Aristocratic, stately elegance, sophistication, disciplined and gentlemanly, all these epithets can easily be ascribed to the Game of Tennis and so as to the Wimbledon, a Tennis' Holy Grail. This was also the imprint the game left in my mind at a very impressionable age, when I was exposed to it during the mid-seventies at a place where many ‘Old Mysorian’ Public Works Department (PWD) engineers use to play the game which they cherished to celebrate their holidays. I used to be around the tennis court as a ball boy during practice sessions and learnt quickly the nuances of the game. After that life happened and I moved out of that environment and lost touch with the game.
While in Dharwad for my intermediate studies in the year 1985, one July morning, I suddenly noticed a newspaper story that carried a prominent heading “Boom, Boom, Boris Becker” and it was the story of teen aged, journeyman unseeded, tennis player announced his arrival to the tennis world with his booming serves at the Wimbledon Championship. The story caught my attention and reconnected to the game again and unknowingly I became a fan of Boris Becker and followed the whole tournament on television live and Becker, a West German, an unseeded rank outsider won the championship by beating eighth seeded Africa born American tennis player Kevin Curren. And Becker was the youngest ever player and first unseeded player to win the Wimbledon tennis tournament. And this set the tone for a decade long of intense rivalry between two supremely talented and exciting tennis players i.e. Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg. Before that I had heard the story of arch-rivals Swedish player Bjron Borg and American Jimmy Connors and these two players met twenty three times during their professional career in ATP tours and Borg always had edge over Connors in Grand Slam finals.
And it was Borg and McEnroe rivalry that took the tennis world by storm and these two players on-court rivalry highlighted by their contrasting temperaments and styles. Borg was known for his calm and sedate demeanor on court, while McEnroe was all fire and was known for his court-side tantrums. Their rivalry extended between 1978 and 1981, with each player winning seven times against the other. Because of their contrasting personalities, their rivalry was termed as "Fire and Ice".
Becker- Edberg rivalry was another much talked about in the mid- eighties and early nineties and during this period they met 35 times. Although, Becker led their overall head-to-head tally, Edberg won three of their four meetings in Grand Slams. The exciting aspect of their rivalry was that they met each other in three consecutive Wimbledon finals. But the most famous of them was the finals of the year 1988 and in that match in a hard fought five sets Edberg emerged victorious denying Becker his third successive title in four years. And again they met in the year 1990 and this time match was witnessed many twists and turns that till the final ball was hit it had become difficult to predict who was going to be the winner and since the two player had won 2 sets apiece and in the final both broke their serves each other but this time luck was on the side of Edberg and he finally emerged victorious and this contest with Becker created a history in the tennis world so much so that in the year 2009 after winning his Wimbledon title, Federer in his post- match press briefing told Becker–Edberg rivalry in Wimbledon finals as his inspiration for choosing to play tennis over soccer. And such was the impact Becker–Edberg rivalry created in the young and aspiring tennis players of their times.
Another greatest player who strode the tennis world is Ivan Lendl and his heroics I used to read in newspaper in the early decades of eighties but did not have opportunity see him playing on television since those were the early days of television penetration in India and live coverage was not prevalent as is today but when I could see him play in the nineties by then he was subdued and was not at his best. He is considered as one of the greatest tennis players of his time who never won the Wimbledon title and it was the only blemish in an otherwise illustrious tennis career of Ivan Lendl. But to some extent we can say that he has erased that blemish when his ward Andy Murray won the Wimbledon title in the year 2013.
Who does not know about Pete Sampras!! He dominated the Wimbledon arena like no other player in its history before Federer could become legitimate successor to his Wimbledon legacy. Known for his calm and composed demeanor, he was one of the finest servers of the tennis ball of his time and he decimated many stalwarts on his way to lifting record seven Wimbledon titles which is only equaled by Roger Federer. Wimbledon and Sampras had become synonymous in the tennis loving world and his victory in the competition was to be a forgone conclusion since he was so clinical in his performances with his powerful and precision services.
Another colorful and flamboyant tennis personality to walk on the Wimbledon hall of fame is none other than Andre Agassi. In his early days, he was considered the future of American tennis after his illustrious predecessors, Connors and McEnroe, walked into twilight zone and he had this heavy burden to carry on but he did it with grace and charm. Despite his enormous talent, he was not known for his consistency on the tennis field as his compatriot Pete Sampras was but whatever time he played, he simply stole the heart of tennis fan with his effortless and elegant shot making ability. In way, with his flowing mane, he was tennis world’s greatest showman who attracted wide fan following more than any other player of his time.
In the middle eighties other stars also emerged on Wimbledon firmament and one of them was Pat Cash of Australia. After his famous Wimbledon victory in 1987 over Ivan Lendl, Cash celebrated his victory in a manner it was an unprecedented in Wimbledon history and in a fit of celebration he ran towards the stands and clambered through the applauding crowd and went onto the roof of the commentators box to hug his coach, parents and other near and dear ones. Indeed it was life time achievement for him and after that one victory he could not be on the Wimbledon radar again but for his Wimbledon heroics he could not have been remembered even to this day in the world of tennis.
Another German player, Michael Stich came to be known in the tennis world with his Wimbledon victory over his famous compatriot known for his Wimbledon fete, Boris Becker and with this victory Stich rose to prominence and was a crowds favorite for a couple of years.
In the mid-nineties another tall and lanky Croatian tennis star who was constant on the Wimbledon finals for consecutive three years was Goran Ivansevic. A fierce competitor he was on the tennis field, despite his best efforts of making it to the top echelons, he could not lay hand on the Wimbledon trophy until 2001 and his dream of Wimbledon came true when he defeated Pat Rafter of Australia. Goran was known for his supersonic serves and deft volleying.
Australia’s Leyton Hewit, the other top seed who won the Wimbledon title in 2002 against not much fancied opponent David Nalabandian of Argentina and joined that select band of Australians who registered their name in the list of all time Wimbledon winners.
Martina- Chris Evert Lloyd was the famous women’s’ rivalry in tennis in general and Wimbledon in particular. Martina was all muscular and power and on the other hand Chris Evert was picture of elegance and genius on the tennis court. Their iconic rivalry for dominance in Women's tennis in the 1970s and 1980s is considered to be one of the greatest in Women's tennis history and in sports in general. Martina held slender margin over his arch-rival Chris Evert in their head to head Grand Slam appearances.
In recent memory, Graf against Martina was the famous of tennis rivalry in the women’s circuit. They met 18 times during their careers. Graf has had better record over Martina in Grand Slams. Both appeared in 3 consecutive Wimbledon Singles finals from 1987 to 89 and thrilled the fans with their enthralling tennis. Graf holds all time highest Grand Slam titles that of 23 single slams. Venus Williams is just behind two slams to overhaul Graff’s record. Another finest player in women’s circuit whom we cannot forget was Monica Seles and she was the one who seriously challenged Steffi Graf’s supremacy before she was stabbed on her back while playing a tennis match in Hamburg, Germany, from then on,she could not regain her old touch and finally retired from the tennis circuit in 2003.
In the early decade of this millennium, I got busy in daily mundane of my professional commitments and could not be regular in following the game until Nadal-Federer rivalry announced a new era on the tennis circuit. Federer, a slim and lanky against macho and muscular Nadal and rivalry of these two on the tennis field has had set the tone for a debate as to who is the greatest tennis player of all time and opinions are not unanimous and much to be a matter of debate even today.
I am always intrigued by the fact that India can produce geniuses in the field of cricket one after the other from Sunil Gavaskar to Virant Kohili and including Sachin and Dravid but could not produce players of their stature in the tennis field who can show their prowess on men’s singles events in Grand Slams. Of course, we have had players of caliber of Vijay Amritraj and Leander Paes but in general the talent pool in the field is in short supply.
While concluding this article the news trickled in that Sania Mirza- Martina Hingis pair has won the Wimbledon Women’s doubles championship and it is certainly a proud moment for India. And also men’s 2015 singles final yet to be starting in a few minutes time from now and this year the clash is between titans of modern era of tennis between Federer and Djokovic and the contest is expected to be mouth-watering as these two are finalist in the last year as well. It is told in this year’s Wimbledon, Federer is said to be in the best of form of his life and expected to add another Wimbledon title into his kitty which has already seven in it.
While in Dharwad for my intermediate studies in the year 1985, one July morning, I suddenly noticed a newspaper story that carried a prominent heading “Boom, Boom, Boris Becker” and it was the story of teen aged, journeyman unseeded, tennis player announced his arrival to the tennis world with his booming serves at the Wimbledon Championship. The story caught my attention and reconnected to the game again and unknowingly I became a fan of Boris Becker and followed the whole tournament on television live and Becker, a West German, an unseeded rank outsider won the championship by beating eighth seeded Africa born American tennis player Kevin Curren. And Becker was the youngest ever player and first unseeded player to win the Wimbledon tennis tournament. And this set the tone for a decade long of intense rivalry between two supremely talented and exciting tennis players i.e. Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg. Before that I had heard the story of arch-rivals Swedish player Bjron Borg and American Jimmy Connors and these two players met twenty three times during their professional career in ATP tours and Borg always had edge over Connors in Grand Slam finals.
And it was Borg and McEnroe rivalry that took the tennis world by storm and these two players on-court rivalry highlighted by their contrasting temperaments and styles. Borg was known for his calm and sedate demeanor on court, while McEnroe was all fire and was known for his court-side tantrums. Their rivalry extended between 1978 and 1981, with each player winning seven times against the other. Because of their contrasting personalities, their rivalry was termed as "Fire and Ice".
Becker- Edberg rivalry was another much talked about in the mid- eighties and early nineties and during this period they met 35 times. Although, Becker led their overall head-to-head tally, Edberg won three of their four meetings in Grand Slams. The exciting aspect of their rivalry was that they met each other in three consecutive Wimbledon finals. But the most famous of them was the finals of the year 1988 and in that match in a hard fought five sets Edberg emerged victorious denying Becker his third successive title in four years. And again they met in the year 1990 and this time match was witnessed many twists and turns that till the final ball was hit it had become difficult to predict who was going to be the winner and since the two player had won 2 sets apiece and in the final both broke their serves each other but this time luck was on the side of Edberg and he finally emerged victorious and this contest with Becker created a history in the tennis world so much so that in the year 2009 after winning his Wimbledon title, Federer in his post- match press briefing told Becker–Edberg rivalry in Wimbledon finals as his inspiration for choosing to play tennis over soccer. And such was the impact Becker–Edberg rivalry created in the young and aspiring tennis players of their times.
Another greatest player who strode the tennis world is Ivan Lendl and his heroics I used to read in newspaper in the early decades of eighties but did not have opportunity see him playing on television since those were the early days of television penetration in India and live coverage was not prevalent as is today but when I could see him play in the nineties by then he was subdued and was not at his best. He is considered as one of the greatest tennis players of his time who never won the Wimbledon title and it was the only blemish in an otherwise illustrious tennis career of Ivan Lendl. But to some extent we can say that he has erased that blemish when his ward Andy Murray won the Wimbledon title in the year 2013.
Who does not know about Pete Sampras!! He dominated the Wimbledon arena like no other player in its history before Federer could become legitimate successor to his Wimbledon legacy. Known for his calm and composed demeanor, he was one of the finest servers of the tennis ball of his time and he decimated many stalwarts on his way to lifting record seven Wimbledon titles which is only equaled by Roger Federer. Wimbledon and Sampras had become synonymous in the tennis loving world and his victory in the competition was to be a forgone conclusion since he was so clinical in his performances with his powerful and precision services.
Another colorful and flamboyant tennis personality to walk on the Wimbledon hall of fame is none other than Andre Agassi. In his early days, he was considered the future of American tennis after his illustrious predecessors, Connors and McEnroe, walked into twilight zone and he had this heavy burden to carry on but he did it with grace and charm. Despite his enormous talent, he was not known for his consistency on the tennis field as his compatriot Pete Sampras was but whatever time he played, he simply stole the heart of tennis fan with his effortless and elegant shot making ability. In way, with his flowing mane, he was tennis world’s greatest showman who attracted wide fan following more than any other player of his time.
In the middle eighties other stars also emerged on Wimbledon firmament and one of them was Pat Cash of Australia. After his famous Wimbledon victory in 1987 over Ivan Lendl, Cash celebrated his victory in a manner it was an unprecedented in Wimbledon history and in a fit of celebration he ran towards the stands and clambered through the applauding crowd and went onto the roof of the commentators box to hug his coach, parents and other near and dear ones. Indeed it was life time achievement for him and after that one victory he could not be on the Wimbledon radar again but for his Wimbledon heroics he could not have been remembered even to this day in the world of tennis.
Another German player, Michael Stich came to be known in the tennis world with his Wimbledon victory over his famous compatriot known for his Wimbledon fete, Boris Becker and with this victory Stich rose to prominence and was a crowds favorite for a couple of years.
In the mid-nineties another tall and lanky Croatian tennis star who was constant on the Wimbledon finals for consecutive three years was Goran Ivansevic. A fierce competitor he was on the tennis field, despite his best efforts of making it to the top echelons, he could not lay hand on the Wimbledon trophy until 2001 and his dream of Wimbledon came true when he defeated Pat Rafter of Australia. Goran was known for his supersonic serves and deft volleying.
Australia’s Leyton Hewit, the other top seed who won the Wimbledon title in 2002 against not much fancied opponent David Nalabandian of Argentina and joined that select band of Australians who registered their name in the list of all time Wimbledon winners.
Martina- Chris Evert Lloyd was the famous women’s’ rivalry in tennis in general and Wimbledon in particular. Martina was all muscular and power and on the other hand Chris Evert was picture of elegance and genius on the tennis court. Their iconic rivalry for dominance in Women's tennis in the 1970s and 1980s is considered to be one of the greatest in Women's tennis history and in sports in general. Martina held slender margin over his arch-rival Chris Evert in their head to head Grand Slam appearances.
In recent memory, Graf against Martina was the famous of tennis rivalry in the women’s circuit. They met 18 times during their careers. Graf has had better record over Martina in Grand Slams. Both appeared in 3 consecutive Wimbledon Singles finals from 1987 to 89 and thrilled the fans with their enthralling tennis. Graf holds all time highest Grand Slam titles that of 23 single slams. Venus Williams is just behind two slams to overhaul Graff’s record. Another finest player in women’s circuit whom we cannot forget was Monica Seles and she was the one who seriously challenged Steffi Graf’s supremacy before she was stabbed on her back while playing a tennis match in Hamburg, Germany, from then on,she could not regain her old touch and finally retired from the tennis circuit in 2003.
In the early decade of this millennium, I got busy in daily mundane of my professional commitments and could not be regular in following the game until Nadal-Federer rivalry announced a new era on the tennis circuit. Federer, a slim and lanky against macho and muscular Nadal and rivalry of these two on the tennis field has had set the tone for a debate as to who is the greatest tennis player of all time and opinions are not unanimous and much to be a matter of debate even today.
I am always intrigued by the fact that India can produce geniuses in the field of cricket one after the other from Sunil Gavaskar to Virant Kohili and including Sachin and Dravid but could not produce players of their stature in the tennis field who can show their prowess on men’s singles events in Grand Slams. Of course, we have had players of caliber of Vijay Amritraj and Leander Paes but in general the talent pool in the field is in short supply.
While concluding this article the news trickled in that Sania Mirza- Martina Hingis pair has won the Wimbledon Women’s doubles championship and it is certainly a proud moment for India. And also men’s 2015 singles final yet to be starting in a few minutes time from now and this year the clash is between titans of modern era of tennis between Federer and Djokovic and the contest is expected to be mouth-watering as these two are finalist in the last year as well. It is told in this year’s Wimbledon, Federer is said to be in the best of form of his life and expected to add another Wimbledon title into his kitty which has already seven in it.
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