Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Rhys on Wimbledon

 RHYS BOWEN: I don’t know about you but for the past two weeks I’ve been glued to the TV watching Wimbledon. Weren't the finals splendid this year, especially the men's doubles? 




I have always been a huge tennis fan, a tennis player too until an extruded disc between my shoulder blades put a stop to that. So Wimbledon is a big treat for me.

When I mentioned that I had attended Wimbledon in person Hank said I should blog about it. So here it is:

I became a tennis fan at a young age. I think I was given a racquet when I was eight.  My school had 3 hard courts and 12 grass so of course we played a lot f tennis. I also belonged to a club and played there after school. My friend Mary and I both had crushes on the Aussie tennis stars: Lou Hoad, Ken Rosewall, John Newcomb, Rod Laver. We had pictures of them on our walls. We watched them on our black and white TVs and once a year we went to see them in person at Wimbledon. I don’t remember but I think we must have played hooky from school because I don’t think we always went on Saturdays, in fact I’m sure we didn’t. We’d buy grounds passes, which in those days were easy to get and very cheap. During the first week there were always fantastic matches going on outside of the show courts. Also when people left centre court they’d give their seats to kids like us, so we saw all the greats play.

A bit older, as a college student and then as a working woman, I went with a date. We ate strawberries and cream, (which in those days were served from glass dishes, not plastic ones) and we drank Pimms. It was all so civilized.

Today if you want a grounds pass you’d better be lining up at dawn, or maybe all night, hoping you’ll be one of the lucky ones let into the grounds. If you want a seat on Centre Court or Court One you apply to a lottery and you have to take what you get—so maybe not the matches of your choice.  I feel really blessed to have grown up in a simpler time!

My latest Wimbledon experience was at the 2012 Olympics when I put in for three days of tennis AND got all three!  Fabulous! We had grounds passes for the quarter finals so we were able to watch some big names playing on other than the show courts. We were yards away from the Williams Sisters (who are much slimmer than they seem on TV). I walked along a narrow path with John Isner. It was like looking up at a tree. (He is 6’ 10!)

And we had the show court for Nadal, Andy Murray, and then watched Federer ,sitting with others on Henman Hill. Such a great experience. The only thing lacking was the food and drink. No elegant dining rooms any more. A sausage roll on a paper plate. Ah, signing for the good old days!

What makes Wimbledon so special and unique is the traditions that surround it: the players all have to wear white, and how nice that looks! The surface is a manicured green lawn. When a royal person is in the royal box the players stop to curtsey or bow when they come out. And until recently they were addressed as Mr. Nadal, Miss Williams. Now that’s gone, along with the glass bowls for the strawberries. But they still have the lovely purple and green towels, which I covet!

But there is still the aura of civility about the sport. IN which other sport do you wait until the opponent is ready before you serve? And wait until the crowd is quite silent? And the umpire chides noisy spectators with. “Ladies and gentlemen, please…”.  Can you imagine that at a football game?

I hope to return again some day but in the meantime there was fantastic coverage on the HD channels and I woke at 5 every morning to watch!  How about you? Any tennis fans out there?

36 comments:

  1. This is fascinating, Rhys . . . I know absolutely nothing about tennis, but your Wimbledon experiences are certainly special. [Generally, we only watch sports during the Olympics, but we did have an opportunity to go to the Olympics when they were in Atlanta, which was an amazing experience] . . . .

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  2. Anything that stays civil is a plus for me, although I don't follow the sport at all.

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    1. But I did learn to play in my forties. We were living in Burkina Faso, and I took lessons at the International School after dropping off my sons for the day. My lessons were in French from a Burkinabe tennis pro, so I both improved my game and my French!

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  3. Yes, glued to the tv watching Wimbledon. I plated tennis in high school & 2 years in college. My only complaint is how the commentators kept making comments about the women who had babies and came back to play tennis. Pregnancy is not a Debilitating condition. My 2 college years were after I had my son. And it helped get me back into shape!

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    1. They never mentioned about Novak coming back after the birth of his kids, did they? And they focused on women's bras etc. Still that tiny tad of sexism.

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  4. Yes, I was an avid fan of watching tennis matches on TV since it was one of the few sports that I played from childhood. You're right that Wimbledon seems more civilized with the green court and everyone wearing white. Some years I got in to watch the Rogers Cup in Toronto. They alternate with Montreal each year so I could only see all men or women play.

    But I have been without cable TV for a decade, so no watching any live sports for me. I was surprised that Djokovic was playing and won this year's singles event. Since he is NOT vaccinated, I did not know that Djokovic was allowed to play at Wimbledon. I remember that he was held up & deported in Australia & is skipping the US open for the same reason.

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  5. I wouldn't say that I'm as big a tennis fan as I used to be. Back in the day, even though I didn't play, I was a big fan. I watched all the Grand Slam matches and I loved Wimbledon the best. I loved all the big names but I especially loved watching Jennifer Capriati's career take off. When she beat Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in a match that carried over to a 2nd day, it was a big deal in my house. I followed a bunch of players and had a subscription to Tennis magazine for a couple of years as well. I remember reading a book by John Feinstein and read the column Bud Collins wrote for the Boston Globe. I even like the admittedly not great rom-com sports movie Wimbledon. Ha! I watched matches with Borg, McEnroe, Graf, Connors, Lendl, Edberg, Sabatini, Seles, Agassi, Sampras and remember Pat Cash's climb into stands when he won.

    The players now don't hold the same level of interest for me but I still pay attention to the results at least.

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    1. You should give it another try, Jay. There are some really good young players coming up--alcaraz, Sinner, Korda...

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  6. I was a fan just like Jay! I learned to play in my thirties and that's how I met my John. When we were first dating, he was shocked that I would have videotaped all the matches I missed and insisted on watching those before moving on. I knew all the players--Jennifer Capriati was such fun, until she crumbled (drugs I think.) Which reminds me, did you all see King Richard? Excellent movie about the Williams sisters and their dad.

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  7. Irwin is the tennis fan in our house. At 76, he still plays in a group that includes up to 30 guys organized by a 95 year old who knows everyone's phone number by heart!

    I have told you that he bought the condo across the street from mine in the spring of 1979. Every afternoon I would see him arrive home in his sport jacket at around 5:15 and emerge 15 minutes later in short shorts (yes ladies and gentlemen, I watched!) carrying a tennis racket, only to reappear after dark.

    Our first date was Irwin giving me a tennis lesson, then me giving him a swimming lesson. He had a tennis appointment with a friend scheduled for that afternoon but he never made it (heh, heh). He kept phoning him to make it later and finally they canceled.

    I never caught the tennis "bug" myself, but he has always watched the events and matches, especially the Grand Slams on TV. It is good for spouses to give one another space to follow their individual interests. Thanks for this topic, Rhys.

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    1. I agree. I'm the big sports fan in our house , although John was a rugby player. I tried to get him more interested in tennis but he didn't like it because I could always beat him.

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    2. Billie Jean King vs Bobby Riggs!

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  8. Sounds lovely, Rhys. Tennis is a sport I've never understood for scoring.

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  9. I had a tennis class in college and loved the game, although I never really played after that class. In the days of Evert, Graf, Navratilova, Borg, Connors, etc., I watched all the matches. As life got busier and younger players moved up in the games, I lost track of who was who and my interest in the game declined.

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  10. My mom was an avid tennis player when she was younger. She is in her 80's now. She was very athletic, and was terrific at many individual sports. She became a Physical Education teacher, and received a master's degree in Physical Health. She coached swimming, track and field, and other individual sports such as dance, archery, and bowling. She was also a table tennis champion locally.

    I had no aptitude for any of it! She gave me a tennis racquet for one of my birthdays - maybe when I turned 14. I had never asked for a racquet, nor expressed any interest in playing tennis. Part of the present was that she would teach me how to play. To her, it was time for us to spend together sharing something that she loved, and would get me up and moving. We literally had one session. To me, it was another way for her to try to make me into something that I wasn't, and a form of torture. I was never limber, fast, graceful, or coordinated. During this one session, she was continually correcting me (her version) or criticizing me (my version), and it ended with me crying and her upset.

    Despite all of that baggage, I did enjoy the rise in women's tennis - watching Chrissie Evert and Billie Jean King sometimes - for the empowerment aspect of that. I admire people who can do those things, and maybe appreciate it more because it has always been difficult for me. I do watch the Olympics, but that is really the extent of my sports watching, other than the occasional football or basketball game. And, I really love "So You Think You Can Dance" - how do they do that??

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    1. Sally, I had the same experience with piano! My mom trained up to concert level and I had to take lessons but was never good. She'd make me play duets shouting for me to keep up.

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  11. Tennis is one of only three sports I played in school while living in England (the others were field hockey and netball). I loved it and played for my school. We took a school trip to Wimbledon and I remember wandering around the grounds and watching games on the non-show courts. Great fun, though strawberries and Pimms were not part of our agenda at that age. I no longer watch tennis, but was glued to the set for all of Wimbledon back in the days of Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, et. al.

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  12. Watched lots of Wimbledon this year. I'm jealous of your Olympic success though! We put in for tickets for all kinds of events that year, including tennis, and got only one -- for fencing -- so we decided not to make the journey. Much closer to home, we really enjoy making the trip to Indian Wells in the spring. The weather is warm, the tickets are much more obtainable, and the field of competitors is the same as for the grand slams.

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    1. The lottery was so strange, Cathy. We had family in UK who put in for everything and got nothing. We got badminton, water polo, women soccer final and tennis. And a good TV set for the rest. It was great. We also went to Sydney and LA for Olympics and got good things each time. Sydney was the first time that women's water polo competed. My daughter had been on that team, pre-Olympics, and said say hi to my friends. When I got back I had to tell her they looked like ants from our seats in the stadium!

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  13. When we were in Kenya last summer the tennis portion of the Summer Games was on, and we watched some of it at my daughter's house. My husband has played, and still plays tennis most of his life since high school, and he was avidly interested. I got excited by Naomi Osaka, and also by Vondrosouva. They both played so well, and so much less emotionally than some of the men.

    I took lessons with a group one summer, but like almost every other group sport I've played, I didn't get interested enough to develop any skill. And as Liz says, the scoring is incomprehensible! But I'd put all that aside to visit Wimbledon back in the day. We have the Cincinnati Open here, but it's hardly the same.

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    1. Your tournament is one of the big ones! You get all the best players.

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    2. Karen, when we finally meet in person, our husbands will have something to talk about!!

      I did play tennis on and off but was never particularly in love with it so I didn't go out of the way to play. I always ended up playing with very competitive people who only wanted to keep score and I just wanted to volley and run around. I liked it as exercise, and I could get to almost any ball back in the day, but I did not enjoy the competition. I think I took it too seriously.

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    3. Rhys, I've gone to the Open, back when it was called something else, and it's very nice. But it's not as gentile as Wimbledon!

      Judy, that sounds like a plan!

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  14. I have been a non-tennis fan surrounded by tennis lovers for most of my adult life. It's not that I don't find watching the game interesting, but I don't actively seek it out, unlike Ross, my father-in-law, etc.

    I think it really helps to have played tennis, and all of them did. I wish I had taken up when I was young, because it's always struck me as a wonderful social sport that you can play ( until something goes sproing in your knees or shoulders!) However, until I got my new bionic eye lenses a few years ago, I had poor depth perception, which meant any sport involving a ball hurdling toward me was a recipe for disaster.

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    1. I think you have to learn it young to enjoy it. We started at 8 at my school in UK (private school)

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  15. I had to play tennis as part of PE classes.

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  16. LOVE "Ladies and gentlemen, please..." And yes, tennis is amazing to watch--they have so much stamina and skill. I am TERRIBLE at it, and and I blame it on the fact that in high school I would always lose one contact, and then be afraid to tell my parents, and that meat my depth perception was non-existent. In college, took the one-semester beginning tennis course for TWO SOLID YEARS. I tried.

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  17. LOVE "Ladies and gentlemen, please", Rhys. I noticed that tennis is more civilized than American football. I do not know about European football, though. Though I LOVE to watch tennis, I have this unfortunate knack for injuring myself while playing tennis.

    Two questions:

    1). Is it True that only the immediate Royal family are allowed in the Royal Box at Wimbledon? I am asking because when the Duchess of Kent (married to the Queen's cousin) wanted to bring a guest to the Royal Box, the Wimbledon officials said No. I was surprised. It is possible that the story was not true or something different actually happened?

    2). If ir is true that only Royals are allowed in the Royal Box, then WHO are all of the people sitting behind the Duke and the Duchess of Cambridge at Wimbledon?

    Always wonderful to read your stories like your Wimbledon experiences. I have been following Wimbledon on social media.

    Diana

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    1. I believe celebrities are allowed into royal box , carefully vetted if royals are present

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  18. We had always been a basketball family. My mother played in the 1920s for her high school. My brother played in high school, and I was a cheerleader, so we attended lots of basketball games. And, we loved (and still do) our University of Kentucky men's basketball team. Then, something interesting happened with my nephews, my sister's sons and my brother's. They started playing tennis, and they were passionate and dedicated. Now my brother's son coaches tennis, and his daughter has become a real competitor in tennis. My nephew also is a tennis umpire who travels around the country for matches. I should mention that two of my nieces did play basketball and did well in it. I shouldn't have forgotten that. Wimbledon has always seemed like a lovely gathering to me, but I've probably only watched a handful of matches.

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    1. A sporting family like ours. All swimmers and water polo players

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    2. My son-in-law brought in the swimming, as he and his two siblings got college scholarships for that. My granddaughter swims, but she also runs cross country, which is what my daughter, her mom, did. I played gold in high school, but I didn't keep it up and I regret that.

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  19. Shalom Reds – I played tennis as a kid. Maybe I was ten when my brother and I received racquets for Christmas. There were some public clay courts that were well maintained just a block away from where we lived. In those days, you needed to purchase a special photo-id permit to use the courts and they were only open when a “parkie” was on duty. I am pretty sure we played there on weekday evenings as well as on weekends. I played on the high school tennis team but I really wasn’t that good. I think at that time, the US Open was still played in Forrest Hills, and I remember when we would play Forrest Hills High School we played on those courts. That was the only time I ever got to see grass courts. Later in life, as an adult, I used to play with some friends from work at the US Tennis Center in Flushing. Then in my late forties, I played here in Bucks County, with wife of a friend. I never really learned to serve, so I was never competitive. As a kid I had perfected a forehand with a lot of top-spin, that would stay low to the ground and just rise enough to clear the net and then sink back to the ground and skid off the ground, (particularly on clay) and gain speed after the bounce. It was hard to defend against. I no longer have a racquet or the will to find a partner.

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    1. A lethal forehand! That’s great. But they should have taught you to serve in school

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  20. Not a fan, but it sounds like a magical time!

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