New kids on the block
While the crowds have diminished and half the courts lie vacant, it’s marquee tennis all the way for the remainder of this year’s Wimbledon. On Thursday, that meant the advent of quad tennis. Played by wheelchair athletes who have substantial loss of function in at least one upper limb, it featured in exhibition matches in 2018 but this year entered competition proper and there will be at least one Briton in a final.
Andy Lapthorne defeated the American David Wagner 7-5, 6-4 on Court 17 on Thursday to take his place in the men’s final on his first appearance at SW19. The Diary asked him if the hallowed lawns had matched his expectations and he said “100%, it was a dream come true”, adding: “I never thought I’d be here as a player, there’s absolutely no place like it.”
Lapthorne now plays his doubles partner and world No 1 Dylan Alcott in a match that will be screened live on BBC Two. He hopes it will be the start of further progress in the sport. “It’s great to be at Wimbledon, but we want equal prize money with wheelchair tennis‚“ he said. “We also want an expanded draw, preferably to 16. I’m coming here and immediately playing the world No 2. There’s a lot of courts later in week two they could use, a lot that are used for invitational matches.” All eminently sensible suggestions and, if it means an end to Henri Leconte showing off his trick shots, then all the better.
Prodigious progeny
If you are fortunate enough to live on Wimbledon Park Road on the approach to the grounds you can bag yourself £8,000 for renting your home out for the fortnight. Quite how much you get for turning your driveway into a showcase for Maui Jim sunglasses (as one property on the street has done) is unknown to the Diary, but we would be keen to find out.
This is the year of famous progeny playing tennis. First up there was Leo Borg, straightforwardly enough the son of Björn playing in this year’s juniors. Same for Elizabeth Mandlik, the daughter of 80s slam champion Hana Mandlikova. But then there was Roman Burruchaga, son of Diego Maradona’s former Argentina teammate Jorge. And, finally, the young American William Grant. Grant, it turns out, is a direct descendant of Ulysses S Grant, US civil war general and the country’s 18th president. Tennis does not care about your history, however; Grant was dispatched by the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz Garfia in the boys’ third round.
No spring chickens
The average age of the men’s semi-finalists playing on Friday is 33.6. The oldest in a century. You are only as old as you feel. Unless you have a tight hamstring – in which case, it’s over.
