Wimbledon, England — For the first time in nearly half a century, the weekend at Wimbledon looked different.
Nick Kyrgios and Ons Jabeur have brought fresh diversity to the men’s and women’s singles finals. Tunisia’s Jabber became the first North African player to advance to the singles final. An Australian with Malaysian roots and a well-documented stride that marks him as completely different from his peers, Kyrgios played in his first Grand Slam final. Jabber and Kyrgios have each lost, but that’s not important.
Since 1975, when Arthur Ashe and Evonne Goolagong made it to the finals, the matches of both championships have been equally diversified. Tennis evolves with fit and start, and nowhere else does it feel more true at Wimbledon.
Looking at the spectators on the Center Court for the past two weeks has been to see how difficult it is to make the change, especially when it comes to racing.
At the stand, the homogeneity is too familiar. Aside from the flickering of colors here and there, the white sea. For me, a black guy who plays games in minor leagues and always wants the game to go beyond the old way, especially at Wimbledon in London, always feels the lack of color like an intestinal punch.
After Saturday’s women’s final, I stood by a pillar near the exit of the center court. Hundreds of people passed by. Then thousands. I counted about 12 black faces. This epic event is one of the most diverse metropolises in the world and a hub for immigrants from around the world. You can’t tell by looking at the audience. There were some Asian faces. A few Muslims in the hijab. The Sikh community is huge in London. I saw only one of the traditional Sikh turbans in court.
When I set aside some of the black fans and asked if they were aware of how rare they were in the crowd, the reply was always as quick as Jabber’s forehand volley or Kyrgios’ serve. “Why couldn’t you?” Said James Smith, who lives in London. “I saw a guy in the section just above me. We smiled at each other. I don’t know the guy, but there was a bond. We knew we were few.”
Fans see it.
And the player too.
“I’m definitely aware,” said American teen star Coco Gauff when she spoke last week. She said she was barely aware of the crowd because she was so focused when playing. But then, when she sees her own picture at Wimbledon, her image of her is astonishing. She said, “There aren’t many black faces in the crowd.”
Gauff compared Wimbledon with the US Open. The US Open has a more realistic atmosphere and a much more diverse crowd, like the world’s largest park tournament.
“London should be a very big melting pot, so it’s definitely strange here,” Gauff wondered for a while, wondering why.
Going to Wimbledon requires a major effort, like going to a major sporting event in North America and beyond. Traditional Wimbledon, which has been tried and errored, is pushing the boundaries. Tickets cannot be purchased online. There is a lottery system for many seats. Some fans line up in a nearby park and camp overnight to participate. The cost is not always cheap.
“They say it’s open to everyone, but the ticket system is designed with so many hurdles, so it’s specific,” said Densel Frith, a black building contractor living in London. It seems to be intended to eliminate persuasive people. “
He told me he paid about £ 100, about $ 120 for his ticket. That’s a lot of money for a man who described himself as a blue-collar worker. “I won’t be back tomorrow,” he added. “Who can afford it? People in our community can’t afford it. No way. No way. No way. No way.”
It’s not just about access and cost. Something deep. Wimbledon’s prestige and tradition is its greatest asset, the Achilles heel. The place feels great — not only is tennis in the English garden not an exaggeration — it’s stuffy and chunky and sticks to itself.
“Think about what Wimbledon represents for many of us,” said Lorraine Sebata, 38, who grew up in Zimbabwe and now lives in London.
“For us, it represents a system,” she added. “Colonial system. The” hierarchy “that forms the basis of British society. In this tournament, you can’t miss the Royal Box, which is as white as the white dress code of the Victorian era.
Sebata described himself as an enthusiastic fan. She hasn’t played, but she has loved tennis since the days of Pete Sampras. Her friend Diana Kazaji, a social worker from Uganda and the Netherlands to England, is just as passionate about her games. As we said, they looked around — up and down the corridor just outside the center court, lined with majestic ivy — and found someone who seemed to have the African heritage they shared. I couldn’t. They said they had many black friends who enjoyed playing tennis but didn’t feel they were part of Wimbledon.
“Behind this tournament is the establishment and history to maintain the status quo,” Kazaji said. “To avoid that, you have to get out of the box as a fan,” she continued. “It’s history that appeals to us as a fan, but that history tells something to people who aren’t good at coming.” For many people of color in Britain, tennis is simply “what for us?” Is not considered.
understood. I know exactly where these fans came from. I felt their disappointment and suffering and wondered if things would change. To be honest, it hurts.
It may help you to find out what Wimbledon means to me.
Goose bumps when you enter the gate from the lush two-lane church road. On July 5, 1975, Arthur Ashe became the first black man to defeat Jimmy Connors and win the Wimbledon Singles title, and was the only one to win a Grand Slam tournament title at the 1983 French Open, with the exception of Yannick Noah. I became a black man. -The age at which sports enthusiasts were Seattle SuperSonics.
Looking at Ash with his graceful game and keen intelligence, his Afro and skin that looks like me persuaded me to make tennis my sport.
Wimbledon didn’t change the course of my life, but it did.
I have become a national rank junior and college player. I spent more than a year in the minor league of professional games and was ranked 448th on the ATP ranking list. In my time, non-white players were as rare as Arthur.
Today, as we witnessed this weekend, new talent is emerging. Serena and Venus Williams join as their North Star. Still, there is a lot to do. Not only on the court, you can also attract fans to the game and draw them to the stands of tennis monuments like Wimbledon. A lot of work that takes a lot of time.
