Tennis' most boring man has a pop at Wimbledon
Davydenko: The world number four - but what do you know about him?
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Monday, 02, Jul 2007 11:18
Wimbledon has received its fair share of criticism over the years.
It has weathered attacks about the suitability of its surface for tennis in the form of Chilean player Marcelo Rios' infamous comment that "grass is more suited to grazing".
It has creaked its way into the modern era with its belated acceptance of the inevitable centre court roof.
But this week, the world's most famous tennis tournament has come under attack for a very different reason - and from the most unexpected of corners.
The latest complaint, uttered by that embodiment of frivolity Nikolay Davydenko, is that Wimbledon is simply "the world's most boring tournament".
"There's hardly anything to do apart from tennis. You constantly find yourself yawning, there's no entertainment here," he whined in an interview with the Sovietski Sport newspaper.
So this famously low-profile Russian has finally stuck his head over the parapet and said something worthy of the media's attention, although for all the wrong reasons. Sadly, we must assume that he has far less interest in watching tennis than in playing it if he truly believes the entertainment is not up to scratch. And as for a lack of attractions outside the All England Club itself, quite how he's missed the fact that the centre of one of the world's most vibrant capitals is within spitting distance is anyone's guess.
I'd just like to point out that if I ever get to the stage in my career where I can do the journalistic equivalent of turning up to the first round of a tennis tournament, bowing out in the first round and scurrying away with a cheque for £10,000 in my back pocket - the 'consolation' prize you can expect for losing in this year's first round at SW19 - I'd like to think I'd have a little more decency than to swagger around sounding off about this venerated and historic event. Having now made it into the final 32, Davydenko has already earned more than many people earn in a year. Oh for the boredom that comes with wealth.
It also seems to me that Davydenko is, dare I say it, slightly missing the point. Surely the whole reason for Wimbledon's existence is - yes, you've guessed it - tennis.
I'm not suggesting that the current fourth best male player in the world had been hoping to live it up every night and seek entertainment in the form of a series of chilled vodka shots. Tennis players are far too professional for that. But is it too much to expect that these on-court heroes who we spend two weeks every summer getting excited over might be able to spend those same two weeks concentrating on the work at hand, rather than grumbling that there's nothing else to do?
Perhaps I am being a little too harsh on Davydenko.
Perhaps my own courtside experience of his first round match against Evgeny Korolev - who, despite being beaten in straight sets, managed to make Davydenko look decidedly average and was far more thrilling to watch - has coloured my perception of the Russian number one in an unfairly dim light.
Perhaps my interpretation of his whining to the umpire about the lateness in the day as being a sign that he had recognised the decidedly lacklustre nature of his own performance was entirely unfair.
And perhaps, after all, it is a good thing for players to escape the tennis onslaught and seek alternative entertainment on days off.
Quite frankly, however, the idea of this seemingly nice but unremarkable man, labelled by the BBC as Wimbledon's 'forgotten man', being terribly 'exciting' in his free time is hard to believe. Describing anything other than his own reflection as 'boring' somehow grates.
When the day comes when Davydenko can walk into a restaurant and be recognised by more than a spattering of die-hard tennis enthusiasts who have accompanied him from the Russian homeland, maybe then I will find myself more open to giving serious consideration to his views on the boring or otherwise nature of Wimbledon's off-court offerings.
Who knows - that day may soon come if his on-court performance leads him to hold aloft the men's singles trophy and propels him to overnight global stardom.
But until that day, Davydenko might find that he receives a frosty welcome from the Wimbledon locals unless he refrains from whinging about the tournament and instead counts himself lucky to have the opportunity to be bored there at all.
Anna Seward