When Wimbledon organizers announced the exclusion of Russians and Belarusians from this edition of the tournament because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, another, unofficial reason began to circulate. The decision would also be to prevent the Duchess of Cambridge from giving the trophies to athletes from these two countries if they won and the image being used as political propaganda by Vladimir Putin.
However, if, as in sports life, everything is not controlled, it is possible that, in the centenary year of the center court, Kate Middleton will congratulate not only a Russian but also the most controversial tennis player on the circuit.
The women’s final on Saturday (9) will not feature the world number one, the Polish Iga Swiatek, nor the 2019 champion, the Romanian Simona Halep, but Elena Rybakina, who was born in Russia and lives in Moscow. Rybakina has been playing for Kazakhstan for four years and is therefore eligible to compete. She will face Ons Jabeur, from Tunisia, the first African to dispute a decision of the tournament.
It is impossible not to sympathize with the current vice-leader of the ranking. Jabeur posts videos with Tunisian fans at Wimbledon, says she wants to be an inspiration to Arab and African women, and for the good she is doing for sport in her country, she has earned fans the nickname “Minister of Happiness.” It will be their first Grand Slam final, and whoever wins will have a good story to tell.
On Sunday (10), the men’s will have two specialists on the grass in a final that, until recently, would also have been unlikely. Novak Djokovic had his participation at risk because he did not want to be vaccinated against Covid-19, but the Serb was able to enter England without quarantine, as the British government lifted restrictions on non-immunized.
That became the least of the problems, since on the other side of the court will be Nick Kyrgios, the most active tennis player on the planet. In this edition alone, he clashed with referees, spat in the direction of a fan and broke the code that forces tennis players to wear white when wearing a red cap on the court at the end of a match and justifying himself by saying: “I do what I want” .
After losing in the third round to Kyrgios, Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas vented at the press conference. With an air of frustration, he said that the Aussie – who he is, or was, friends with – is a tiresome person because he is always complaining, bullies rivals and has a bad side inside him.
He also said that athletes should unite against him so that his behavior would no longer be tolerated. This week, the news broke that, in August, he will go on trial before the Australian Justice, accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend. Kyrgios would face Rafael Nadal in the semifinals, but the Spaniard injured his abdomen and had to withdraw from the competition.
Djokovic, currently number three in the world, is looking for his seventh Wimbledon win and is a favorite. If he wins, he will go on to 21 Grand Slam titles and come close to Nadal’s record of 22. He should not have much support from the crowd, as he eliminated Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the semifinals.
In addition, there are those who like the, shall we say, “eccentric” behavior of Kyrgios on the court. It remains to be seen if the Australian who doesn’t like to train and occupies the 40th position of the ranking will take the first Grand Slam singles final of his life seriously, if he will prefer to be remembered around here for the good tennis he plays, whenever he wants.
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