands for all kinds of matches – she might have the most beautiful technique of all. Everything seems to flow effortlessly. Her swings are easy and complete, the elbow the exact right distance from her body, the hit point in front of her, the eye impeccable. What she may lack in quickness, she makes up for in anticipation and wits. Both her matches against Jelena Ostapenko and Elena Rybakina were tactical masterclasses. Frequently opting for the long, flat shot through the middle of the court, preventing her big hitting opponents from opening angles, body serves jamming them and interrupting their full swings, a well-placed slice in the midcourt to make them leave their beloved baseline. But what eventually got her the title was her serving under pressure. She doesn’t have the most powerful serve but it’s annoyingly precise and it found its spots when it mattered most. Telling that all three of the match points in the quarters, semis and final were won with a service winner.

How about Jasmine Paolini being a back-to-back major finalist? Not only does her recent success show that consistent work and improvement will be rewarded eventually (she’s been with coach Renzo Furlan well over eight years now), she is also teaching us a lesson about a positive outlook on life. Over and over again, she wins matches against opponents stronger than her, more powerful than her because she waits. She plays, smiles and waits for the window of opportunity that opens in every match at least once. It’s a question of whether you can get a foot in the door when it does. Now, that’s not everything. Jasmine was the woman with the most net attacks out of everyone on the female side. She still has the most explosive muscle fibres I have seen on tour in a long time. When experts mention her size it’s not to underline how cute it is that somebody shorter is so successful. It is to underline that being shorter in size is an obvious disadvantage in tennis. The reach is smaller, the serve angles worse. A disadvantage may well be an obstacle but for people like Jasmine Paolini it is never an impossibility. We have a saying in German: „Der stete Tropfen höhlt den Stein.“ Which roughly translated means: „It’s the constant dripping that wears away the stone”. I think Jasmine Paolini has put a face next to that saying and that face wears a huge smile.

centre court at wimbledon

And then there were two. Two teams, two players, two different styles of play. But it didn’t matter what you brought to the table it seemed to be a Spanish kind of pay(ella) day. (Terrible joke, I apologise.) The English sympathised with Novak Djokovic who was just a step too late to everything Carlos Alcaraz was throwing at him, and well, little did they know they would need said sympathy mere hours later when they, too, succumbed to Spain. One thing that comes with age unfortunately are off-days. You don’t know when they will show up on your doorstep, you don’t know why but from year to year they seem to multiply like those damn moths in my closet. It wasn’t a full off-day for Novak but he did have a very slow start. Paired with the best match Carlos played all fortnight it ended up looking like Novak was being overpowered and outplayed. The moment he found his footing in the third set, things got more interesting but it was too late facing a ravishing Carlos Alcaraz or as Annabelle Croft said in the post-match interview “a very hot” Carlos Alcaraz drawing laughter from the stands and a beautiful vermillion colour on Annabelle’s face. She had meant his tennis, of course, but it was a nice little moment with both Carlos and Annabelle blushing.

Interestingly, I saw Novak Djokovic in Carlos Alcaraz for the first time and it made me scared for the others. Last year, Carlos and Novak had been from the first moment on the players to beat at The Championships 2023. This year, however, Carlos looked vulnerable. A lot of unforced errors, lapses of focus, needing five sets against Frances Tiafoe in round three (who admittedly was very good that day). But just when he needed to, just when he ran into Tommy Paul who he had lost to two times already, who had been unbeaten on grass despite having two first names which I think is weird but maybe that’s an American thing, just when it WAS ABOUT TIME – Carlos found his game. He upped his level, found the depth, the power, the variety and everyone else instantly became fodder. He played his best match against Novak Djokovic in the final. Countless times have I seen Novak look beatable in the first week and like from another planet in the second week. Peak when it matters most. Scheduling is part of being a tennis player and smart scheduling plays a huge part in a successful career.

It is sometimes dangerous when you have an easy path through the tournament. Just as you practice forehands and backhands, you built resilience through tough situations and adversity. Novak didn’t really have that on his way to the final this year. So, when he met somebody who was ready to push him, he had not trained those muscles which know how to push back. And that is not even remotely a case against Novak. He took care of his side like he always does – with patience, discipline and precise work or as he phrased it smart work. It is a silent reproach to the rest of the bottom half though who let an opportunity slip. You won’t get a hampered Novak this often and you won’t get Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz in the other half all the time either. Tennis is also about seizing the moment of opportunity. Just like Barbora Krejcikova struck in the third set of the women’s final, breaking when Jasmine Paolini had a tiny little lapse of focus.

the face of uncertainty before first time on center court

A few more words on two players that I was very impressed with. Daniil Medvedev’s match against Jannik Sinner is the reason he will keep creating chances for himself to win major titles. We all know how far he stands back on returns and how he is sometimes satisfied with retrieving until the other person misses. For five sets Daniil stood his ground, refused to be pushed back, controlling the baseline like Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He actually managed to do so for six sets if you take the first set against Carlos Alcaraz into account as well. Adjusting and improving are the most important forehands and backhands you could ever play in tennis.

And Donna Vekic. Donna freaking Vekic, man, what a woman. Breaking down in tears on court, overwhelmed by the occasion of the most stressful moment a tennis player can go through, semifinals of Wimbledon, a few points away from the greatest moment of her career, seemingly succumbing to the pressure and the letdowns of her body. Girlfriend puts some ice on her forearm, cries under her hat, goes out and serves a few bombs to get herself to the tiebreak where she plays bravely until the very last missed forehand. My personal award of badassery goes to Donna Vekic, fair and square. It’s not about not feeling the pressure, it’s about fighting through it in front of the entire world. Take a bow.

Things that make me happy:

For another year, I had the honour of being invited to the annually invitational doubles tournament of The All England Lawn Tennis Club. This time, I even got to play on Centre Court. Let’s not talk about the result but I hear Joe Alwyn watched so take that, Taylor Swift. LOL. This is how it went:

Things that make me unhappy:

Wimbledon and the Euro Cup have officially come to an end and in order to escape the utter emptiness of my day I have decided to go to Greece tomorrow. Which in turn makes me happy again. It’s the circle of life.

I hope you enjoyed lawn tennis as much as I did (I really did!) but it’s time to get back to concrete things. Hardcourt season is just around the corner. May your knees and hips survive!

I stay humbly, yours truly, Andrea