“Wimbledon is the Vatican of tennis”, said Gianni Clerici, who had an unrivalled knowledge of the green fields of London. More than a tournament, a religion, with a mysticism behind it. David Foster Wallace wrote instead, not by chance, that “in an age where “irreverent” is a compliment, Wimbledon is what remains of the sacred”. For this reason, one can say, without appearing snobbish, that only those who have crossed the gates of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Church Road at least once in their life can understand, in depth, the liturgy that lies behind this tournament. The 137th edition of the Championships is starting, with all its traditions (and in some cases fixations) intact. The compilation of the order of play for the first day, the Open Day of the main draw, is part of the entire sacredness of the ritual.
tribute
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The Center Court, like every year, will be inaugurated by the reigning men’s singles champion from the previous year, 2024 Carlos Alcaraz. A tradition that is handed down from year to year, immutable. If the champion is injured or withdraws, he will be replaced by the finalist. On the second day, the Center Court program will be inaugurated by last year’s women’s singles champion, in this case Marketa Vondrousova. Ranking doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if the winner of Wimbledon from the previous edition has fallen in the ranking, if he is not in the top 10 or not: he will still have the honor of inaugurating the Center Court. For this reason, on the first day, court 1 was reserved for Jannik Sinner, even as world number 1: a great name was needed to inaugurate the other important “court”, and his, Alcaraz apart from which he had to ” of force” to perform on the Centrale, was the biggest of all. The English care very much that paying spectators are satisfied. The tradition, however, which perhaps more than any other has entered the collective imagination, is the obligation for all athletes to wear a completely white uniform. So stringent that throughout history not even the greatest players have managed to scratch it. Roger Federer in 2013 had to change his shoes (they had golden soles), Navratilova had to change her skirt because it had blue strings, and last year Sinner had to ask for a special extension to show up with the Gucci bag, not total white. Inter for the grass of the fields, then. Always identical. We start as soon as the tournament ends, remove the old grass and start with the new planting, fertilizers and growth. Until the beginning of June when, then and only then, the grass is cut to exactly 8 millimeters and the lines of the playing field begin to be marked.
it closes at 11pm
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Then there is the 11pm ritual. At that time, it closes. The citizens of Wimbledon and its surroundings (the powerful citizens of Wimbledon and its surroundings, we might add) are particularly keen on this, on rest and not on the total chaos of the thousands and thousands of fans. If you are at Wimbledon, especially in the morning, perhaps while you are busy sipping a Pimm’s and or eating the legendary strawberries and cream, you might even see a hawk flying around the courts. His job is to keep the pigeons away, because they could annoy the spectators and ruin the grass on the fields. Never be. Because, as Jimmy Connors once said, “Try spitting your soul out at Wimbledon – they’ll make you stop and clean it up.” It’s hard to say it better than that.
