![]() It felt reminiscent of the energy surrounding a certain Swiss player at the start of his great Wimbledon career. The crowd on Centre Court swayed and swooned with his every move. He added aces, drop shots and deep returns. ![]() On Sunday, against another precocious talent, 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, Sinner hit his forehands with a consistent mix of heavy speed and daring curve. Sinner may not win Wimbledon this year, but there’s a good chance he will one day. Then I watched Jannik Sinner of Italy, 20, who is little known outside tennis but regarded as a potential future force within it. But other than among his loyal fans - and yes, there are many - watching him plow through opponents with metronomic efficiency and tight-lipped swagger does not quite stir the soul. Djokovic may well win this year’s tournament, which would give him seven Wimbledon titles overall. There he was again, the defending champion, dashing across the same baseline with the same staunch resolve as when he snatched victory from his longtime rival. Watching Djokovic play on Centre Court last week, it was impossible not to think of that classic. About an hour later, he won the match, 13-12, in a fifth-set tiebreaker. The Serb won both, tracking down the last of them by skimming across the baseline and, as he so often does, producing a winning passing shot. In the last great match we saw him play at Wimbledon, possibly the last great match of his career, the marathon championship final of 2019, Federer held two match points while serving against Djokovic. The yell was aimed at Tsitsipas, of Greece, whose one-handed backhand and flowing strokes call to mind the eight-time champion. 1 during a tense late-night match between two guys, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios, who could offer only a glimpse of the grace Federer brought to every match at Wimbledon. “Is that Roger Federer?” someone yelled, the voice ringing across Court No. Or through a fan’s shout, such as the one that came out loud and true, expressing palpable longing during a prime-time match last week. ![]() How do you explain the power of absence? Maybe through the shock of looking at the men’s draw and not seeing the most familiar name. But a Wimbledon without Federer is like a Wimbledon where there are strawberries but no cream. Instead of charging into the tournament’s second week as the men’s favorite and the fans’ hoped-for winner at a tournament where he is worshiped like a god, Federer floated in for the centennial celebration and then was scheduled to jet back home to Switzerland. Their exclusion caused protests by the men’s and women’s tours, which decided not to officially recognize the results with ranking points, essentially turning the entire affair into the most lavish tennis exhibition ever held.īut there’s something else that feels off about this Wimbledon. The barring of Russians and Belarusians robbed the tournament of several marquee names, including the world’s top-ranked male, Daniil Medvedev. Instead of the usual electric energy coursing through each day, signaling the peak of the tennis season and the start of the English summer, the feel has been slightly off - like a master violinist struggling for just the right note.ĭuring the opening four days, attendance dropped to levels not seen in over a decade. Wimbledon 2022 has been a strange journey. The fans sitting around me at Centre Court went nuts. “This court has given me my biggest wins, my biggest losses,” he said. He continued for a short while, bathing in the warm adoration, taking in the old stadium and its memories. He added, “It feels awkward to be here today in a different type of role.” “I’ve been lucky enough to play a lot of matches on this court,” Federer said, speaking into a microphone, his voice ringing across the court.
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