TEBBUTT: PRE-WIMBLEDON PICTORIAL
The weather has been gorgeous on the final weekend before Wimbledon begins. This shot was taken on Saturday of players practicing on the outside courts in front of the main Centre Court building. On the nearest court are Spaniards David Ferrer and Pablo Andujar.
This chance encounter took place at the lower entrance to the locker room area in Centre Court.
Daniel Nestor and Andy Murray were walking back together from the practice courts when they encountered Michael Downey – former Tennis Canada president and now the CEO of the Lawn Tennis Association in Britain.
On Saturday, Eugenie Bouchard and Victoria Azarenka had a spirited single set of practice on Court 18 – the court made famous by the Isner-Mahut match in 2010.
During the end changes, Bouchard would consult with coach Nick Saviano.
In the above picture, the great Billie Jean King, five times a Wimbledon singles champion, can be seen on the lower right watching Bouchard practice on Sunday. Bouchard later said she was a little upset that coach Saviano spent some time talking to King. But she was only kidding, and said that she had spent time on Saturday talking to the “legendary” King and appreciated her primal role in getting women’s tennis on the map.
It was great to see two seeded Canadian players at Wimbledon practicing with each other on Saturday. It was something that many people thought they would never witness but Milos Raonic (near side) and Vasek Pospisil played a spirited set and tiebreak Court 12.
There weren’t too many long rallies as Raonic and Pospisil held their serves all the way to a tiebreak.
Both players had their coaches on court with them – Frédéric Fontang (in background above) with Pospisil and Ivan Ljubicic with Raonic.
Touring around the Wimbledon grounds and Friday, Saturday and Sunday, there were some interesting sights, including Roger Federer above with coach Stefan Edberg.
There was no coach Uncle Toni around while Rafael Nadal took a break while hitting with Tommy Robredo (left) on the Aorangi practice courts on Saturday.
Novak Djokovic had a hit with Bernard Tomic on the Aorangi courts on Sunday morning. During a break, his physio took time to give Djokovic a stretch with coach Boris Becker, not looking particularly stylish, standing to the right. Longtime coach Marian Vajda was nowhere in sight.
There has been much talk about Andy Murray hiring Amélie Mauresmo as his new coach. Here the two can be seen working together during a practice session on Court 19 on Friday.
The sisters Williams practiced on Friday on the tournament courts in front of Centre Court. Here they are during a break with Serena’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, standing between them.
Maria Sharapova has been omni-present around the practice courts, always under the watchful eye of her coach Sven Groeneveld.
Ernests Gulbis has a reputation as a fun guy off the court. By chance, having supper with a friend al fresco on Saturday night, Gulbis walked past twice on Wimbledon High Street. The second time we stopped him and had a quick chat. “Ernie” was smoking a cigar – which was half done. He told us that he got it from his coach Gunther Bresnik and assured us, “this is the last five minutes of fun before Wimbledon starts.”
This picture was taken from afar – with no idea who the player was squatting down to speak with a child.
It turned out to be 20-year-old Czech Jiri Vesely. I’m not sure who the child was but the promising Vesely seemed to be enjoying the interaction. A few moments later, fellow promising 20-year-old, Dominic Thiem, walked past and he and Vesely had a very warm greeting as though they are good friends.
