Wimbledon: winners on a wet day

 LONDON -- Journalists are supposed to be neutral, objective. But to be honest we all have our favourites, our secret preferences. Mine is Frances Tiafoe. He’s still young but it seems a long time since he won the Orange Bowl at the age of 15. I‘ve been following his erratic progress ever since, carping and complaining when he has too often raised my hopes, then dashed them.

 My keen interest in his career requires some explanation. While Frances Tiafoe is a black man of Siera Leone ancestry and I’m a white guy with an Irish passport, we both grew up in Prince Georges County, Maryland, in the blue-collar suburbs of Washington, DC. Frances’ father was a custodian at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park. For a time Frances spent nights in the maintenance room there which gave him access to the courts and to coaching. In my opinion, anybody who rises from PG County can take pride in his accomplishment. Frances got out due to his tennis excellence. I escaped through education and writing. But against all odds, our paths crossed.

 Frances’ twin brother, Franklin, went to DeMatha, the same Catholic high school where I graduated long ago. Since Frances wasn’t in a position to pay for his tuition, the school turned to me to serve as his benefactor. I happily did so. Later, the first year that Frances played at Wimbledon. I approached him after a match and introduced myself and he thanked me for my help with Franklin’s education. I assured him the pleasure was all mine.

 Since then I have silently rooted for Frances, enjoying him at his best, suffering with him during his slumps, always waiting for the moment when he broke through for a big win over a top player at a Grand Slam event. Today at Wimbledon he took on the defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, a man he battled for five sets at the US Open a couple of years ago when Alcaraz went on to win his first Grand Slam title. Alcaraz comes from a much more conventional tennis background. His family owns and operates a tennis academy in the suburbs of Murcia, Spain. Both his grandfather and father played well enough to be nationally ranked. Growing up under their tutelage and the guidance of various coaches at the tennis club, he gained an international reputation as a junior and now at the age of 21 he has already won four Grand Slam tournaments. He along with Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic figure to fight it out for the Wimbledon title.  First, however, he had to get past the feisty, flamboyant Tiafoe, one of the few players on the tour who has the power to contend with Alcaraz. Mixing up his groundstrokes and changing the pace and placement of his serves, Tiafoe broke out to a two-sets to one lead, and seemed poised to eliminate the second-ranked Alcaraz. Tiafoe claims he loves big occasions and this is about the biggest opportunity he could have. But just as Alcaraz did at the French Open where Sinner in the semi-finals and Sascha Zverev in the final led him two sets to one, Alcaraz bounced back to nab the fourth set in a tiebreak and to run away with the fifth set by 6-2.

 Elsewhere at SW19 the Italian contingent continued to play well. On the women’s side, Jasmine Paolini, a finalist at this year’s French Open, blasted her way into the fourth round, as did Jannik Sinner who had the good luck to play on a covered Centre Court on this rainy day. Fabio Fognini was less lucky and had to play on an outdoor court against Roberto Bautista Agut, a veteran Spaniard, said to be as solid as a brick wall. Play was frequently interrupted and was finally called off with Fognini leading two sets to one and the score 4-5 in the fourth set. Weather permitting, we’ll find out tomorrow whether he, too, will make it to the fourth round, which would be a high water mark in his career at Wimbledon.