By John Harvey
LONDON – Sam Ross’ bucket list includes attending all
four major tennis tournaments on the ATP World Tour.
The 19-year old from greater Williamsburg is halfway
there following his visit last week to the Wimbledon Championships in London.
A 2013 Jamestown High alum, Ross said that he has been to
the U.S. Open in New York “a couple of times”, but there’s nothing like seeing
tennis played on the hallowed grounds of tennis royalty.
“Wimbledon was absolutely incredible,” Ross said. “I got
to see, up close, what makes it the most special and prestigious tournament in
the World. The ivy covered walls, the grass courts, the white dress code and
the classiness of the event.”
Ross just finished his first year of college abroad at
the University of Durham in London. He
traveled three hours by train to the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet
Club, he couldn’t resist the opportunity to see pro tennis on grass.
“Since Wimbledon is such a traditional tournament, very
few tickets are solid in advance, so my friend and I had to join ‘The Queue’ (last)
Friday to see Saturday’s matches,” he said. “The camping was pretty terrible. I’m
pretty sure I got maybe a half-hour of sleep, but once the queue started moving
in the morning the excitement kicked in.”
Ross and his friends purchased ground passes for the day,
which gave them access to the outside courts. Right befo
re the gates opened,
Ross said it began to rain.
Anticipating no play on the outer courts for the day, Ross
and his friends raced for the ticket resale line with hopes of securing a
Centre Court ticket. After waiting nearly six hours in line, he and his friends
were able to purchase tickets.
Ross said the wait was worth it as he got to watch two
former Wimbledon champions play on Centre Court. “I was able to watch the
entire Maria Sharapova-Alison Riske match as well as the entire Roger Federer
and Santiago Giraldo match,” he said. “The feeling of watching
these stars in person was surreal.”
“All the mannerisms of the players,
which can be seen on TV, I saw in person,” he continued. “I could see David
Beckham in the Royal Box and John McEnroe in the commentary booth. Everybody
gave Sharapova and Federer standing ovations after their matches, which added
to the Wimbledon charm.”
The Federer match was particularly
rewarding for Ross. “During warm-ups, he
smacked the ball so carelessly, but during the match, he maneuvered the ball so
gracefully. His backhand is the greatest shot I think I’ve witnessed in person.
Getting to see him play was probably the highlight. I had always wanted to see
him play before he retired, and with the resale ticket, I actually got the
chance.”
“The rain, you could say, worked out for
the best,” Ross continued. “That was an incredible, once in a lifetime
experience, which made the 18 hours of camping/queuing well worth it.”
Contact Harvey at HarveySports757@yahoo.com or you
can follow him on Twitter at HarveySports757.
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