UrbanWhat connects champagne, strawberries and grass?
The tennis tournament at Wimbledon, England.
There are four tournaments in the Big Four tennis competitions: the Open Championships of Australia, France, England and the US, but Wimbledon is unique.
Tennis players rarely play on the grass, although historically, grass is the basic surface in this sport. The English, known as a traditional nation, also appreciate tradition in tennis.
The English Open, or Wimbledon for short, is the oldest tennis tournament of all time. It has been held on the courts of the All England Club since 1877.
The tournament also has a special place in the hearts of the players.
It’s the biggest tennis tournament in the world, they say. Playing on the sacred grass is really something special!, they exclaim. The best tennis players are thus happy to return to London every year.
The tournament is special because of something else: the players play in pure white or at least predominantly white sportswear. Fans, on the other hand, sip champagne and nibble on strawberries.
In the 135th edition of the tournament most things will be the same, but something has just changed.
At the centre court, now celebrating its centenary, competitors were not allowed to train before the start of the tournament so that that the sacred grass, as it is called, was fresh for the first matches.
But since there have been injuries on it in recent years, the organizers have decided to allow training as well.
The world’s number one, Daniil Medvedev, will not play at Wimbledon at the moment, as competitors competing under the Russian flag do not have the right to enter.
The favourites to win are the best players of recent years, who are breaking many records in the world of tennis – Novak Đoković and the Spaniard Rafael Nadal.
The Slovenian colours will be defended by Aljaž Bedene among men and Kaja Juvan and Tamara Zidanšek among women in the singles tournament.
Points To Consider
- Why do fans eat strawberries?
- What do they add to them?
- Why do Russian competitors don’t have the right to perform?
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The original version of this article was published on June 27th.
English translation courtesy of JL Flanner, Total Slovenia News, an English language website with news from and about Slovenia.
Časoris
Sandra
Rebecca
Mateja
