Serena
Williams, arguably the greatest female professional tennis player ever, retired
at this year’s US Open. She had an incredible career with 23 Grand Slam singles
titles, the most by any player in the Open Era. For years, I shared a story
that I tried to see Serena and her sister Venus compete in a doubles match at
Wimbledon in 2000. I recently found a journal I kept from my summer in England,
and it turns out that this was a complete lie. Basically, I’ve been a lying
liar for well over a decade. This is the journal entry:
Monday,
July 3, 2000
I first
tried writing this entry last night but was too tired to get very far. I spent
this past weekend in London. I really enjoyed the tour J gave us of London. We
went to Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and Tower Hill Friday
night. I also liked seeing the Tate Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Madam Tussaud’s,
and Madam Tussaud’s Rock Circus. (I got a picture with the Spice Girls.) The
Tate Modern was not as enjoyable since it was way too crowded, and I got lost
and passed the same exhibit several times.
While
I enjoyed all of this, the highlight of the weekend was going to Wimbledon. Several
months ago, when I first knew I would be coming to England, I tried to find the
dates for Wimbledon. I realized that it was going to take place the same time I
was in England, but I didn’t think I’d be able to go. I’ve played tennis since
junior high and possibly longer before that. Although I never had a favorite
tennis player, I enjoy watching the major events. I have always had a great
deal of respect for professional tennis players because of how much time and
energy they put into their games and their ability to seemingly hit the ball
wherever they want and at what speed.
Anyway,
let’s write about this past weekend. After unsuccessfully trying to get a ½ price
ticket for a show, we each had different opinions about what to do. J got a
ticket for The Graduate with Kathleen Turner. E and JK wanted to check
out a museum. L and I decided to try our luck and see if we could get into
Wimbledon. By the time we arrived at Wimbledon, there was an extremely long
queue (line). We had nothing planned for the rest of the day, so we decided to
stay. We queued at Wimbledon (I have a sticker that says this) for three hours
before finally reaching the ticket office. The seats for Centre Court, Court 1,
and Court 2 were already sold out, which we figured because Agassi, Venus
Williams, and Tim Henman were playing, and it was after 5:00PM. General
admission tickets were only 4 pounds ($6) after 5. Nevertheless, we were in and
very excited. To quote L, “you couldn’t rip the plastered smiles off of our
faces!”
We
walked around for a few minutes trying to fully comprehend that we were really
at Wimbledon. Then, we tried to find the best matches available on the other
courts. Court 3 was definitely the best because after a Men’s singles match,
Martina Hingis and Mary Pierce were playing doubles, followed by Martina Navratilova
in a mixed doubles match.
This
is the lie. I really thought we hoped to see the Williams sisters, but it was
actually Hingis and Pierce. Both were amazing players but definitely not in the
same category as Venus and Serena.
We
made our way to Court 3 and watched two Swedes, Thomas Johansson and Magnus
Gustafsson. It was a very even match. The problem was it was a very even match.
It ended up going 5 sets. Because of that, the other matches were moved to
other courts. At one point, we left to go see Hingis and Pierce on Court 6. It
was packed. We could barely see the court and kept getting bumped. After we got
a few pictures, we went back to see the Swedes. After Johansson emerged victorious,
we started waiting for Navratilova. One problem: the crew started taking down
the net. On the scoreboard, we saw the score of her match, and it said Centre
Court. We decided that we had nothing to lose, so let’s try to sneak in.
I
should mention again that we were smiling the entire time and every few minutes
would remind ourselves that we were in fact at Wimbledon. Anyway, the Southwest
entrance (or a different entrance, not exactly sure) of Centre Court was right
behind Court 3. We walked right in. There were no problems and no one checking
tickets. I learned later that this double match had been postponed by darkness
the night before and had just resumed. We only missed a game or two and the score
was 6-4, 7-6, 9-9. I should mention that it was Jan Siemerink and Miriam
Oremans against Martina Navratilova and Mahesh Bhupathi.
Lie #2.
I thought Martina played with Leander Paes. I really am a lying liar!
Did
I already write that I was seeing Navratilova, one of if not the best women’s
tennis players ever? Did I mention that I was at Centre Court Wimbledon? It was
incredible! We were at the Mecca of tennis. The match itself was also great.
This was Marina’s return to Wimbledon after retiring five years before. (Sean’s
note: You can definitely see Serena returning to play mixed doubles in a few
years, right?) The crowd (including us) was pulling for her. Between each
point, we heard many people yell some variation of “C’mon Martina.” At one
point, someone yelled “C’mon Martina’s partner!” Martina and Mahesh ended up
losing a thrilling third set, 18-16.
Wimbledon
was definitely the highlight of the weekend, and it may be the highlight of my
summer. L and I had an incredible time, and the queue was definitely worth the
wait. I can’t wait to see the pictures, and I am still on a high from being
there. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be at Wimbledon, and I was
there.
22
years later, I still haven’t been to a tennis grand slam. Or since I’m a lying
liar, maybe I can claim that I’ve been to Paris, New York, and Melbourne for
all of the Grand Slam events!
I'm thinking now that since Venus had a singles match that day, maybe Venus and Serena were on one of the side courts practicing, and we tried to see them. No matter what happened, I can no longer blame Thomas Johansson and Magnus Gustafsson for causing me to miss watching the Williams sisters play in person.
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