LONDON: If you were to ask the majority of professional tennis players which, if they were only allowed to win one tournament during the year, they would choose, you can rest assured it would be Wimbledon. ‘Martina Navratilova, in particular, makes no bones about that, even though she that has already won the women’s singles title eight times. “There’s nowhere with quite the same magic,” she says. And when the reigning men’s singles champion, Stefan Edberg had to withdraw from the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January with a serious back injury, the one thought which kept running through his mind was getting fit again in time for Wimbledon. What makes Wimbledon so special? It is not only the prize money, substantial though it is, for there are other events where the rewards are greater. There is no ‘one quality or feature which makes Wimbledon so much more special than all the others but a whole combination, which can ‘best be described as tradition, charm, elegance and immense attention to detail, Game! with genuine but simple style.
As tennis has grown and changed in ‘character over the years, so too has Wimbledon. In fact it was The All England Club which together with The Lawn Tennis ‘Association in Britain, which stages The Championships, that finally took the innovative in 1967, some 34 years after It had first suggested such a step, 10 end the growing hypocrisy which denied professionals the right 10 compete but which turned. blind eye to “amateurs” being paid under the counter. Open tennis finally arrived a year later in 1968,
Nowadays when some 400,000 spectators pour through the gates at Wimbledon to watch the finest players in the world ‘chase the most important tennis tiles in the world on the 18 perfectly manicured grass courts, is hard to imagine that it has all happened because way back in 1877, what was then The All England Croquet Club could not afford to purchase a new pony led heavy roller for the croquet lawns.
The game of lawn tennis was just starting to become popular throughout the Shires in England and Wales in those days especially at garden parties in the summer and it was ‘felt that by running a tournament for which they charged competitors one guinea (about 51,60 in today’s money) and the equivalent of 10 cents for spectators they could raise the necessary funding.
One essential and most respected feature of Wimbledon is that, while living very much in today’s world and constantly planning for the future it proudly protects and honors its past. That pony roller for instance was not only retained when the Club ‘moved from its original home a mile or so ‘away from the present site at Church Road but occupies a prominent place at the entrance to the Wimbledon Museum which houses probably the finest collection of tennis memorabilia, which successive generations can now appreciate.
Even today’s sophisticated, multimillionaire stars find their emotions consumed by the knowledge that they are playing on the same courts, trying to win the same trophies ‘and join the same Club as the most legendary figures in the sport: Suzanne Lenglen, Bill Tilden, Don Budge and Fred Perry, etc.
The All England Club itself, formed in 1868 has 375 full members plus a number of honary members from different countries who have rendered distinguished service to the game, not just as players. There is a lengthy waiting list but there is also one way 10 jump the queue by winning the men’s or women’s single titles.
Here again is another way in which Wimbledon honors and remembers its most eminent players in a tangible fashion and not just by engraving their names on the trophies and the honors boards.
- “Buzzer” Hadingham chairman of The All England Club, loves to relate the story of how, on one visit abroad his host clearly astonished to learn that Wimbledon only had 375 full members asked “Have ‘you tried advertising?” The reason why ‘membership is so restricted and so keenly sought is because it carries with it the right 10 buy two Centre Court tickets for each day of The Championships. And Wimbledon eke, in case you did not know, are harder to come by than those for the opening weeks of any Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.
The Centre Court which like so many other famous landmarks in Britain including Buckingham Palace, was bombed during the 193945 war, holds just under 15,000 including the standing area and although it would be easy to fill every space every day with double that capacity many feel that its dimensions are just about perfect for tennis.
At the same time that does make the ticket problem one of the most difficult 10 resolve, with Wimbledon having to try and honorably balance the growing demands from commercial supporters even though.
The Championships have no named sponsor and the equally important needs of the ‘general public. No less than 52 percent of Wimbledon’s overall capacity is available to the public which is one reason why at least on the vast majority of days, all those you ‘may have seen on television as part of those immense lines snaking their way up and down and around neighboring streets before reaching the gates, do gain admittance.
Television of course, has played a prominent part in making Wimbledon a reality around the world for millions who otherwise would never be able to savour even a hint of the special atmosphere there. From those hazy pictures which flickered to a few thousand homes in the London area when television was very much in its infancy in the late 1930’s there is now a huge sophisticated television network which carries the tournament to some 76 countries around the world.
“Breakfast at Wimbledon”, now such an established NBC feature for so many viewers including those California enthusiasts who rise by 6 a.m. or simply lay there in bed watching the first balls being hit in the finals dare matched by all night vigils in Australia. In Briain itself, newspapers, television and radio show a consuming interest in Wimbledon.
The BBC shows up to seven hours of uninterrupted play sometimes longer, on all 13 days of The Championships. Sometimes there are transmissions from different matches at the same time on different BBC channels, while BBC Radio provides an unbroken daily service of five hours for domestic services alone.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 7, 1989
