Wimbledon 2021 Finals (Ladies & Gentlemen) – thoughts and musings.

There was a period when Australians dominated the Wimbledon Championships. Between 1960 and 1970, Rod Laver, Margaret Court, John Newcombe, Roy Emerson, and Ashley Cooper brought the spirited Aussie touch to the Wimbledon greens. In 1971, Evonne Goolagong, the first mother and an Australian of indigenous descent rose to fame by winning the French and Wimbledon in the same year, and then again in 1980. After that, the reign of Aussies abruptly stopped, and the mantle of champions moved to the Americans and others for many years, before the mercurial and flamboyant Pat Cash once again revived the wonderful Aussie tradition in the mid-eighties. Pat Cash was a gifted tennis player born to play on grass. He looked much like Andre Agassi in his younger days: short, debonair, nimble, and with a trade headband holding his flowing hair in place. His mesmerizing grass-court game punctuated with deft serves, incredible agility and impossible volleys held the crowds enthralled. His game and on-court persona resembled John McEnroe’s-the same temper and genius at play. In 1987, Pat Cash’s final against Ivan Lendl still remains a classic study on how to play on grass. He is even better remembered for what he did after winning that match. He broke the subdued traditions at Wimbledon by climbing the railings and scrambling across to his family in the stands to give them a hug. The Royal box could only look at the spectacle with motherly amusement and bless it. It became a new tradition in Wimbledon from that year on.

Ashleigh Barty, winner of the 2021 championships is a true blood Aussie and a quintessential athlete. A girl who held the tennis racket for the first time in her hands at four, rose to master it by 12, entered the professional league by sixteen, and abruptly lost interest in the game because of the stress, loneliness, and longevity of the professional tour, switched to professional cricket for a year, and then returned to tennis rejuvenated and focussed, to break into the top ten seedings again. Barty’s 2019 French open win signaled her arrival at the highest levels. She has all-around tennis skills, and it was only a matter of time before she asserted her play on the grass courts at Wimbledon, a tournament every talented Aussie aspires to conquer. At 5’5, Barty is conventionally considered short, and not ideally suited for those powerful serves and high-reach volleys required on grass. But like a true Aussie, Barty has converted her shortcomings to her advantage. Her serves win by their accuracy and placement than speed, her volleys are firm and she comes to the net with a decisive plan. Her groundstrokes are clean and varied, and the shots more often than not seem to come from the sweet spots of her racket. There is a good twanging sound from those strings that testifies to the crispness of the hitting. In the final yesterday, the full range of her game was on display, including the nervousness and jitters during tense points. At twenty-five years of age, she is still getting used to the feel of playing at the highest level. Pliskova, the valiant Czech, pushed Barty in the second set, but somehow, from the word go, it never looked like Pliskova was mentally ready to win a Grand slam. Except for few stunning exchanges, the match was always in Barty’s favor. The score lines may suggest a close game, but the reality was different. Along with Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka, Ash Barty looks to be the future of Women’s tennis.

The young and handsome Matteo Berrettini played well in his first grand slam final against the seasoned champion Novak Djokovic, but Novak’s game, temperament, and ability to stay focused point on point proved too much for the Roman. No shame at all for Berrettini, he just lost to a man who is currently at the peak of his career. Djokovic this year, is so mentally and physically fit, with no chinks in his tennis armory, at least none that is glaringly visible. The Scoreline 7-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, reflects a fairly easy match, but it was not so. It just shows the sheer class of Novak and his current dominance of Men’s tennis. After that epic match in Paris where he broke through the tactics of Rafa, one of the greatest clay-court players ever, Djokovic looks a complete player in all respects and overflowing with well-deserved confidence. In his post-match interview, he made an important observation on the necessity for mental preparation apart from physical readiness. The ability to stay focussed in the present, he said, is the most important thing. Athletes usually reach such a realization only when their skills are refined to such an extent, that nothing more can be done in that area, and all that remains is to let those skills flow through unhampered, undistracted by happenings of the past, or the anxiety over the future. It is a state in which athleticism meets mysticism, and there is a seamless integration of the body and mind. Djokovic is in that zone, as Federer and Rafa were during their primes. It also looks to me that Djokovic has come to grips with his inner demons now, and learned how to harness his energies to a greater purpose. No amount of coaching can teach you that. It flowers naturally, when hard work, talent, learning, and discipline come together. With his Wimbledon win, Novak equals Federer and Rafa in their tally of twenty Grand slams, and if this match is an indication of anything, then Novak is all set to forge ahead for few more years before his body begins to slow down. And by the time, he is done, the record books will be virtually unassailable. John McEnroe, commenting after the match said: “We are fortunate to be living in an era where three champions with 20 titles each under their belt are still playing. It won’t happen often”.

What we love about Wimbledon is the scrupulous adherence to tradition. For decades, as heads of the Tennis club, Katherine, the former Duchess of Kent along with her husband Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, have graced the Royal box and the prize-giving ceremonies with their customary grace and style. They made a wonderful couple. They personified all that is sacred and best in the English tradition. For the last few years, however, the role of royalty has now fallen upon Kate Middleton, the young Duchess of Cambridge, and she is doing an equally splendid job of it. One wonders how most members of the Royal Family manage to acquire such grace and dignity. It cannot come from nurture alone. There are, of course, few exceptions who chose to settle down in other countries and criticize the very institution that gave them their place of honor in the first place. But, thankfully, they are a minority. This will be the last year prince Edward, the Duke of Kent will preside over the All England tennis club, and in a wonderful gesture during the Men’s prize distribution ceremony, the Duke was presented with a miniature copy of the Men’s trophy as a token of recognition of his tenure as the head of the All England tennis club. He is now eighty-eight years old, and for nearly fifty years, has done wonderful service to English tennis, especially Wimbledon, by uploading its traditions and customs, and at the same ushering in the necessary changes in the game and the tournament rules without letting it affect the unbroken continuity of the hallowed institution and its values. Royalty in modern times is a difficult crown to wear, but if at all there is any nation best suited to wear it, it is the English, and they have held onto them with great reverence and pride. We are thankful for that.

From July 23rd onward, the eyes of the world will be on the Olympics in Tokyo. And as I write this piece, England and Italy are tied at one goal each in the Euro cup final happening at the Wembley stadium fifteen miles from the Wimbledon courts, and more than 70,000 people are hoping for what could be a historic win for England if they manage it. Italy will look to redeem the loss of Berrettini in the afternoon. Both are great teams, and at this point, it is anyone’s game.

God bless…

yours in mortality,

Bala