Rajat Subhra Chatterjee
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Notwithstanding stupendous tennis dished out by Nadal and Djokovic in the ongoing Wimbledon, 2022, somehow, it is also felt that suddenly there could be dearth of talent, class and glamour in International Tennis very soon with the retirement of these greats of the game.
Federer is already gone in the oblivion. So are Williams sisters and our very own Leander Paes who had been a huge draw in International Tennis for his exploits in doubles. Every game played internationally, has survived with the presence of real characters. Tennis had never been short of these characters. Readers of my age would surely remember the names of Pancho Segura, Pancho Ganzalves, Ashley Cooper, Alex Olmedo, Neil Fraser, Ken Rosewall, Roy Emerson, Nicola Pietrangeli, Rod Lever, John Newcombe, Bob Hewitt, Tony Roche, Stan Smith, Chuck McKinley, Fred Stolle, Manuel Santana, Guillermo Vilas, Ilie Năstase, Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, in the 50s and 60s down to modern era of Arther Ashe, Connors, Borg, McEnroe, Sampras, Agassi, Bekar, Edberg, Henri Leconte, Ivan Lendl, Chris Evert, Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Sabatini, Monika Seles, Arantxa Sánchez, Conchita Martínez, Devenport, Mary Pierce and of course the Williams sisters with some others.
As we have so far indulged in discussing only on the singles players, we must not forget the huge impression that some superbly fit Doubles combinations that the game has ever witnessed. Well, Newcombe and Tony Roche were a deadly partnership in 60s, in modern era, The Bryan Brothers – Bob and Mike have been wonderful in setting a pattern. At one time they were almost invincible for years and ruled the Grand Slams arena. Paes and Bhupati and Paes and Stepanek teamed up so well and became champions in many GS with sheer tenacity and masterclass net play. The Woodies -Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde were another pair who had been held in awe by their opponents for aggressive stroke play. In mixed doubles, Leander’s several partners like Navratilova, Hingis, Clara Black teamed up very well and dominated the GS for several years.
They all had been characters that could not be ignored easily. Their very presence on court was a treat for spectators. Grace and glamour apart, the supreme skill of the game was over flowing. Winning from impossible corners had been their forte. And most importantly, all these greats had been immaculate in their attires and body language. That exemplified their greatness to an unaltered height. Grace in win and defeat were equal to these greats. Arguments on court was vary rare and few and far between except may be for couple of players. Yet, those were hilarious.
While writing this on the Ladies Finals day of 2022 Wimbledon, it is observed sadly, that the game is threatened with the possible absence of such characters sooner than later. The class is definitely absent and no sign of any forthcoming star with same caliber and class of the greats we have discussed. This writer would be happy to see the emergence of class of the caliber of the above players. Here, we also should not forget to remember how the organizers are getting in to the hands of the media and compromising on quality of the game. Lets discuss that.
Although Roland Garros is famous for its ‘red clay’ courts, the surface is actually white limestone covered with red brick dust. There are five layers which make the surface where the red brick dust is of 2” thickness now over the limestone bed. This was 1-1/2” thick previously when the court surface was still a bit faster. Now with the higher thickness of red brick dust, the court has become even slower. Clay is essentially famous for base line play with long rallies. No harm. But to make the game lengthy with longer rallies for the benefit sadly for the electronic media with much more income through more endorsements, the quality of the game is sacrificed.
Look at Wimbledon.
The Singles Court is 78′ x 27′ while the Doubles Court is 78′ x 36’. Keeping with Wimbledon’s guidelines, tennis court grass should be cut to 15mm and maintained throughout the winter. When the tennis season begins, the ideal playing height of grass was fixed to be kept at 8mm in August, 2015. However, as of now, the grass height has been kept at 10 mm. The excess 2 mm longer grass has resulted in the court becoming slower and now even at Wimbledon, the game is played with long rallies and from base line. Moreover the ball has been made softer with less pressure thereby forcing the players indulging in longer rally based game rather than fierce serve and volley game. How sad this has become as the connoisseurs of the game used to enjoy Serve & Volley on the grass at Big W. All these have been made for the real benefits of electronic media with an eye to more income. Sadly, even players like Nadal, Djokovic, Norrie have relied on base line play and hardly have moved to the net. It has effected players physically too. But who cares !
The question therefore stands – is Tennis first or Money first ?
