STOKE PARK, England?The pre-Slam exhibition is a thriving tradition in tennis, and it?s easy to see why. It?s an opportunity for top players to put in some time on the relevant surface in a setting that?s more competitive than practice, yet doesn?t require them to commit to the full rigors of a tournament. Like the Guinot Mary-Cohr in Paris or the Kooyong Classic before the Australian Open, the quirkily-named The Boodles attracts a top field in part because of the event?s flexible format. Nominally a round-robin tournament?Gael Monfils is the defending champion here?in reality the line-up changes according to the ebb and flow of availability, injuries and the need for grass-court practice and preparation ahead of Wimbledon. David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco, Juan Martin del Potro, Gilles Simon, Davis Nalbandian and Viktor Troicki are all on the order of play for today; all or none of them will be back Friday. Halfway through the day it is confirmed that Novak Djokovic and Queen?s Club champion Andy Murray will feature on Thursday?s line-up.
It works for the players. Held outside of Slough, a half-hour train journey from London, the players can nip up from their rented houses in Wimbledon village for an afternoon?s play. I can confirm it works for the spectators, too. Slough is best known for its scathing memorialization by the poet John Betjeman?who could have taught Lynn Barber a thing or two about bad press?and as the setting for the UK version of The Office, but the event itself is held at Stoke Park, a luxury golf hotel and conference venue set in beautiful, expansive grounds. The tournament gets its name from principal sponsors Boodles, the jewelers, and the governing ethos seems to exhibit the players like rare gems for the delectation of the well-heeled. It?s a bijou and exquisite setting among the manicured lawns, fountains and marquees; the Players? and Legends? enclosures are off-limits to those who cannot afford the hospitality packages, but making do with the Pimms and champagne bars serving to picnic tables under spreading cedars is hardly the definition of roughing it. The boutique tournament offers close access to the players at this crucial stage of the year?no seat on the stadium court is more than eight meters from the action, and with the Aorangi practice courts at Wimbledon closed to the public at this stage, it?s your only opportunity to see the likes of Ferrer and del Potro fine-tuning their games before the biggie.
Even on a persistently drizzly day like today, the spectators are here to be entertained, punctuating points with the popping of champagne corks and encouraging the players indiscriminately. For the players, however, the shadow of Wimbledon looms large. Even practice seems a little bit more serious, or at least strategic, than usual; Ferrer plays an intense practice set, Simon tries to work on his return off Troicki?s first serve (it goes better after the Serbian starts calling it for him), del Potro hits nothing but serves and forehands fed to him by coach Franco Davin for half an hour, then sits down for a long, serious conversation.
As play begins, it?s far from a hit-and-giggle; the consensus seems to be to compete pretty seriously for at least a set and a half, then relax into entertaining once the outcome looks inevitable. Del Potro and Simon, first up, both seem to be focusing on polishing their serves and?in del Potro?s case?volleys; the Argentine looks in better shape than Simon, whose lower back is taped and isn?t stretching himself any more than necessary. It?s not until the Argentine is a set and a break up that levity really enters the proceedings?del Potro hitting a between-the-legs volley (and winning the point), Simon mock-pleading with the crowd to cheer for him, then blowing a kiss when they do. ?Without you it would have been six-love,? he announces to a particular group of women in the stands after del Potro wins, 6-4, 6-1, earning a gale of horsey laughter.
Compatriots Ferrer and Verdasco, second in the line-up, seem to compete even more seriously, and not just because intensity hangs around Ferrer like a dark cloud whenever he?s on court. Whatever informal etiquette governs exhibitions, it doesn?t mandate Verdasco hitting two double-faults in his first service game, nor glaring with pointed annoyance at noisy spectators after he does so. In fact, the grunting physicality of the two men, interrupted as it is by frequent outbreaks of drizzle, seems too powerful and explosive for the tiny court and peaceful setting. This isn?t a show with the players mic?ed up and bantering; tennis itself is the show. It?s blistering forehands, heavy aces and unbelievable gets that elicit the applause from the crowd. The gladiator metaphor is an overused one in tennis, but watching the spectators pour glasses of Pommery champagne for each other while the players grunt and sweat on the grass, it?s hard not to think of Monty Python Romans nibbling otters? nipples and chaffinch tongues while jadedly applauding the severing of limbs.
Still, it is an exhibition, and as such it?s an opportunity for the players to put not just their muscular wares on show, but their personalities. Verdasco, struggling in the second set, starts ironically pleading for Ferrer to finish him off, howling in mock-betrayal as Ferrer puts a passing shot long that would have broken him. Ferrer, so hard to get to know, yells ?Hallelujah!? as it starts raining in earnest; a couple of points later, as he slips and falls, Verdasco checks if he?s OK and then celebrates the rare achievement of winning a point. It?s an odd combination of affability and earnestness, seriousness and entertainment; it?s like shadow-boxing with the big fight just around the corner.
Hannah Wilks is a frequent contributor to TENNIS.com.
Source: http://feeds.tennis.com/~r/tenniscom-features/~3/BulI-qFOAFM/
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