Fred Perry by Kevin Jefferys

Fred Perry by Kevin Jefferys

Author:Kevin Jefferys
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pitch Publishing
Published: 2017-03-15T00:00:00+00:00


8

World number one

MOST tennis observers in Britain knew little of the new, improved Fred Perry who returned home after eight months away in the spring of 1934. Few British journalists had been present in New York or Australia to witness the extent to which he had remedied past shortcomings, notably his habit of relinquishing matches from winning positions. Those who continued to harbour doubts were given fresh ammunition when he failed at the first major of the European playing season – the French Championships in May.

All was going well as Perry swept into the quarter-finals, beating en route the likes of his French Davis Cup adversary Andre Merlin without dropping a set. But he next came up against the ambidextrous Italian Giorgio de Stefani, who knocked him out of the same event in 1931. The Times reported that in the process of losing by three sets to one, Perry, ‘whose chances of winning the championships were thought much of’, suffered an ankle injury when stretching for a return. He finished out the match ‘pluckily’, rather than conceding. But the injury looked severe, ‘As he limped forward to congratulate the winner he collapsed and was carried off court.’ 1

According to Perry in his 1984 memoirs, he offered to give his opponent an honourable victory on the condition that de Stefani did not run him ragged in the process. But the Italian was not in a charitable mood (any more, it must be said, than Perry tended to be in matches when he was in the ascendant), and he forced the Englishman to run to the corners as he harried him to defeat. Perry was enraged and threatened revenge as he left the court, though past experience showed the redoubtable Italian was always hard to beat on clay.

This story may have been embellished for effect – especially after Fred humiliated his opponent in a later match on grass – for after the match Perry made no reference to a ‘pact’ and only spoke of de Stefani’s considerateness in not making things worse for the injured ankle. For sceptics and doubters, it was easy enough to conclude this was the Perry of old, falling short before reaching the final hurdle.

With hindsight, the defeat in Paris turned out to be the only setback that prevented Perry from going into the history books as the first winner of all the grand slam events in the same calendar year. But at the time, the ankle injury lowered expectations about what Perry might achieve in London SW19.

He was out of action for a few weeks, and despite expert medical attention there were rumours he was still moving gingerly when the tournament began. In reality, Fred had come through some tough warm-up sets with Dan Maskell, and as play got under way he remained healthy while several rivals suffered from freak fitness problems.

The 1934 Championships were blessed with fine and sunny weather throughout, conditions that may have been linked with a mysterious malady soon dubbed by the press the ‘Wimbledon throat’.



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