Here are two rain-delay letters from Jon at Wimbledon—they're better than watching last year's men's final on ESPN right now, in my opinion. Hopefully we'll get to talk about some tennis pretty soon.
Steve,
A soggy hello to you on this opening day of Wimbledon. When I wrote you yesterday that Centre Court and Court 1 were tented in the calm before the storm, I really didn’t have this in mind. When I looked out the window this morning the sky was a pleasant shade of charcoal. The weather forecast for today has words like “thundery” in it, so any play today will be a bonus. Bloody hell.
Ironically, before I left New York I checked the forecast for the first week of the tournament and it was for nothing but sunny skies and warm temperatures. I actually was a little disappointed because what’s Wimbledon without some rain. I wanted to see the grounds crew run out and cover the courts with that signature green tarp, and then hear the fans’ applause as they remove it. You know how I got a kick out the strangely suggestive title of retired Wimbledon tournament referee Alan Mills’ autobiography, 'Lifting the Covers.' Not the book, of course – didn’t read it yet - just the title. According to a press release this morning, it’s been 10 years since Wimbledon has not been affected by rain and, sure enough, we won’t be making any history.
My hotel is in London, so I made my way out to Wimbledon via the tube this morning. The Southfields stop on the District Line is the closest to the grounds, but it still requires about a 15 minute walk from the station. Even with the consistent rain, and a bleak forecast, I passed hundreds of yards of determined fans queuing for opening day tickets. They were an orderly lot, dressed in hooded pullover slickers provided by London newspapers and AT&T. Good product placement. For security purposes, the line has been moved farther back from the facility this year, but it’s not deterring anyone. Other than college sports, I’ve never seen firsthand such fan devotion.
It’s also nice to read the local papers and have tennis the main feature. Most of the stories revolve around the question of any male player conceivably beating Federer, and local boys Tim Henman and Andy Murray. Henman says that he’s feeling physically fit for the first time in years after struggling with back issues. He also likes how Murray is absorbing more attention than him these days.
One of the papers actually referred to Murray, as “Mr. Angry” due to his surly nature. His emotional style was initially viewed as a welcome change from Henman, who is so utterly British, but now Murray’s decision to play without a coach after his successful partnership with Mark Petchey is receiving heavy scrutiny. He also went on the record as saying the men do deserve more pay than the women because 1) their matches are more demanding (the common argument) and 2) more people come out to see the men early in the tournament because the women’s matches are so lopsided. This last theory hasn’t been terribly popular.
Where do you fall on this issue? I’m kind of torn. I can see both sides of the dispute, but in the end if the tournament is a twin-billing then all the participants should probably get equal treatment.
There are great expectations of Murray, but he’s going to have a tough 1st round match with Nicolas Massu. I saw Massu getting ready to hit the practice courts yesterday, and he’s one of those (few) players who look smaller in person than you think he will be. But he didn’t disappoint in another regard – he still wore that trademark Massu scowl. If looks could really kill, that guy’s profession would be staring.
The rain has caused the pressroom to be a surprisingly quiet place. You could even hear the familiar raspy voice of Nick Bollettieri regaling the American journalists here with old Andre Agassi stories. I overheard Nick say that he will be here for the opening week (his first time in five years), and my guess is he will be spending much of that time as an Agassi historian. Until his run here ends, Agassi’s last Wimbledon stand is going to be front and center. One of the funnier tributes I read this morning had a picture of Agassi with the caption, “Goodbye to those eyebrows.”
In light of Agassi’s impending retirement, at her press conference yesterday, Venus Williams was asked how she felt about the dreaded “R” word. She had a clever response:
“For the record, the “R” word for me means “relationship.” I’ve never, ever mentioned retirement. There’s nothing wrong with that “R” word, but there’s something wrong with the other “R” word for me at the moment.” No truth to the rumors that you can find her on match.com.
Another story around here that seems to have a lot of “legs” is something about a free kick by somebody named Beckham that won England a game in a sport called soccer. Not sure why, but it’s a pretty big deal to a few million people around here. As our friend Cliff Drysdale, who is back announcing for ESPN, is prone to say – “Whatever, baby.” It’s much more amusing coming from him.
That’s all for now. I’ll catch up with you later, hopefully with some discussion of actual tennis.
JL
Steve,
Greetings from across the pond. How is everything back west? Being an east coast guy, it’s odd to think of NYC being west, but that’s where you Yanks are. Anyway, I arrived in London this morning without too much angst, even though I did read your last email before I departed. Still, I know where you’re coming from. After all, the plane is called an Airbus which I find a little disturbing. It’s essentially a bus that flies. How does that make any sense?
On my way over I flew Virgin Atlantic for the first time in my life and came away with mixed feelings. Without question, they had the best options in terms of movies, music, and games I have experienced on a plane. And owner Richard Branson must scour London night clubs to find his flight attendants as they’re all attractive and well put together. But they were too impressed with themselves. They were stunned that I didn’t want their mystery meat dinner at 12:30 am, or I’d rather try to sleep than have their complementary glass of red paint thinner. At one point, an attendant woke me and asked, “Your seatbelt fastened, yeah?” Yeah it is, and a lot of good it’s doing me. The reason I took an overnight flight is try to get some shut eye before arriving, but these gals didn’t get the memo. After all the attention I think I prefer the half-ass approach favored by the American carriers. By the way, instead of first class, Virgin calls the best seats on their planes “Upper Class” – how cheeky.
But enough airline chatter. What’s of significantly more importance is that at the moment I’m writing you from the grounds of the All England Club. Being a first-timer, this is like a lifelong baseball fan making his first trip to Fenway or a football junkie stepping foot into Lambeau. Once I arrived here I quickly got my bearings in the media room and took a walk around. I went inside Centre Court and Court 1, both cathedrals in Grand Slam history. They’re currently tented in the calm before the storm.
On my walk up to the park I could hear the pros cranking away on the practice courts. The balls coming off their racquets sound like they’ve been shot out of a canon. So I spent a little time watching them operate in a non-match setting.
The first player I saw was Rafael Nadal, who was working out with Feliciano Lopez. Nadal’s intensity is just amazing. Even in practice points he pumps his fist, and gives his customary shouts of “vamos!” Anytime Lopez won a point, Nadal shot him a menacing glare that said, “No way you’re going to do that again.” I ran into Tracy Austin at Nadal’s court, and she, too, commented on how passionate Nadal is even when the score doesn’t matter. Do you remember the article Tracy wrote for us about practicing with a purpose? I doubt Nadal read it, but he certainly shares the same philosophy. Now I really want to see him play Agassi in the third round. Nadal will not let the moment get in the way of his performance.
As you might expect, there’s a lot of Agassi talk around the media room. I was a little surprised to hear about your unwavering loyalty to him. I can understand the early infatuation, but I would’ve guessed that he lost you when he went through his pirate look-a-like phase. You had me pegged with Safin – for some reason I always pull for him even though he so often lets me down. I was the same way with Sabatini. Guess I’m just drawn to the type of player that has all the tools, but no toolbox.
I’ve been trying to come up with the other three players you always root for and it’s not easy. I feel pretty confident about one of them – Mr. Borg. You’ve always admired his unbelievable Grand Slam accomplishments. After that, I’m kind of taking shots in the dark. I’m going to say Chris Evert (everybody’s sweetheart), Ilie Nastase (in the Safin family of nut jobs), and perhaps Lisa Raymond (a fellow Philly product).
Great Carl Chang anecdote by the way. I heard when John Roddick wanted to get into his opponents’ heads he was more partial to the Allman Brothers or Lynyrd Skynyrd. I wonder if Michael had his own method of trash talk. Maybe during changeovers the devout Chang would quote angry, vengeful psalms like Jules from Pulp Fiction.
And I saw Baghdatis walking around today, not looking any the worse for wear from his soccer goodwill trip to Cyprus. Plus, he’s lost the corn rows. Looks like we’re making a difference already.
Federer and Gasquet are first up on Centre Court at 1 p.m. I say Federer makes a lesson of him. Who you got?
That’s all for now. Got to retreat to the hotel and try to get on this time zone. I’ll be in touch.
JL