Book: WIMBLEDON: A PERSONAL HISTORY
Author: Sue Barker
Published by: Ebury Spotlight
Price: Rs 1099
John Lloyd, a former British tennis professional and ex-husband of thewinner of 18 grand slam singles, Chris Evert, had lost a four-hour, first-round, five-setter to the unfancied Phil Dent at Wimbledon in 1976.
Following exhaustive rounds of media interviews, it was past 9 pm when he returned to the locker room for a shower. It was empty and Lloyd ran a deep, steaming hot bath while going over in his mind all the crucial points he had surrendered at the match.
When he reached for the soap, his hand cricked and soon he had seized up all over with an excruciatingly painful full-body cramp. “I was sliding down into the water. I was sinking, I was going to bloody well drown in the Wimbledon bath,” he recounted during a dinner speech at the Last 8 Club, a sort of club within the All England Club that welcomes those who have reached the singles quarter-finals, the doubles semi-finals or the mixed doubles final.
“... but my ego took over and I started to imagine the headlines in the newspaper the next day: British player commits suicide in bath after devastating loss” — Lloyd had the audience in splits as he narrated the incident.Luckily for him, a former player had dashed into the locker room after a Wimbledon cocktail party and Lloyd was safely hauled out of the water and he lived to tell the tale.
Sue Barker’s book provides insights into several such untold and hilarious tales that go into the making of one the most glamorous tennis events in the circuit. A former tennis player who won 15 WTA Tour singles titles, including the 1976 French Open at 20, Barker also worked as a television commentator and host for BBC’s live coverage during the championship for 30 years.
She first walked through those famous wrought-iron gates at 13 in 1969 to play in the National Schools tournament and has returned every year since in one capacity or the other. “The thing about our Sue... [is that] she just is Wimbledon”, says John McEnroe on the cover of the 300-page book.
With her first-hand insights and perspective, Sue paints an intimate portrait of the place, its past and its present, behind-the-scenes details drawn from her own experiences as well as personal conversations with some of the giants of the game.
There are 18 chapters dealing with the lives and times of such greats as Rod Laver, Billie Jean King, Björn Borg, John McEnroe, Steffi Graf, Boris Becker, Andre Agassi, Martina Navratilova, ‘Pistol Pete’ Sampras, Roger Federer and the Williams sisters among others. Jimmy Connors and Rafael Nadal could easily have been added to the elite list.
The stars share poignant memories and some startling revelations, from Sampras’s deep regret that he didn’t involve his parents more in his Centre Court triumphs to Borg divulging that McEnroe always had the quietest presence in the locker room. A role model to Novak Djokovic, Sampras always felt “it was all about the second serve” which won him seven Wimbledon titles. “It takes good technique and it takes courage to go for it. My second serve was how I did it,” he revealed during an on-court interview.
From the most-talked-about matches and famous rivalries to the fashions and trends as well as the gut-wrenching disappointments, the book is as tightly packed with anecdotes as the courts are with blades of grass.
Wimbledon isn’t just a tennis tournament; for many it is the portrayal of the English summer. Barker felt the warm embrace of the Wimbledon family once she quit as a TV host in 2023 and understood how much those two weeks matter to the people who unmistakably throng the venue every year.
