Wimbledon: flex it a bit

Wimbledon- undoubtedly the dream championship of every tennis player. And for that matter, dream championship of non-tennis players[read: tennis enthusiasts] too! And is also known as the Mecca of Lawn tennis.

The white dresses, the green grass, the colorful hats, the designer goggles, the Rolex scoreboard, the rain disrupted matches, the rain hit covered courts, the sprinting ball girls and boys, the closing ceremony by your highness Queen and Prince of Wales- pick any of the above separately and it'll remind you only of Wimbledon.

Personally, I remember watching Wimbledon all evening and slightly late nightish ever since I can remember. Agassi and Steffi inspired me to take up tennis and the day I won the district championship, I realized what 'being inspired' really meant.

But Wimbledon 2007, at least for me, has raised two serious concerns. Let's talk about them one-by-one.

2007 has been one of the most rain-hit year for the Wimbledon. That brings me to my first concern. The rains this year forced some matches to be stretched over two days! That reminds me- Andre Sa and Marcelo Melo of Brazil set a record for the most games played in a men's doubles match at Wimbledon when they beat Kevin Ullyett and Paul Hanley, the sixth seeds, 5-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 28-26. This second-round match, played over two days, lasted five hours and 58 minutes, the second longest in Wimbledon history, 11 minutes shorter than the longest.

Coming back to the concern, the rainy blues not only left the players and the spectators frustrated, it also left the rest of the schedule in a state of chaos. Last night I witnessed a truly professional, a match with pure class written all over it- Andy Roddick VS Gasquet. After about 3hrs and 34mins, Gasquet rocked on 4-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 8-6. Roddick's and Gasquet's tie was a quarter final's match. After playing an epic match, in less than 16 hours, Gasquet was asked to face the master Roger Federer in the semis. While Roger got two days of rest, his opponent barely recovered from the marathon quarters.

So is this fair? Talk about equal opportunity! If rain plays havoc, why do players pay for that? Why can't Wimbledon be a little more flexible? Take for instance- the last sunday of the championship is always, as a part of the tradition, kept a reserved day. Knowing that the schedule was running late, why couldn't the organizers think of a way out? Gasquet lost to Federer in straight sets, and it showed why. I wouldn't blame Gasquet for the poor defeat; the organizers are at fault.

Moving on to my second concern- flexibility. Not lack of it, but plenty of it. Yes, the first concern was about the lack of flexibility, but the second one is just the reverse. It's about the flexibility Wimbledon has shown in recent times to the Dress Code the players follow. There was a time when Andre Agassi refused to play at Wimbledon not only because the grass surface did not suit his baseline tennis but because he did not approve of the all-white dress code! :)

By far Wimbledon is one of the few championships left that actually make the players follow a dress code, but it has definitely eased over the years. And my particular concern comes over what Venus Williams wore this season. I saw her late in the tournament, and thought she had actually forgotten to wear something on the top of the shot pants. I was actually right! On the right is what she wore in the first round, a skirt on top of the shots. On the left side of the photograph is what I saw, late in the tournament. Horrendous.

Another instance this season at Wimbledon was some-what reddish in nature. Read about it here. An interesting read by BBC about what to wear at Wimbledon can be read here.

I hope as the time progresses, Wimbledon becomes flexible for the right kind of issues.

God bless,
G