Wimbledon and the Williams sisters

I love tennis but I hate Wimbledon. It’s not the annual hype of, ‘Can Andy Murray’, or before him, ‘Tim Henman win Wimbledon’. I get that. It’s a bit like supporting the English football team; you really want them to do well even though you secretly know they might not be quite good enough. But your hope never fades.

What I despise watching the world’s most famous tennis tournament’s is  annual gauging of Wimbledon fans - wanting anyone but the William sisters - Venus and Serena  to win. This afternoon I took snippets of time out to watch Venus Williams play Japan’s Kimiko Date-Krumm. I could have cried. Anyone not English watching this match might have been confused into thinking that Kimiko Date-Krumm was indeed from Surrey.

Every winning shot by her was met with jubilant roars and enthusiastic applause, including from the Duchess of Cornwall. Every miss was greeted with sighs. In sharp contrast every brilliant point scored by Williams was only given polite applause, almost at times begrudgingly. Sadly, it’s not the first time. In fact that’s the point - it happens every year.

I just can’t work it out. And before anyone starts on about: ‘Well, the Brits just love an underdog’, that’s true to a certain point, but they traditionally love their Wimbledon champions more.

Watch Federer, Nadal, or in the past Sampras and Navratilova matches. Great champions earned their due respect from a knowledgeable Wimbledon crowd.

Whilst Venus is without doubt one of the all-time great champions, she has never been afforded that respect. Let's not forget she has won this most prestigious tournament no less than five times, and is only bettered in the modern game by Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf. Moreover, the other aspects that make up her narrative are equally compelling: First Black woman to win Wimbledon; has come through personal grief - her sister being tragically shot; and at 30 she is still one of the oldest tennis players on the circuit. Whether she's on or off court she has impeccable manners and holds herself with grace.

And yet when she walks out on Wimbledon the crowd turns against her. And if it’s not her then it’s against her sister, Serena.

Lastly before OBV’s detractors rush for their keyboards to tell me I’ve got a ‘chip on my shoulder’, ‘I’m too sensitive’, ‘I look for race in everything’, well that might all be true, but just watch the match first on BBC iPlayer. Oh, and if you’re Black and you watch it, the brilliant tennis aside by both players, the crown participation comes with a health warning.

Simon Woolley