Wimbledon-Gentlemen's Singles

June ponal, July kaatre !

The month of July is generally associated with the highest number of inbound tourism to the city that stands on the Thames River. One gets to enjoy a couple of offerings in this City of Royals - London during this period :

1. English summer which typically has long sunny days and ocassional thunderstorms

2. The Wimbledon

Sports enthusiasts across the globe keenly follow this elite tournament which has risen from a garden party sport to a Grand Slam - 'grand' in the truest sense !

This Slam is probably one & only one to retain the sport's legacy & sanctity. Some aspects which are retained from the traditional tennis involves :

(a) playing on outdoor grass court

(b) only Slam wherein night matches aren't held

(c) dress colour code - competitors abide by the 'strict all whites'

The matches are decided by best of 5 sets & are single elimination encounters. Fixtures involve 128 competitors on grass to lay hand on the coveted trophy. Typically, the courts are sown with 100% lolium (or) ryegrass to remain durable without significant wear. The grasses are cut to an exact height of 8 mm uniformly. About two dozen workers are employed to tend to the maintenance of this grass turf.

Ball boys/girls aged between 14-18 play a crucial role in the smooth running of the tournament. About ~250 of them are hired & intensively trained to keep track of the fast moving tennis balls on court. They blend into the background and get on with their jobs without much noise or interference to the players.

After every 7-9 games, the tennis balls are replaced to make sure that they're on perfect shape through the course of the match (tournament). These balls are stored in refrigerated condition at 68°F to maintain the shape - I bet that physics enthusiasts wouldn't scroll further without reasoning this ! ~54,250 tennis balls are used in the Tournament.

Also, an interesting fact to note that the tennis balls which were originally used in the game weren't yellow. Guess what - They were 'white' ! With the emegence of coloured television boxes in the mid 1980s, these tennis balls were coloured yellow to enhance picturization. These balls are also designed to repel ~70% more water than ordinary balls. The principle of "Magnus Effect" helps the players to effectively send down top spin in their return while rallying for a point.

Considering the loss of play time due to the unpredictable English weather in this time of the year, a retractable roof has been installed to keep the play going. Remember the classic between John Isner and Nicholas Mahut in the year 2010 which lasted for about 665 minutes - the match commenced on just after the stroke of 6 in the evening on 22nd Jun'22. The two competitors decided to put on a timeless classic (using 123 tennis balls !) which would go on to end 13 minutes short of 5 pm UTC on 24th Jun'22.

The outbreak of the global pandemic in the year 2020 marked the first cancellation of the full event since World War II. Owing to this the architects of the marathon match couldn't be honoured on the decade anniversary ! Further, with an increase in precautionary measures and a mitigation plan for all risks in place, the premium event was back on track in the year 2021.

In consequence to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the players representing Russia were banned from the imminent edition onward. Notable absentees include reigning US Open Champion-Dani Medvedev & the young gun Andrey Rublev (who's also in the current Top 10)

The last decade was completely dominated by the 'Big 3' - Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic accounting for 7 out of the 9 titles (2020 edition was called off) amongst them. The current decade has just one winner from the couple of completed editions - again one from the Big 3 - Novak Djokovic. In the wake of his recent triumph against Nick Kyrgios last Sunday (10th Jul'22), he's just one short of equalizing Roger Federer's 8 crowns 👑 here. What was anticipated to be a mouth watering final between Nadal & Novak this edition was all put to rest with the former pulling out of the semi-final clash due to an abdominal injury (quantified as a 7 mm tear). With this victory, Djokovic became the fifth man in the Open Era to record a title winning streak of at least four times at one major Grand Slam.

Wimbledon is more synonymous with 'Roger Federer' who's also fondly referred to "The King" here. He holds the record for most Grand Slam titles on this turf - Roger Federer (8) and the recent winner (Novak Djokovic) is one short (7)

The very first edition of Wimbledon was during the widespread colonial rule of the British (in the year 1877 where 22 competitors clashed against each other for the title). Englishman Spencer Gore was crowned the inaugural champion 🏆 After a three year stint with the Surrey Cricket Club where he faced the leather cherry on grass with an English wilow, he chose to rally on with the bounce of the yellow sphere. The winners purse has grown exponentially from £12 to £2 mn. akin to the calculations done by young investors using the power of the compounding. The first qualifier gets to earn £11,000 when he exits and the runner up receives an inscribed silver plate along with a cheque amounting to €1.05 mn.

Until 1922, the title defenders only had to play the final instead of starting their campaign afresh. The winners of the Wimbledon do not get the chance to keep the trophy with themselves & the cup remains on display at the All England Club’s museum. The champion goes home with a small replica of the trophy. This classically designed silver-glit cup has a lid bearing a pineapple on the top. The fruit symbolizes prosperity and hospitality which sounds synonymous to the tournament as such. Apart from being labelled as the most prestigious and anticipated event in tennis, the Wimbledon is full of tradition & timeless classic experiences.