From Eastbourne to Wimbledon – a tale of two tennis tournaments and how they compare

Within barely 24 hours, the Devonshire Park arenas were being dismantled, and the UK tennis circus had trundled off to South West Nineteen. How do the two events compare?

Purely, of course, in the interests of research, your Herald reporter booked himself a day at Wimbledon. Unfortunately he chose Tuesday, one of the wettest days of the summer. But heck, we Brits are experts at making the best of it...

More of that later. First, a satisfied glance back at a super week at the Rothesay International tournament. Attendances were high from the very start, with an opening Saturday crammed with action and enjoyment. Ironically, that first day is in some ways the very best of the week: it belongs to the town, and at a tenner a ticket it is accessible to all.

Indeed, if you pressed this reporter for a Match of the Week, I’d look no further than an astonishing three-setter on Court One. Jodie Burrage, one of the current GB form players, was into the tournament on a wild card, and is a wonderful watch on any day – high tempo, instinctive attacking game, and never slow to show her emotions.

Across the net, Kamila Rakhimova was little known and quite little of stature, but ferocious ground shots and an attacking style which had Jodie scrambling for a while. The first set went to the “stateless Russian” on a tie break, the second to Burrage after Kamila had double-faulted on match point, and the momentum of the deciding set swayed back and forth until Burrage clinched it on a final tie-break.

The 300 spectators on a sparkling Sussex Saturday rose and roared, person for person as joyously as a Centre Court crowd at a Grand Slam. Tennis has that capacity, to engage you and grip you, and Eastbourne folk know their tennis.

The week that followed had many super contests – hindered slightly by player withdrawals, which seem to happen ever more frequently and from which Wimbledon itself is not immune.

Our coastal weather, too, did not always play ball: dry, but a bit breezier than we would like. But the competition built excitingly as we reached semi-finals on Friday, and a riveting contest between Coco Gauff and Madison Keys. Coco remains a focal figure in tennis: the voice of her generation, and a refreshingly articulate voice.

With other seeds falling, we gurus had identified her as the likely singles champion – but our guru reputation proved as brittle as Gauff’s wayward range-finding, and the experienced, accomplished Keys took the match in straight sets.

Facing Keys in Saturday’s final was Daria Kasatkina: playing as an independent competitor, but a dignified and brave opponent of the Putin regime who deserves huge respect. She rather likes Eastbourne, too: “I’m so happy to be back in Eastbourne. The atmosphere here is incredible, I have enjoyed it right from the early rounds, the feeling on court is great – the people who come here, you can tell that they understand the culture of the game, and their support is very special towards all the players.”

But Kasatkina had to be content with runner-up status. Saturday’s weather had warmed up and brightened up, and the lawns in front of the Big Screen were packed with local folk rounding off their week with a deckchair and a picnic hamper. On court, Keys was still in sizzling form, racing to one set up. The second set was more even – and decided on a tie-break as gripping as any top arena could hope to witness. After some desperately close rallies and calls, Madison Keys edged it 15-13 to claim the Rothesay title.

The men’s singles competition had seen some surprises, narrowing down to a close Final between athletic American Tommy Paul and youthful Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo – the latter player edging it with some adventurous play and speedy movement. One for the future.

And one year ahead in the future of Eastbourne tennis, Devonshire Park will next June be celebrating the 50th anniversary of this tournament. Not just a number, but a landmark reminder that – back in 1974 – women’s tennis had just broken courageously free from the dominance of a male sport. Martina Navratilova, that movement’s most notable spearhead, was also Eastbourne’s first champion. In 2024, Eastbourne must be a focal point of celebration.

What about Wimbledon? It feels 20 times the size of the Devonshire Park – including in simple acreage. Twenty competition courts, including of course the stadium-sized Centre Court and Court One, both with closeable roofs to permit a full day’s play even on a miserably wet Tuesday. In some ways, it is Eastbourne scaled up: international competition and top players, but a lot more of them.

If you love your sport, you go at least once, even on a ground pass (but just choose a dry day!). The setting is lovely, and in the words of GB tennis guru Anne Keothavong, there is “not a flower out of place!”. It is almost too perfect; like a film set.

In Eastbourne, friendly faces of volunteer marshalls greet you, discuss the weather and where-did-those-twelve-months-go! and how’s-your-daughter-getting-on-at-university. At Wimbledon, there are battalions of bussed-in stewards in smart uniforms – but clueless about tennis, and certainly not disposed to friendly natter.

The Wimbledon clientele is a bit different, too. Huge numbers of corporate guests, and not always au fait with the tennis protocols. I escape from the drenching outdoor walkways and snaffle myself a seat on Court One. Super view, awesome technology with the closed roof – and a cracking match in prospect between much-loved North African Ons Jabeur and talented young Swiss hopeful Magdalena Frech.

But the chap just behind me is talking– during the points – on his phone. And the three-generation family group alongside me chat intermittently even while play is in progress. If they wanted a grand day out. London Zoo might have suited them better.

Jabeur is dominant, fitting her fourth-seed status. Frech battles to keep up, playing an attacking game and winning some cheeky points (spot the linguistic link there) with inventive volleys and drop-shots. But the First Lady of Algeria is too strong. That match, though, was merely a Round of 128: Wimbledon needs its full fortnight.

By this weekend they will be narrowing down, and British followers will hope for one of their favourites to have made headway. They say that British people are tennis fans, but only for one fortnight a year. For us Eastbourne folk, you can call that three weeks – and we are already counting down to next June!