Before every Grand Slam there's the air of anticipation. Who will win the title this time?
In the men's section, it's almost a foregone conclusion. For everyone else, the winner is Roger Federer. But for the British, it's still mmm...think, think...Tim Henman. It's amazing how year after year, giving it a deep long thought they plumb for him, even though the aging Henman has started to become as immobile as the Fred Perry [last Englishman to win Wimbledon] statue at the grounds.
With Andy Murray, who we must remind is Scottish, pulling out of the Championships due to injury, it will again be upon the 33-year-old Henman to carry the burden to the nation's expectations.
The woody and idyllic Somerset Road that winds down to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club shows no signs that the most glamorous tennis event is just a day away. It's a serene, post-card perfect street lined with tall trees, flower bushes, manicured lawns and cottages that transports you in a different, unpolluted world.
As you approach the courts there's a sprinkling of players coming or going, walking towards the indoor practice courts or the cafeteria or the player's lounge.
Come Monday the air of casualness will be gone. The parking lots and gates for the corporates, VIPs and pass holders will be as exclusive as they seem mundane now. All said and done, the club which began as a whites-only is still on its way to modernity.
It was only this year that the authorities recognized the ladies competitors as equal and will be awarding then with the same prize money as men.
There is the line of disjoint, a struggle between the old and new, tradition and innovation, simple and raucous, art and muscle at Wimbledon; primarily a rural town that has become a global attraction.
Andre Agassi, after falling to Henri Leconte in the first round in 1987, labeled the Championships as snobbish and did not turn up the next three years. Ivan Lendl, after failing to win a single title at Wimbledon, said grass was for cows.
But year after year, the best in the business battle here for the ultimate prize in tennis.
After the nerveless Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras, the Swiss ace has monopolized the place. Winning four straight Wimbledon titles since 2003, Federer is seven matches away from equaling Borg's open era record of five successive championships; a feat he kept the American away from.
Federer famously beat Sampras in the fourth round in 2001, to bring the American's motoring streak to an end.
"It's a very ironic story actually that I beat Sampras's record, when he was going for five. Two months later he (Borg) called me up and thanked me for breaking Sampras's streak, keeping his alive, and now I'm going for Borg's record," the world number one said on the eve of his first round match.
"But I've heard he's happy if I would tie it up."
The Swiss was on the cusp of becoming the greatest player earlier this month when he entered the French Open finals. But the marauding Rafael Nadal thwarted any chance of Federer completing a career Slam with a commanding display on clay.
The Spaniard has spoilt Federer's French Open plans for the past three years. Every time the 10-time Grand Slam champion has come to the quieter South Eastern London suburb to soothe the scars and reclaim his dominance.
With grass beneath his feet Federer turns into a graceful hunter and a ruthless artist, killing opponents with his precision and painting the court with his brushstrokes. Though Federer has won three Australian and three US Open crowns too, Wimbledon -- the place he shot into prominence -- gives him the perfect sanctuary to unleash his game.
Federer has owned the tournament for the last four years, but stretched on the Henman Hill, which is under threat of being renamed Murray Mountain, there is only one person the Brits would want to win.
The scenic venue, strawberries and cream, the drizzle in the air and the royal family; Wimbledon is all things British. All they want they'd want is a home-grown winner!
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