This year’s Wimbledon may be missing many modern legends but a new grass menagerie has shot up. There’s just one problem, says Joe Hodgson.
From the perspective of the casual British viewer, most high-profile tennis is played on grass. It is the only incarnation of the sport that a large portion of the population has ever watched. Because, for two weeks of every year of our lives, grass-court tennis has arrived uninvited on our TV screens, disrupting and consuming our precious viewing schedules. Andy Murray has silenced Jeremy Paxman; Martina Navratilova has erased Tony Hart; Pete Sampras has pulled the plug on Top of the Pops.
Now, in the age of the iPlayer, this is less of an inconvenience. And, mercifully, Wimbledon remains one of the few major sporting occasions that can be enjoyed without having to pay a further subscription fee. But this is a skewed perspective of tennis as a whole. Because grass-court action represents only a fleeting deviation from the main highway of the tour, a window of just a few short weeks. In 2022, only 11.7 per cent of all elite tennis matches took place on the green stuff; 60.1 per cent was played on hard courts, 28.2 per cent on clay.
And this isn’t a recent development. Thirty years ago the percentage was 8.4. In 1985, when a 17-year old Boris Becker muscled his way into the national consciousness, the grass-court variant still only occupied 15 per cent of all tennis. Back then, a larger chunk of the game was played on carpet – a far from ideal surface for a young German to be attempting diving volleys.
Nevertheless, despite the brevity of the season, Wimbledon has managed to maintain its elevated standing in global sport. And its uniqueness – of playing surface, of style, of tradition – has played a significant role in keeping it there. But what does the future hold? What do we see when we peer into this year’s beloved bijou grass window? Because it cannot be denied that an epic, Dostoevsky-sized volume of the game is coming to a close.
Though many will have held on to a flickering candle of hope of seeing Roger Federer perform one more competitive, balletic, one-handed backhand on Centre Court, his retirement last September snuffed it out once and for all. Serena Williams called time on her garlanded career in the same month. And with Rafael Nadal taking an extended break due to persistent injuries, I think we all need to take a moment, wipe away our tears, and force ourselves to look ahead.
From where I sit, my view is that, on the court, the future of both tennis divisions is very bright. The ATP and WTA both possess young, talented triumvirates capable of spearheading the game and providing thrilling, competitive, aesthetic racquet craft for years to come.
“I think we all need to take a moment, wipe away our tears, and force ourselves to look ahead.”
On the men’s side the new big three are Carlos Alcaraz (20), Jannik Sinner (21) and Holger Rune (20). Alcaraz and Sinner have already competed in two outstanding Grand Slam matches stuffed with crowd-wowing, shot-making and a pleasing dearth of salty histrionics. Rune, however, while capable of producing the positive qualities listed above, also has a curious knack for creating enemies on the court. It could be his opponent, the umpire, the crowd – or a heady combination of all three. And while such antics may not be to everyone’s taste, it can’t be denied that it makes for a compelling spectacle.
There was a period in the women’s game where any player arriving at a Grand Slam in decent form had a good chance of winning it outright. But some much-needed stability has been established in recent months, and there are now three names you expect to see at the business end of all major events. This triumvirate consists of Iga Świątek (22), Aryna Sabalenka (25) and Elena Rybakina (23). In 2023 Rybakina has finally begun to transpose her power and ability on to all surfaces, and should arrive at Wimbledon as the favourite to retain last year’s surprise crown.
So that’s all good, then? The future of tennis is safe and the sport will progress smoothly beyond the era of giants? Well, there’s just one little snag: all the names I have just listed are European. And this could have an effect off the court. With Naomi Osaka on hiatus there is no one representing Japan at the top of the women’s game. Ash Barty’s retirement has removed Australia’s seat from the top table too. And, most damagingly, where are all the gosh-darned Americans?
It is a question that can be asked of both halves of the game. A successful global sport really needs interest from the huge American market. And the huge American market is only really interested in successful Americans. The last American man to win a Grand Slam was Andy Roddick, 20 long years ago. And is there a force on the female side ready to step into the dominant shoes of Serena?
So while Wimbledon may show British audiences a narrow glimpse of a global tennis, could there be a danger that global tennis itself is shrinking, becoming a narrower, strictly European pursuit? A welcoming, verdant, grass window of opportunity awaits; but is anyone from outside the continent ready to take advantage of it?
Joe Hodgson is a writer who contributes to The Fitzdares Times in print and online.
