Wimbledon is an amusement park for tennis fans – 07/07/2023 – Marina Izidro

It’s two in the afternoon, 29 degrees. Almost cloudless blue sky. Hot day in England is already something to be celebrated in itself. At the Wimbledon tennis tournament, even more so. The beginning of the week was rainy and with postponed matches, a headache for the organizers.

This Friday (7), the fifth day of competitions, I write this column from a very incredible place on the planet: inside the central court, where the number one in the world, Carlos Alcaraz, faces Alexandre Muller. Crowded bleachers, an immensity of panama hats, flowery dresses and glasses of Pimm’s, one of the favorite drinks of the English.

Andy Murray, Iga Swiatek, Novak Djokovic still play today. What a beautiful day also for those who like tennis. Everyone here knows how privileged they are. Getting a ticket is difficult. In general, you have to be raffled or sleep in line – something that even became a tradition. Nobody complains, people have fun, make friends.

Complaining, by the way, is rare around here (even more so without bad boy stallholder Nick Kyrgios, injured). English people are polite, but Wimbledon is impressive. Everyone, from the public to those involved in the organization, has a smile on their face and serves you with courtesy. At the time of the rain that came and went, spectators arranged a covered corner, or took the opportunity to buy another pot of strawberries with cream, the typical dessert. The metro station closest to the complex is always full, but people wait patiently to get on trains.

With the volume of matches, the courts famous worldwide for their perfection are already starting to show signs of wear. The tournament only ends on July 16th, but the organizers are not in despair. Everything related to the grass is monitored, including the height, and it is cut daily to keep it exactly eight millimeters.

“Wimbledon is not perfect only because it is a human creation”, told me an Argentine journalist who is also here.

Two matches were stopped briefly after the group Just Stop Oil – which advocates to end the use of fossil fuels – invaded the court, but otherwise everything seems to have come out of a fairy tale. How can you not like an imaginary world like that, so beautiful? I ask myself, already knowing the answer, as I walk through the corridors decorated with flowers in white, green and purple, shades of the tournament. Murray had just won a match with Kate Middleton and Roger Federer in the audience – royalty, and sporting royalty.

I’m on my third Wimbledon coverage and I think the tournament is the same and different at the same time. There is tradition and something that surprises you. In this edition, Russians and Belarusians returned, there was a change in the rules of the white uniform, with permission for women to wear dark shorts under the skirt, and even a new romance –the newly assumed courtship between tennis players Stefanos Tsisipas and Paula Badosa, entitled to the new nickname “Tsitsidosa” created by the couple (yes, that’s exactly what you read).

When the rain hit the center court before the retractable roof was closed, causing a huge delay in the match between Djokovic and Pedro Cachin, the Serb grabbed his towel and started to fan the grass, to the delight of the crowd. Employees with leaf cleaning machines began to walk around the court. Djokovic said that despite the unusual situation, he was happy to be in the “temple of tennis”. Where almost everything is perfect, you just can’t control the unpredictable London weather.

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