The Wimbledon Tennis Championships has always been a bucket list event for me, so it won’t surprise you that I watched a lot of coverage the past two weeks.
Today some interesting stories from Wimbledon 2021.
Fans at the All England Club for the 2021 event weren’t approved until the last moment, but when tickets were made available they were swept up quickly.
Television commentator left no doubt that the fans were appreciated stating “we’ll never take the fans for granted again!” Every player echoed the same sentiments – fans are important!
Sunday marked the 40th anniversary of tennis legend John McEnroe’s outburst during the Wimbledon men’s finals. Johnny Mac, an outspoken brat screamed at the umpire “You cannot be serious!” That phrase has followed McEnroe, now a highly respected tennis analyst throughout his career.
The broadcasters had fun with McEnroe on Sunday and even bringing in Tom Gullickson, John’s opponent that day. He verified the brat was correct – the ball was in!
Australian Ashleigh Barty won this year’s Women’s title as the number one seed, but her tennis career was not always easy. In 2011, at 15 she won the Wimbledon Girls Championship setting up a great career. But, in 2014 she left the sport and actually played pro cricket for two years. She’s a popular champion that knows life even as a star athlete has challenges. Even as Wimbledon champion Barty can’t go home yet. Covid 19 has her on a 9-month road trip.
Men’s Champion Novac Djokovic made his 4 set victory over Matteo Berrettini look easy. It was Djokovic’s 20th Grand Slam title tying him with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Always a gentleman in victory or defeat his admission he hasn’t yet committed to the upcoming Olympics was a bit of a shocker. Concerns about Covid 19 in Japan and his quest to win the calendar-year Grand Slam at the U.S. Open in September might make the Olympics too big a risk.
But, most impressive for me at Wimbledon this year was Dylan Alcott who was born with a tumor wrapped around his spinal cord creating the need for surgery that saved his life but also put him in a wheelchair for life. Much like our Faith Schreiner, Dylan has chosen to make lemonade out of his lemon. He won his second Wimbledon Wheelchair Singles Tennis championship to go along with a string of accomplishments too long to share but including doubles tennis and wheelchair basketball world titles.
When Alcott’s workouts were described it was embarrassing to learn how hard he works. He’s a college grad, motivational speaker, and hosts a radio talk show. Please Google Dylan Alcott and be amazed.
Played since 1877 Wimbledon never fails to have great stories.
I’m Steve Sauder
