Wimbledon, Day 3
Upsets, controversies and weird marketing. What's not to love?
Wimbledon fans and even casual droppers-by awoke on Monday morning with the above image in their inbox: the popular 2023 slogan, Always Like Never Before with new pictures. Photoshopped (obviously) to place both 2023 champions (Markéta Vondroušová and Carlos Alcaraz, aka Alca-razth to all the heavily lisping commentators) on either side of the umpire’s chair, one early morning riser rubbing their eyes could have mistaken both supine players for dead or injured. But if the London literati noticed it, no one publicly commented. Such is the power of the AELTC tournament and Wimbledon brand.
We’ll explore the choice of advertising below. But first, in the news: once the withdrawals ended on Monday, play continued on Tuesday with several of the top seeds losing in the first round — always a commonality and somehow a surprise at the same time. On the mens’s side Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, 20, a French upstart, defeated the seeded American Sebastian Korda in five sets, 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, by serving like a man on fire, going unbroken. Andrey Rublev, known as one of the finest, funniest guys off court — but a terror on court — suffered the biggest upset, knocked out by underdog Argentinian Francisco Comesana 4-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-7, but not before banging his racquet against his leg no few than seven times. It looked like it hurt — ouch. Novak Djokovic’s quest to equal Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles went easy on Monday, as he defeated Czech pro Vít Kopřiva in three sets, while Dan Evans exited in the first round after pitching a fit and refusing to play on wet grass, before losing to Chilean Alejandro Tabilo in three.
Launching soon: RALLY, an AI-powered, digital-first platform for all things tennis and racquet sports, enables local players and city transplants to find courts/clubs, renew permits/memberships, hire coaches/professional hitters, and participate in competitive and community-driven activities. www.rallytheapp.com
On the women’s side, longtime rivals Katie Boulter, the British No 1, and Harriet Dart, the British No. 2 (for now) and both age 27, triumphed on Tuesday, setting up a second-round battle of the Brits. Boulter has won the past three meetings between the pair, and six out of seven overall, including a hard-fought three-set match at Nottingham in June. They joined former US Open champion Emma Raducanu, the 28-year-old wildcard Yuriko Lily Miyazaki, and Sonay Kartal, 22, who won on Monday and Tuesday — a feat of which the Londoner could not have dreamt six months ago following a serious health scare.
The year 1987 was last time five British women made it through to the second round of the championships. Some other nationalities didn’t fare so well. After leading by a set and a service break, 2021 Wimbledon finalist Karolína Plíšková lost in three sets, while No. 8 seed Qinwen Zheng and No. 24 seed Mirra Andreeva, 17, also fell.
In 2023 and 2024, Wimbledon built its Always Like Never Before campaign around a 60-second video spot, designed to takes viewers on a “journey through some of the tennis tournament's most iconic moments.” The trailer re-imagines a mixture of archive footage, advanced 3D animation, CGI and photography to revisit historic Wimbledon moments from angles that would never have been seen on the original broadcasts. “Always Like Never Before was a fantastic brief: a wonderfully complex task that deserves an elegant solution,” said Carl Addy, the director of the ad. “It’s a delicate balance of presenting these moments with a more intimate access.
"Closer than being there, more connected than watching it on a screen. All the while balancing the power of the game in frozen, timeless scenes.”
The 2024 installation highlights how The Championships’ time-honoured traditions and unique setting inspire incredible tennis action, fosters new stars and delivers unexpected moments that cannot be witnessed anywhere else, according to the All-England Club. “McCann allows us to celebrate the next generation of players and also pay homage to the giants of yesteryear. The creativity of frozen-in-time moments to unexpected twists, this Always Like Never Before campaign has become synonymous with our spirit at Wimbledon,” said Usama Al-Qassab, the marketing director for the All-England Club.
But the AELTC has run up against some detractors in its retainment of Barclays Bank as its official sponsor. As the championships began, tournament officials and employees could walk by more than 300 public adverts on billboards, bus shelters and tube stations near Wimbledon village with artwork denouncing Barclays’ Wimbledon promotional materials by a group called Brandalism. AELTC official organisers have come under pressure to drop the bank as a sponsor by climate groups and anti-war activists, accusing Barclays of using the event to “sports wash” its funding of the climate crisis and to “hide from accountability for its role in enabling Israel’s war crimes.”
Kit Speedwell, a spokesperson from Brandalism, told The Guardian: “Wimbledon’s cherished strawberries and cream image has been thoroughly sullied by its decision to partner with Barclays, the most toxic bank in Europe, while the bank continues to pour millions into the arms trade and fossil fuel companies driving climate chaos.
“Wimbledon must stop providing cover for Barclays’ grotesque lack of morals and immediately end the sponsorship deal.”
Using tactics it compares to the ones used to end apartheid in South Africa, some protesters chanted “Free Palestine” outside Centre Court on Monday as those attending the tournament queued to enter the venue. “We’re here outside Wimbledon, not to stop you enjoying your tennis,” one speaker said, according to The Guardian. “We’re here because we want you to know that Barclays, a major sponsor of Wimbledon, must be ostracised.”
It’s a tricky situation for the tournament which prides itself on being both environmentally friendly and taking a stand on global conflict. Starting several years ago, Wimbledon began using reusable cups for drinks and placed recycling bins all over the grounds. After the war in Ukraine began in 2023, the tournament considered banning Russian players. “Our ambition to have a positive impact on the environment is a core part of putting on a successful championships. We know this is one of the defining challenges of our time and we are fully committed to playing our part,” a Wimbledon spokesperson said. “Barclays is an important partner of ours and we are working closely with them in a number of areas.”
Things we like: Prophecy Tennis, a fantasy tennis game created for friends of Fabrizio and Alice’s East London Tennis community and beyond, as “a way to engage players off the court and promote more social interaction.” It’s basically a homemade “bracket battle” that had players pick the winners of each round of Wimbledon with prizes distributed in-between rounds. It’s better than the ones on the tournament apps because competitors know each other, among other reasons.
Things that take us by weird surprise: the Tennis Channel’s Instagram post, “If Tennis Players Were British Musicians,” featuring Andy Murray as Ziggy Stardust, Andrey Rublev as Mick Jagger and Taylor Fitz as Harry Styles. Just odd.
Recommendations: David Foster Wallace’s essay on Wimbledon and Roger Federer, “Federer, Both Flesh and Not” which says as much about the AELTC Championships as Federer.