Mick Cleary on the unique appeal of Wimbledon,=20 the tournament which is=20 an enduring love affair=20 WHAT image do you take away from Wimbledon — a bucket of=20 sweat or a bowl of strawberries? As serve after serve crashed into=20 the parched turf over the opening nine days, reducing play to a=20 sequence of one-hit wonders, there was little opportunity to count=20 the droplets of water trickling from the brows of the players. Far=20 better to count the amount of fruit and dollop you got for your=20 money in the food halls around the concourse. And then came Boris Becker and Cedric Pioline to rescue the=20 tournament once again from the charge of social occasion=20 masquerading as sport. Their wonderful five-set match had all the=20 classic ingredients of sport — nerve, technique, adversity,=20 fluctuating fortune, a whiff of scandal, character, physical strain,=20 athleticism and commitment.=20 It could also lay claim to two other vital components — passionate=20 support and length. So much of the criticism levelled at Wimbledon year after year=20 concerns not the level of skill on view — for, truly, the ability of=20 Pete Sampras, Goran Ivanisevic and the rest to fire their missiles=20 with such relentless and unerring accuracy is a wondrous=20 achievement — but rather the opportunity to witness it for any=20
The reduction in the pressure of the balls has made hardly any=20 impact in limiting the dominance of the big hitters. Ace after ace=20 has flashed up on the IBM computers which adorn the press=20 rooms. There was barely a rally over four shots in last year’s=20 final between Ivanisevic and Sampras. The tally of the rally in=20 most men’s matches in this championship has scarcely exceeded=20 that figure. What you get are the execution of short, sharp set- pieces, in which the opponent is almost an extra, not a drama in=20 five acts with changing scenes and developing character. But does anyone attending actually give a tinker’s cuss about it?=20 As long as spectators are getting plenty of the latter they’re=20 seemingly none too concerned about the former. Attendances this=20 year were about 7 000 up on last year’s, an average of 30 000 or=20 so passing through the gates every day, a figure that nearly every=20 football club in the land would kill for. You can tell a lot about an event by its spectators. At Ellis Park in=20 Johannesburg three weeks ago the stands rocked as South Africa=20 won the Rugby World Cup. People sang, shouted, swore, danced,=20 whooped, waved flags and belted out their songs. At Wimbledon=20 there is a sign asking people not to remove their shirts.=20 It’s placed not at Centre Court (where it might, just might, be=20 acceptable) but yards away in the vast open picnic area of Aorangi=20 Park which, with a new No 1 court in the throes of reconstruction,=20 is surrounded by cranes and scaffolding. Everyone dutifully=20 complies. At Ellis Park you get a crowd: at Wimbledon you get an=20
This distinction is of course the very reason people clamour for=20 tickets. They are in love with the place and the occasion, not the=20 tennis. (How many will be at Devonshire Park, Eastbourne this=20 weekend for Britain’s Davis Cup tie against Monaco?)=20 Wimbledon is a place to be seen as much as it is to see. The real=20 delight is in securing the ticket rather than in witnessing great=20 sporting dramas. There is no point in knocking this phenomenon, for it is purely a=20 matter of personal taste. If you like your backdrop to be seething,=20 sweaty and raucous then only occasionally is Wimbledon the=20 place for you. Last Wednesday evening, however, throaty roars=20 could be heard screeching out over SW19 as Becker and Pioline=20 reworked the script and turned the audience into a crowd. They cheered too for the adopted Brit, Greg Rusedski, the depth=20 of whose recently acquired love of his mother’s country will get a=20 real testing next weekend. Jeff Tarango’s tantrum, Madame=20 Tarango’s close encounter with an umpire, the missing Jensen=20 twin who went fishing rather than play doubles — these were all=20 part of the soap opera too. Without them what would be left? Strip=20 Andre Agassi out of the men’s draw and who else is there who=20 plays grass with stealth and imagination? Agassi may dress like the showman but his act is for real. (Agassi=20 also plays the best game in the press conferences. Q: Can you=20 draw any comparisons between this year and the year you won?=20 A: An article this time said I was short, fat, bald and ugly. I=20 didn’t get that criticism a few years ago. Q: A survey says you=20 were the most fanciable player in tennis last year. This time you=20 don’t figure in the top four. A: Maybe that article is right, huh?=20 My tennis goes up and the rest goes down. I can’t figure that=20
You might as well whistle in the wind about all these flaws: the=20 All England club would simply point to the turnstile count as=20 evidence that their product is sound. But the strength may also be=20 a weakness. For once again, Britain must look back at a=20 championship in which her players failed to feature to any=20 meaningful extent. The sport in the country has money and a huge profile at this time=20 of year, yet is consigned to a battle in the basement of world=20 tennis next weekend. Why? Too many strawberries and not=20 enough sweat on show? — The Observer
Riaan’s running into winning form A bad year in 1994 didn’t put a damper on Riaan Dempers and=20 he’s making 1995=20 more of a success ATHLETICS: Julian Drew IT WAS late in the evening of July 22 last year. As the crowds=20 filtered out of Lisbon’s Estadio Universitario green and yellow=20 * aser beams pierced the inky darkness descending over them. A=20 crescendo of sound enveloped the arena. It could have been a=20 fanfare from the gods to bestow their blessings upon the newly=20 crowned world junior 400m champion. Riaan Dempers’ victory, after all, had been preordained. He was=20 the chosen one. A young man so talented he had only to turn up to=20 claim his rightful crown. But fate saw otherwise and Dempers cut a disconsolate figure as=20 he made his way into the waiting night with his South African=20 team mates.=20 The laser beams and accompanying sound came not from the=20 deities above but from the nearby Alvalade Stadium. Pink Floyd=20 had just begun the opening concert of their European tour. David=20 Gilmour’s voice resonated all around the young South African=20 but he did not hear.=20 “And then one day you find/Ten years have got behind you/No=20 one told you when to run/You missed the starting gun,” went the=20 words from a bygone era. But they are no less relevant to the one=20 in which Dempers hopes to carve his name indelibly at the turn of=20 the new millennium.=20 That is when Dempers should reach the peak of his career, but=20 such has been the rate of his progress that he could be ready to=20 make a real impact at next year’s Olympic Games in Atlanta.=20 It is wise, however, to err on the side of caution and not expect too=20 much too soon from this gifted youngster. Such expectations and=20 the pressure they bring have curtailed the promise of many a=20 similar talent. A glance down the world junior all-time lists,=20 where the Bethal matriculant’s name now appears so=20 prominently, is proof of that. For every Joe DeLoach (1988=20 Olympic 200m champion) and Steve Lewis (1988 Olympic 400m=20 champion) there are many more Roy Martins, Chris Timpsons or=20 James Rolles, adolescent prodigies who suggested greatness but=20 * ever really made their mark. The events of Lisbon and the Commonwealth Games last year=20 could have done permanent damage to any young athlete’s=20 confidence, but Dempers showed he was cast in the mould of a=20 champion by putting them well and truly in perspective. At the world junior championships he was by far the fastest=20 qualifier and the world’s media had him pencilled in as the firm=20 favourite. Unbeknown to them Dempers was not in the best shape=20 when he arrived in Lisbon after straining his hamstring at the=20 African championships two weeks before. He only made it into=20 the final by four hundredths of a second and then finished a sorry=20 sixth in 47.31, more than two seconds outside his best. =20 “I wouldn’t put it all down to my injury although because of it I=20 couldn’t do any real speed work beforehand. There were actually=20 quite a lot of factors. But really I just wasn’t in good physical=20 condition. I believe I peaked at 45.15 (his winning time at last=20 year’s national championships) and it was very cold in Bethal=20 after that and I couldn’t train well,” said Dempers about Lisbon. =20 “I wasn’t disappointed though, and I believe the whole=20 experience was actually very good for me because I learnt so=20
Following hard on the heels of his ordeal in Lisbon came the=20 Commonwealth Games in Victoria which in hindsight is a=20 competition he should have declined to attend and the powers that=20 be should not perhaps have invited him to. “We didn’t plan on=20 going to the Commonwealths and therefore we were not on a=20 cycle to prepare for them. We had to extend my programme to try=20 and peak again but it didn’t work,” said Dempers. =20 “What happened at the Commonwealths did affect me for about=20 two months because I kept trying to figure out what went wrong.=20 Then I decided I must just start again and it really motivated me=20 to do better this year.” His achievements this domestic season have shown that he has=20 been able to do exactly that. In April he obliterated Tshakile=20 Nzimande’s eight-year-old South African record for 200m at the=20 junior championships in Germiston with a world class, although=20 altitude assisted, time of 20.16. At the senior championships in=20 Durban three weeks later he again won a 200/400m double and=20 produced an excellent 400m time of 45.40 in far from ideal,=20 blustery conditions. =20 But for Dempers the most important part of his 1995 campaign=20 still awaits him. In just over two weeks time he will leave for=20 Gothenburg to compete in the world championships where he will=20 be able to put to rest the ghosts of 1994 and, more importantly,=20 gain valuable experience towards his main goal in Atlanta next=20
Dempers has been preparing for Gothenburg in a series of races at=20 four meetings in Europe over the past two weeks. One problem he=20 encountered there was symptomatic of something his father and=20 coach, Johan, identified as a potential obstacle earlier in the year.=20 Dempers’ home town of Bethal on the Eastern Transvaal=20 highveld gets extremely cold during winter which makes it=20 difficult to train adequately in=20 preparatio und himself=20 about three metres down coming into the home straight where he=20 would make up some of the lost ground on the run in to the tape. “He would phone me and ask my advice on what he was doing=20 wrong but it was difficult to help because I couldn’t see him. We=20 will have to have a look at him in training now he is back home,”=20 said his father. Dempers’ best performance came in Tallinn last Sunday where=20 he came second in the 200m in 20.79 and third in the 100m in=20 10.47. “I was getting better towards the end and I would have=20 * iked to have run another two meets to get my times down. When=20 people asked my best time (20.16) they were expecting more from=20 me but my second best time is 20.39 and my average for the=20 season is about 20.6, with most of my races at altitude, so I don’t=20 think I did too badly in Europe. =20 “Maybe it’s better to stay hungry for the world championships.=20 At least now I know which points I must work on and if I can do=20 * ots of stretching to avoid the soreness and improve the second=20 part of my bend I think I can get an extra 0.3 seconds,” said=20 Dempers. Such an improvement could see him reach the final in=20 Gothenburg, but that is a tall order for a young man who is still=20 only 18. In truth a semi-final berth will be a remarkable=20
Dempers is blessed with an unusually mature disposition which=20 has helped to keep his feet firmly on the ground and he tackles=20 * ife’s obstacles with a refreshing pragmatism. It is these qualities which make it seem unlikely that when 10=20 years have got behind him anyone will be able to say he missed=20 the starting gun.