Eduardo Arroyo, l’ironiste

« Une drôlerie sans arrière-pensée sérieuse ne serait pas ironique, mais simplement bouffonne », rappelait le penseur et musicologue français Vladimir Jankélévitch dans son analyse de l’ironie. Eduardo Arroyo est ce que l’on pourrait appeler un peintre ironiste. En effet, dans la philosophie socratique, l’ironie est un outil qui permet de déboussoler son adversaire en le faisant se questionner. Les personnes au caractère cynique l’utilisent à volonté. Chez Voltaire, c’est précisément une raillerie qui sert à pointer du doigt toutes les injustices de son temps. Quant aux romantiques, ils y trouvent une manière de s’éloigner de l’aspect illusoire du réel et de rendre le moi absolu pour refaire le monde. On retrouve un peu de tout ça chez Arroyo, une ironie provocante et subversive. Dans sa peinture mais aussi dans sa manière d’être, de s’exprimer, et la tournures de ses phrases, ponctuant souvent des paroles sérieuses avec un petit sourire en coin.

« Je me suis formé à l’intérieur de l’Espagne franquiste jusqu’à mon arrivée en France, et à partir de ce jour, ce souvenir, les frustrations collectives subies, l’espoir et le pessimisme ont fait devenir ce pays et son histoire pour moi, une réalité constante dans ma pratique de la vie et de mon travail. »

Installé à Paris en 1958 après avoir fui l’Espagne de Franco, son pays natal ne le quittera jamais vraiment et deviendra même un sujet obsessionnel, le thème majeur de son iconographie. Il y a une grande part de mystère chez cet exilé qui se sent un peu partout chez lui, mais qui ne déballe jamais complètement ses affaires car on ne sait jamais ce qu’il peut arriver… Des œuvres souvent énigmatiques ou les principaux éléments du décor sont suspendus dans l’espace, des tableaux-rébus dont on ne trouve pas ­automatiquement toutes les réponses. Elles se caractérisent aussi par un manque volontaire de profondeur et une perspective frontale de couleur uniforme, comme on peut le voir dans ses peintures tennis. 

Ce peintre à l’esprit fantaisiste se plaît à sauter d’un tableau à l’autre, d’un pays à l’autre ou d’un sujet à l’autre. Il pouvait facilement passer de portraitiste politique avec ses célèbres et très controversés tableaux de dictateurs à dessinateur d’affiches pour Roland Garros. Et c’est dans son livre Deux balles de tennis, une œuvre-somme qu’il qualifiera de « littérature de la déambulation » que son esprit vagabond s’exprimera à l’écrit pour la dernière fois.

« Dans mes mémoires, je raconte une scène rêvée, celle de mon enterrement, auquel prenait part un éléphant géant, très semblable au proboscidien représenté par Alfred Kubin, qui portait sur son dos un coffre de métal où étaient rangés mes livres. Je venais à peine de me redresser sur mon séant, pleurant dans ma tombe, les yeux rivés sur la colline qui me faisait face. L’éléphant m’apportait mes livres ! Pas la totalité, bien sûr, mais une bonne part de ceux que j’aime, ceux que pour rien au monde je n’oublierais, ceux qui ont occupé mes nuits d’insomnie. L’émotion me submergea et je compris soudain qu’on m’enterrait aux côtés de mes livres préférés dont la présence me rasséréna sur-le-champ. Je me recouchai alors et posai ma nuque sur “Robinson Crusoé”, le volume qui serait mon compagnon dans l’au-delà, et me tiendrait lieu de passeport pour passer la frontière, la frontière de l’expiration. »

 

Life in plastic, it’s fantastic…

and feminist!

Translated by Muriel Trives

This little plastic effigy, with an adolescent face and an incredibly feminine silhouette, is now in her sixties. A true pop culture reference with fascinating symbolism, she is more than a simple toy. Indeed, Barbie embodies the evolution of American society since the fifties, but also, despite all the stereotypes she can project and with which she is associated, a certain progressive idea of women. The first Barbie was created by Ruth Handler, who was at that time vice-president of Mattel, for her daughter Barbara, nicknamed “Barbie”, when she returned from a trip to Germany. There, the ingenious mother discovered “Bild Lilli”, an adult wasp-waisted doll with a generous bosom and seemingly endless leg length. She was a doll straight out of a successful comic book series that was featured daily in the Bild Zeitung. She now represents the “ultimate Warholian motif” and the values of American society: eternal youth and opulence. The success of its dazzling commercialisation is a stroke of marketing genius, and its story is in a way a lesson in economic globalisation.

 

Feminism according to Barbie

If the immense commercial success cannot be denied over the years, it is because Barbie, with her “expression cast in plastic”, has nonetheless been able to adapt to trends and evolutions, and in particular to the inevitable political inflexibility. Thus, she was transformed into an astronaut when it was necessary to calm down the feminist admonitions about the image of passivity that was given to her. “We girls can do whatever we want,” she proclaimed in the 1980s. But, when we look closer, we realise that Barbie has always been free and independent, she “does not confine girls to a nurturing, caring function. Barbie is a woman of power who does not give in to Ken’s advances”, said the writer Marie-Françoise Hanquez-Maincent in her essay Barbie, Doll Totem. As Elisabeth Moet, marketing director of Mattel France and Belgium, explains: “Barbie was a failure at first. At the time, in the American society of the 1950s, the priority for mothers was to find a husband for their little girl, rather than for her to project herself into the world of tomorrow with a job.

“From the very beginning of the Barbie project, the idea was that, through this toy, the little girl would imagine herself becoming a woman with a certain amount of freedom and choice. Hence the multiple occupations she has. Today there is a Barbie judge, for example.” Actually, before Barbie, the doll was used to teach the little girl how to become a good mother. But with the baby, the little girl learns to  be a mother… and with the dollhouse, she trains to do the housework or the cooking. With Barbie, no way! She has an emancipating role, and if she has to train somewhere, it is only on the tennis courts! In 1962, only three years after her birth, Mattel decided to coordinate Barbie and Ken with the creation of two tennis- themed collections: “Tennis for Anyone?” for Barbie and “Time for Tennis” for Ken.

Playing with the iconic tones of the brand and the white emblem of tennis at the time, a dozen pieces skillfully mix the universe of the mythical doll with that of the yellow ball. The complete list of their clothing and accessories:

White tennis dress

White cardigan with orange trim

Blue sunglasses

White cardigan with navy and red trim 

White short sleeve cotton t-shirt

Green sunglasses

White socks

White tennis shoes

Tennis rules booklet

White tennis balls

Yellowish tennis racquets with black handles

Real “Sheroes”

In the early 1960s, a large part of the United States still suffered greatly from racial segregation. However, society was changing thanks to the pressure exerted by the civil rights movement. An important and new legislation extending the rights of blacks was passed, and in 1967 the Supreme Court ruled that laws prohibiting intermarriage between people of different colours were unconstitutional. Unfortunately, Martin Luther King was assassinated the following year. To honour him and show support for the African-American community, Mattel created the first black Barbie. The company has always shown a certain activism, and today it still continues. In 2018, it decided to follow the feminist movement of the Me Too era, and engaged in the fight against gender stereotypes by funding a chair at New York University, around the Dream Gap program, raising awareness of the factors that prevent little girls from reaching their full potential. The same educational objective applies to her YouTube channel where Barbie gives advice to girls and addresses the subjects of depression and bullying at school.

That same year, to celebrate International Women’s Day, the company produced a collection paying tribute to women who have made history in their respective fields. The collection includes American aviator Amelia Earhart, Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, and an African-American mathematician Katherine Johnson who participated in the successful Apollo 11 mission. Added to the list is the iconic Billie Jean King, whose doll in a two-tone blue and turquoise dress is an explicit reference to her legendary exhibition match against Bobby Riggs in 1973. This is significant. Beyond being a simple tennis match, it was also a real ideological battle. That year, King had just won three Slam titles, but the bonuses given to women were still much lower than those given to men. Outraged by the inequalities between the sexes, King shared her frustration with the world, and demanded new financial conditions. Riggs, in his ultra macho agitator outfit, more attracted by the money and the idea of betting than actually proving his theory, was challenged by King to win a match against her, and thus demonstrate who is stronger—man or woman. He was beaten in three short sets and two hours of play. This symbolic victory—and media—marked a turning point in the history of women’s tennis. In the same year equal pay came into effect at the US Open—a decision strongly influenced, it should be noted, by the creation of the union of players, the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association), created by Billie Jean King herself.

Naomi Osaka joins the group of inspiring women who are part of Barbie’s “Sheroes” initiative—which includes gymnast Laurie Hernandez, fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad and model Ashley Graham. The player will collaborate for a second time on a new edition called “Role Model”, in which Barbie wears a Nike outfit similar to the one Osaka wore at the Australian Open in 2020.

“It’s such an honour to be a part of the Barbie Role Model series, and remind young girls that they can make a difference in the world. I want young girls around the world to feel empowered to dream big and know that, if they believe in themselves, anything is possible,” she explained in a press release. “It’s a powerful thing, because as a child I played a lot with Barbie dolls.” Born to a Japanese mother and a Haitian father, the player said she was proud to “represent people who think they are not [represented].

“It’s really an important goal for me,” she insisted.

Like Billie Jean King, it is not only on the tennis court that Osaka engages in the exchange and imposes her style. This is illustrated by her strong act during the Cincinnati tournament in 2020, when she refused to play her semi-final in protest against police violence in the United States after the death of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake. She managed, for one day, to put the tennis world on pause, and forced the organisers to follow the movement by finally postponing the match to the next day. That same year, at the US Open, she was also seen entering the court wearing masks commemorating African-American victims of police violence. In 2021, she reopened the debate around mental health when she withdrew from the French Open following psychological distress caused by compulsory media duties. 

Barbie has never stopped evolving with the years. In the beginning, her activities were similar to those of teenagers: she babysat, went to discos, etc. Then she went to college in the 1970s, and had a career in the following decade. She has always practised sports and followed the clothing style of her time, fashion being one of the major threads of her evolution. Today, she is a reflection of the world that children—and adults—see around them, a world of diversity, and in which you can become whoever you want. In other words, Barbie is much more complex and useful than her simple image of a bimbo would suggest, so maybe it’s time to take her seriously, and talk about things other than her body measurements. 

 

Story published in Courts no. 3, Summer 2022.

Frédéric Viard, 30 ans au vert

Depuis 30 ans, il est l’une des grandes voix du tennis, de celles qui ont tout à la fois accompagné nos longues soirées d’été indien passées devant l’US Open et les aurores hivernales auxquelles on s’astreint dans l’espoir que le match aura un peu duré dans la nuit australienne. Et au milieu du gué, fin juin, début juillet, il nous aide à enfiler nos bottes et cape de pluie pour assister à un phénomène botanique rare : la lente détérioration du gazon londonien. Quatre tournois du Grand Chelem et trois continents. Frédéric Viard est de tous les bons coups. Patron du tennis chez beIN SPORTS depuis 2014, il a accepté de prendre quelques minutes depuis la cantine du stade pour nous raconter Wimbledon, l’ambiance au sein de l’équipe de commentateurs qu’il forme avec Lionel Roux, Fabrice Santoro, Lionel Buton et Sébastien Grosjean.

 

25 ans de Wimbledon, ça crée forcément une relation particulière ?

Frédéric Viard : En 25 ans, je n’en ai loupé que cinq. Et puis j’ai commenté toutes les victoires de Federer ! J’ai eu la chance fantastique de pouvoir couvrir les quatre tournois du Grand Chelem sur site et chacun a vraiment son identité. On ne vit pas la même quinzaine dans le bruit et la fureur de New York, à l’Australian où l’on a droit à un été inespéré entouré de personnes accueillantes et gentilles, à Roland, bien sûr, avec cette identité de terre battue et à Wimbledon où la tradition, l’histoire sont omniprésentes.

 

Vous avez donc couvert tous les grands événements de tennis : qu’est-ce qui différencie Wimbledon des autres grands chelems ?

FV : Ce qui est fabuleux, ici, c’est le côté british. Il y a évidemment le poids de la tradition avec un respect énorme, un ancrage : le tennis est né ici. Et dans le même temps, les infrastructures sont phénoménales. Les organisateurs insufflent de la modernité partout où il le faut pour rester au niveau dans un monde de plus en plus concurrentiel, y compris pour les grands tournois. Je conseille à tout le monde de venir dans les allées le matin regarder les ramasseurs de balles tous habillés pareil se réunir avant de partir en file indienne de manière presque militaire vers leurs courts d’affectation. Il y a cet aspect absolument martial et puis de l’autre côté Henman Hill (NDLR : du nom de la colline où se réunissent des spectateurs pour regarder les matchs sur écran géant) où 3000 personnes se réunissent avec des bières à la main – et aucun débordement. 

 

Et côté tennis ? 

FV : Quand on pense que, depuis 2003, le titre ici n’a jamais échappé à l’un des quatre grands (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray), ça en dit long sur le niveau d’exigence du jeu qu’il faut afficher pour gagner ici. 

Racontez-nous un peu les coulisses du tournoi. Je crois que vous, les consultants, les journalistes, vivez tous ensemble dans une maison ?

FV : Nous louons deux maisons en réalité, situées à un gros quart d’heure à pied du stade. D’une part c’est beaucoup plus pratique que de loger à l’hôtel en plein centre de Londres, car nous avons des amplitudes horaires de travail conséquentes. De l’autre, ça crée une ambiance et une convivialité particulières puisque Wimbledon est le seul événement où l’on vit tous ensemble. Il y a une vraie vie de groupe qui se met en place : on s’organise pour manger tous ensemble autour de la table, de manière chaleureuse. Il y a une cohésion. Pas plus tard qu’hier (NDLR : l’interview a été réalisée le 29 juin, au lendemain de la victoire d’Harmony Tan contre Serena Williams), comme nous allions terminer tard, les autres avaient préparé à manger pour tout le monde. C’est sympa.

 

Vous avez toujours fonctionné comme ça ?

FV : On l’a fait l’année dernière, mais c’était quelque chose que nous avions déjà mis en place chez Eurosport avec Hervé Duthu lors de mon premier Wimbledon, en 1997.

 

Comment vous répartissez vous les matchs ? Selon les envies et les plannings de chacun ?

FV : Tout rentre en ligne de compte. Nous avons deux émissions, l’une le matin et l’autre le soir en fin de programme, ainsi, bien sûr, que les matchs à couvrir et les réactions à aller chercher. On se met d’accord en fonction des affinités de chacun. Généralement, quand l’un de nous veut couvrir un match, il le couvre. Sur quinze jours, il y a tellement de matchs que l’on ne compte pas qui a commenté plus que l’autre, on n’est pas dans ce type de calculs d’apothicaires. L’avantage, à Wimbledon, est que l’on se trouve sur site, donc on peut alterner un match sur deux. On ne fait jamais deux blocs de commentaires de suite, parce que très sincèrement au bout de six heures on est rincé et on veut garder une certaine fraîcheur.

 

Et sur place, comment décidez-vous de vos formats ? 

FV : C’est assez marrant, parce que par rapport aux autres télévisions, on a un fonctionnement beaucoup plus souple, beaucoup moins lourd. Par exemple, le matin de la finale, on peut demander à visiter le court central (sans fouler le gazon, bien sûr). Une année, j’avais décidé de faire le champion’s walk (le trajet menant des vestiaire au Centre Court, NDLR) pour annoncer le match. Nous avons tourné ça à trois : moi, un caméraman qui me suivait à reculons et une chargée de production qui le tenait par la ceinture pour éviter qu’il tombe. À côté de nous, il y avait les télévisions américaines ou australiennes où, pour faire une séquence un peu similaire, ils étaient quinze. Ils nous regardaient comme si nous étions des fous.

Ce côté sous-staffé, c’est mal vu ?

FV : Pas forcément. Il y a une anecdote assez dingue qui me revient. Contrairement aux idées reçues, il peut faire très chaud à Londres, et il m’arrive de commenter en bermuda. À la télé, on ne le voit pas parce que je porte une veste, une chemise. Mais un jour quelqu’un hors-champ avait pris une photo de moi où j’étais en short-claquettes. Quelques années plus tard, je dois régler un problème avec le patron des télévisions du tournoi et je me retrouve dans son bureau : et là, accroché au mur, je vois cette photo de moi en train de présenter, veste en haut, bermuda en bas. On en rigole et il me dit : « Cette photo, c’est la définition de tout ce qu’est la télé. Ce qui est en dehors du cadre ne compte pas. » Il a été sympa, d’ailleurs, parce que je suis retourné le voir le lendemain et il m’avait fait un duplicata de la photo. Je l’ai encore.

 

Comment sentez-vous le tournoi, cette année ? Entre l’absence des Russes, l’histoire des points et le retour du COVID, on peut imaginer que c’est bizarre ?

FV : Ça reste Wimbledon. Même sans points, les joueurs ne sont pas là pour balancer les matchs. L’absence de points n’a aucune incidence sur la manière de commenter les matchs. Il faut quand même voir que pour les joueurs, notamment ceux qui sont en milieu-fin de top 100, le prize money est loin d’être négligeable. Et puis même pour soi, avec ou sans points, se hisser en deuxième semaine d’un tournoi du Grand Chelem, ce n’est pas anecdotique. Quant au COVID, sincèrement, on ne le sent pas plus que ça en se promenant dans les allées.

 

Ce sera donc un meilleur cru que l’an dernier ?

FV : En tous les cas, pour nous, l’excitation est plus forte parce qu’avec le COVID, on passait notre temps à se faire tester, on se retrouvait cas contact et puis on ne pouvait pas sortir en dehors des trajets entre notre maison et le stade. Cette année, il y a plus de vie.

 

Un pronostic pour la victoire ?

FV : J’ai du mal à imaginer Djokovic, qui n’a pas pu jouer l’Australian, qui a échoué à Roland et qui ne pourra probablement pas jouer Flushing, manquer cette opportunité. La question, c’est plutôt de savoir qui sera en finale face à lui. Et chez les femmes, Świątek est évidemment favorite, avec tout de même une petite pièce sur Ons Jabeur. 

 

Matteo Berrettini’s Brilliant Double Is a Sign of Things to Come

“There are moments when the racquet feels a little bit heavier”, Matteo Berrettini confessed during his Queen’s Club Championship run. 

“Sometimes in order to flip the match around, or the energy level, or your mindset, you have to scream, he said with a smile. You have to do something that gets into your body, into your mental mindset in that moment. I don’t feel comfortable throwing racquets or throwing balls—it’s not something I like to do. But sometimes screaming at yourself helps, because you, maybe, let the bad stuff out, and focus on the good and [the] today.” 

Matteo Berrettini’s handsome face and piercing, hazel-brown eyes beam with happiness, even if, at the end of a brilliant two-week run, they betray signs of fatigue. Having lifted two trophies within a fortnight, he is undoubtedly tired. But the wear is offset by a sense of relief, not only to be winning again, but to be competing. Flashing an attractive smile, Matteo Berrettini is happy to be back.

Following his fourth round loss to Miomir Kecmanović in March at the 2022 Indian Wells, Matteo Berrettini, feeling discomfort in his right wrist, decided to undergo surgery. An athlete’s body is their most valuable asset—the equivalent of a Formula 1 race car, the more finely—tuned, the more of an advantage over their opponents. But unlike a McLaren or a Mercedes, it is non-replaceable, a lease of life with a limited capacity for strain and hardship. 

Even if modern medicine offers solutions to stave off the inevitable, with a tennis career compressed to a single 24-hour period, those solutions amount to mere, and uncomfortable, minutes (“He’s number one in the world and I’m playing with a metal hip”, said Andy Murray about facing Novak Djokovic at this year’s Madrid Open). While most players hope to make it at least to dinner, with a few lucky ones able to grab a midnight snack, Matteo Berrettini worried when his wrist started to hurt just after lunch. 

“I think it was maybe ten days before Stuttgart, a week before Stuttgart, he said during a press conference after successfully defending his Queen’s Club Championship trophy. My hand was hurting. Not the part that I got injured, but the rest of the hand—the callus, the wrist—the hand wasn’t strong enough, Berrettini added. I wasn’t used to hitting as many balls as I was doing, as I was hitting, and I was like: ‘What if it’s not going to hold? What if it’s not going to be strong enough?’”

After the surgery took place, the long road to recovery meant that Berrettini had to skip the entirety of the European clay court season. The long layoff wasn’t so much about the prospects of his ability to play tennis in general—although he did admit there were moments when “I didn’t believe I could come back”—it was about how the injury would affect his game. It is difficult (impossible?) to find a tennis player who didn’t have to, at some point or another, adjust their game due to the wear and tear inflicted by the physical demands of the sport. Over the course of their careers, the Big Three (and in this context, even more so the Big Four), accumulated months of moulding their games to fit their ageing bodies—a sign of the relentless march of time is that, back in their prime, they would impose their bodies onto the game, changing the way tennis was played, with their skills, titanic physique, and seemingly-endless supply of stamina (“Is he going to play every point like that?”, John McEnroe cooed in the commentary box over 16-year-old Nadal upsetting then-world-number-4 Carlos Moyá in the 2003 Hamburg Masters).

For Berrettini, the questions he suddenly had to face came early in his career. “I actually thought, what if my technique has now changed because I had surgery on my hand? What if my service will not work as well as it used to?”, he admitted. 

“When I was at home, and I was injured, I was doing rehab, I was watching the matches at tournaments, and I was hurting, Berrettini said after his round of 16 win against Denis Kudla. I told myself back then, ‘When you’re going to be able to play again, you’re going to fight even harder,’ and that’s what I did today. And that’s why I think when you get injured it’s really bad, but it teaches you so much. Sometimes, you take it for granted that you can play, defend your points, win matches and lose matches. When you don’t have that chance, you really understand what is missing.”

Having recovered, Berrettini travelled to Germany for the start of the grass court season. The unfortunate timing of his injury and, as a consequence, not being able to defend his results from the 2021 clay swing, meant that, as he was recovering fitness, he was also losing points. Week by week, the hard-earned victories in Belgrade (win in ATP250), Madrid (final of a M1000), Rome (third round in a M1000), and Paris (quarterfinal of a Slam) dissipated into nothing. The ATP’s decision to strip Wimbledon of points, where Berrettini made the final the year prior, was another gut punch. Asked whether he would prefer to face Nadal or Djokovic (why not both? Looking at you, Carlito) at the upcoming Championships, he made a level-headed assessment. “I’m not saying that it’s going to be easy to beat Rafa there, but I think Novak will be tougher, Berrettini said before adding, but, anyway, to play against them I think I have to reach a certain result before. I don’t know my ranking, what it’s going to be in Wimbledon, whether I’m going to be seeded or not.”

His comeback tour began on the grassy courts of Stuttgart at the BOSS Open, an event sponsored by Hugo Boss, which, incidentally (or not?) is a brand with whom Berrettini has his own fashion line. Stepping out on court to face Radu Albot, a tour veteran and former world number 39, Berrettini was undoubtedly nervous. What followed was a hard-fought win in three sets, then another one versus Lorenzo Sonego, a straight set win (albeit in two tiebreaks) against Oscar Otte, and yet another three-setter against the toughest opponent yet, ultimately injured, Andy Murray—a man who knows a thing or two about comebacks. “I arrived in Stuttgart, Berrettini said a week later, after lifting the Queen’s trophy. I played just one set, practice, and there was a guy, a junior, so I didn’t really have a lot of match training. It was a moment like, I’m going to be here in Stuttgart, maybe play a couple of rounds if I’m lucky, and let’s see how it goes. And look where I am now!”

 

Winning back-to-back Stuttgart and Queen’s trophies, Berrettini strung together nine consecutive wins in 12 days. It is an indication of readiness, if not an outright declaration, both physical and mental, for the demands Wimbledon places on a player—the mind gets just as rusty during prolonged periods of inactivity, and whereas the body can be checked for signs of rust, the mind less so without real-match pressure.

Berrettini’s recent run of results, combined with his game’s natural predilection for grass, mean that, once again, he is at the front of the pack heading for Wimbledon (“I figured that I could play good on grass in 2019 when I played the Davis Cup against India” he said when asked about fondness for the surface. We are still joking about it with [Rohan] Bopanna because they were like ‘Okay, we’re gonna play Italy on grass because they don’t like grass.’”). His desire to do well, points or no points, is further entrenched by the loss to Novak Djokovic in last year’s Wimbledon final. And while Berrettini may not necessarily feel like he has anything to prove to others, there are things he would like to prove to himself. 

“Probably beating him [Djokovic] in a Slam is one of the toughest things you can ever think to do, he said of that match. Last year, he won three Slams and made the finals in the fourth. So it’s not easy to find a way. But one thing is for sure—every time that I play him, in a Slam, I feel I am getting closer and closer because, obviously, the more you play against someone, the more you learn about him. Also every time I play against these players, I am improving, even if I am losing a match. So I think it’s about time.”

Berrettini, like all his peers in the upper crust of tennis society, honed his game over years of ascetic devotion. The technique, chiselled from the marble of potential through endless hours of court time (and there is something of a Roman god in Berrettini—if he stood idly at the Foro Italico in Rome, you could easily mistake him for another statue), and the stamina, built up with a decade of brutal gym work, equip him with the required physicality. But the mental resilience his game shows today is something that he had to learn the hard way. 

“That’s why I improved because I got burnt, he said after a bruising encounter with Denis Kudla at Queen’s. I got hurt mentally in a way. I was able to digest the loss, but wasn’t able to digest the fact that I didn’t try to the very end. So I said to myself today, let’s try to the very end so, at least, when you wake up in the morning, you will love yourself a little more.”

Going into Wimbledon, Matteo Berrettini is ready to make a statement. But even more so, he is ready to hurt and suffer in order to improve. Over the course of his, still young, career he has learned to take the good with the bad and enjoy himself just that little bit more. At the end of the day, winning matches, or even playing tennis, is not something he can take for granted, and Berrettini, as if taking a leaf out of Rudyard Kipling’s poem If, is ready to treat triumph and disaster, those two impostors, just the same. 

“I remember one of the change-overs, I look at the glass like [it’s] half-full. I said, ‘OK, you’re here, a lot of people are watching you. Two months ago you were home doing your rehab, your pinkie wasn’t even moving, so don’t complain. Fight. Enjoy it. This is what you live for and worked for all your life.’ So that’s what I did.”

 

« Life in plastic, it’s fantastic »…

et féministe !

Cette petite effigie de plastique, au visage adolescent et à la silhouette invraisemblablement féminine, est aujourd’hui sexagénaire. Véritable référence de la pop culture au symbolisme fascinant, elle est plus qu’un simple jouet. En effet la Barbie incarne notamment toute l’évolution de la société américaine depuis les années cinquante, mais aussi, et cela malgré tous les stéréotypes qu’elle peut projeter et auxquels elle est associée, une certaine idée progressiste de la femme.

La première Barbie a été créée par Ruth Handler, qui était à cette époque vice-présidente de Mattel, pour sa fille Barbara surnommée « Barbie », alors qu’elle revenait d’un voyage en Allemagne. L’ingénieuse maman y avait découvert « Bild Lilly », une poupée adulte à taille de guêpe, à la poitrine généreuse et aux jambes dont la longueur semble infinie. C’était une poupée tout droit sortie d’une série de bande dessinée à succès présentée alors chaque jour dans le quotidien Bild Zeitung. Elle représente maintenant le « motif warholien ultime » et les valeurs par excellence de la société américaine : la jeunesse éternelle et l’opulence. Le succès de sa fulgurante commercialisation est un coup de génie marketing et son histoire est en quelque sorte une leçon de mondialisation de l’économie.

Le féminisme selon Barbie

Si l’immense succès commercial ne peut se démentir au fil du temps, c’est que Barbie, à « l’expression coulée dans le plastique », a néanmoins su s’adapter aux tendances et aux évolutions, et notamment à l’inévitable inflexibilité politique. Ainsi elle s’est transformée en astronaute quand il a fallu calmer les remontrances féministes autour de l’image de passivité qu’on lui donnait. « Nous les filles, nous pouvons faire tout ce que nous voulons », clamait-elle dans les années 80. Mais, lorsqu’on regarde les choses de plus près, on se rend compte que Barbie a toujours été libre et indépendante, elle « ne confine pas les fillettes dans une fonction nourricière, dispensatrice de caresses. Barbie est une femme de pouvoir qui ne cède pas aux avances de Ken », affirmait l’écrivaine Marie-Françoise Hanquez-Maincent dans son essai Barbie, poupée totem. 

D’ailleurs, explique Elisabeth Moet, directrice marketing de Mattel France et Belgique : « Au départ, Barbie est un flop. À l’époque, dans la société américaine des années cinquante, la priorité pour les mamans était de faire en sorte de trouver un mari à leur petite fille plutôt qu’elle se projette dans le monde de demain avec un métier. Dès l’origine du projet Barbie, l’idée était qu’à travers ce jouet, la petite fille s’imagine devenir une femme qui a le choix et une certaine liberté. D’où les multiples professions qu’elle exerce. Il existe aujourd’hui une Barbie juge, par exemple. »

Effectivement, avant Barbie, la poupée servait à apprendre à la petite fille comment devenir une bonne mère. Avec le bébé, la petite fille apprend à materner… et avec la maison de poupées, elle s’entraîne à faire le ménage ou la cuisine. Avec Barbie, que nenni, elle a un rôle émancipateur et si elle doit s’entraîner quelque part c’est uniquement sur les courts de tennis ! En 1962, seulement trois années après sa naissance, Mattel décide de coordonner Barbie et Ken avec la création de deux collections dans le thème du tennis : « Tennis for Anyone ? » pour Barbie et « Time for Tennis » pour Ken. Jouant des tons iconiques de la marque et du blanc emblématique du tennis de l’époque, c’est une dizaine de pièces qui mélangent habillement l’univers de la poupée mythique avec celui de la balle jaune. 

La liste complète de leurs vêtements et accessoires :

• Robe de tennis blanche
• Cardigan blanc avec bordure orange
• Lunettes de soleil bleues
• Cardigan blanc avec bordures bleu marine et rouge 
• T-Shirt en coton à manches courtes blanc
• Lunettes de soleil vertes 
• Chaussettes blanches
• Chaussures de tennis blanches
• Livret des règles du tennis
• Balles de tennis blanches 
• Raquettes de tennis jaunâtres aux manches noirs 

Real « Sheroes »

Au début des années 1960, une grande partie des Etats-Unis souffre encore énormément de la ségrégation raciale. Cependant la société évolue grâce à la pression exercée par le mouvement des droits civiques. Une nouvelle et importante législation étendant les droits des Noirs est votée, et en 1967 la Cour suprême juge anticonstitutionnelles les lois interdisant les mariages mixtes entre individus de couleurs différentes. Malheureusement, Martin Luther King est assassiné l’année qui suit. Pour lui rendre hommage et en même temps afficher son soutien à la communauté afro-américaine, Mattel créé la première Barbie noire. L’entreprise a toujours fait preuve d’un certain militantisme, et aujourd’hui elle continue encore. En 2018, celle-ci décide de suivre le mouvement féministe de l’ère #MeToo et se lance dans la lutte contre les stéréotypes sexistes en finançant une chaire à l’université de New York, autour du programme « Dream gap » (le plafond des rêves) sensibilisant le public aux facteurs qui empêchent les petites filles d’atteindre leurs pleins potentiels. Même objectif pédagogique pour sa chaîne YouTube où Barbie donne des conseils aux fillettes et aborde les sujets de la dépression et du harcèlement à l’école.

La même année, pour la journée internationale de la femme, l’entreprise produit une collection rendant hommage à des femmes qui ont marqué l’histoire dans leurs domaines respectifs. S’y trouvent l’aviatrice américaine Amelia Earhart et Katherine Johnson mais aussi l’artiste mexicaine Frida Kahlo, ou une mathématicienne afro-américaine qui a participé à la réussite de la mission Apollo 11. Viendra s’ajouter à la liste l’iconique Billie Jean King, dont la poupée vêtue d’une robe bicolore bleue et turquoise est un clin d’œil explicite à son match d’exhibition légendaire face à Bobby Riggs en 1973.

Ce n’est évidemment pas anodin. Au-delà d’être un simple match de tennis c’était aussi une vraie bataille idéologique. Cette année-là King vient alors de remporter trois titres de Grand Chelem, mais les primes accordées aux femmes restent bien inférieures à celles des hommes. Révoltée par les inégalités entre sexe, King fait partager au monde son ras-le-bol et exige de nouvelles conditions financières. Sous son accoutrement d’agitateur ultra macho, Riggs – par ailleurs plus attiré par l’argent et l’idée du pari  que soucieux de réellement prouver sa théorie – met au défi la joueuse américaine de remporter un match face à lui et ainsi de démontrer qui de l’homme ou de la femme est le plus fort. Il sera battu en trois petits sets et deux heures de jeu. Cette victoire symbolique – et médiatique – marquera un tournant dans l’histoire du tennis féminin puisque dans la même année l’égalité salariale entre en vigueur à l’US Open – décision fortement influencée, il faut le souligner, par la création la formation du syndicat des joueuses, la WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) créée par Billie Jean King, elle-même.

Naomi Osaka rejoint quant à elle le groupe de femmes inspirantes qui font partie de l’initiative « Sheroes » (héros au féminin) de Barbie – qui inclut notamment la gymnaste Laurie Hernandez, l’escrimeuse Ibtihaj Muhammad ou la mannequin Ashley Graham. La joueuse collaborera une deuxième fois sur une nouvelle édition nommée « Role Model » dans laquelle la Barbie revêt un ensemble Nike semblable à celui qu’elle portait lors de l’Open d’Australie en 2020.

« C’est un tel honneur de faire partie de la série Barbie Role Model et de rappeler aux jeunes filles qu’elles peuvent faire une différence dans le monde. Je veux que les jeunes filles du monde entier se sentent habilitées à rêver grand et sachent que si elles croient en elles-mêmes, tout est possible, avait-elle expliqué dans un communiqué de presse. C’est quelque chose de fort, car quand j’étais enfant, je jouais beaucoup à la poupée Barbie ». Née d’une mère japonaise et d’un père haïtien, la joueuse s’est dite fière de « représenter les gens qui pensent qu’ils ne le sont pas ». « C’est vraiment un objectif important pour moi », avait-t-elle insisté.

Comme Billie Jean King, il n’y a pas que sur les courts de tennis que la joueuse engage l’échange et impose son style. En témoigne cet acte fort lors du tournoi de Cincinnati en 2020, quand elle a refusé de jouer sa demi-finale pour protester contre les violences policières aux Etats-Unis après la mort de George Floyd et les tirs par balles sur Jacob Blake. Elle avait réussi, le temps d’une journée, à mettre  le monde du tennis en pause, et obligé  les organisateurs à suivre le mouvement en reportant finalement la rencontre au lendemain. On l’a aussi vue entrer sur le terrain avec des masques au nom des personnes afro-américaines victimes de ces mêmes violences policières lors de l’US Open de la même année. Après avoir reçu une amende et avoir été menacée d’exclusion par la direction du tournoi de Roland-Garros 2021, la Japonaise avait finalement choisi de se retirer de la compétition et avait partagé, sur les réseaux sociaux, un long texte dans lequel elle faisait part de sa détresse psychologique. Rouvrant ainsi le débat (ultra tabou) autour de la santé mentale. 

Barbie n’a jamais cessé d’évoluer avec son temps. Au commencement, ses hobbies sont semblables à ceux des adolescentes : elle fait par exemple  du baby-sitting, elle sort en discothèque… Puis elle entre en faculté dans les années 1970 et fait carrière la décennie suivante. Elle a toujours pratiqué du sport et suivi le style vestimentaire de son époque, la mode étant effectivement l’un des fils conducteurs majeurs de son évolution. Aujourd’hui, elle est le reflet du monde que les enfants – et les plus grands – voient autour d’eux, un monde de diversité et dans lequel on peut devenir qui l’on veut. En somme, Barbie est bien plus complexe et utile que la simple image de bimbo à laquelle elle est assimilée alors il serait peut-être temps de la prendre au sérieux et de parler d’autres choses que de ses mensurations.

Article publié dans notre Courts no. 3 anglais, été 2022.

Wimbledon Qualification

Day 4, All to Play For

“You are a Wimbledon qualifier“, on day four this is the end goal for everyone, the strive to hear these words is the motivation. This is it the final day of Wimbledon qualifications where one more result can help change your tennis life, you can say I played a grand slam.

Spectator participation was high again, the stands were packed. Today player interviews were being conducted after each match knowing there would be higher emotions with that main draw slot being the prize.

Even though this was an important day there was still a calm over the Roehampton complex, high pitched screams could only be heard over one court otherwise only the calling of the scores could be heard.There were no easy matches today, you could see by looking at the scoreboard this was hustle day!

After some mild drizzle in the morning slightly delaying the start of the day the high temperatures were still there and the sun was starting to show itself again.

Umbrellas up over the players at change of ends as they sat there contemplating their next move of the chessboard. The thought process trying not to get ahead of themselves and visualising entering that main draw. Talking it point by point, tactical move by move how could they exploit their opponents weakness to give them that end prize that they so badly wanted.

The confidence was now increasing on grass more slice was being used off both sides, the drop shots ever increasing and staying at the back of the court was becoming less of the main preference. The volley was becoming more of the players friend realising that this could be the clincher, a way to shorten the rally and help close out the point. I could hear some coaches comments “Wow ! I’ve never seen her come to the net like that.” Grass forces you to change your patterns and go to shots you sometimes use little on other surfaces.

The results coming in it was great to see new mum Yanina Wickmayer qualify, Wickmayer said “this is honestly an amazing moment for me its been a hell of a ride.”

Australia came out well with four Australian woman qualifying for the main draw, this hasn’t happened since 1983. For Astra Sharma the qualify was especially sweet as last year she had been a set up and a break up before loosing, qualifying is always exciting but this year she realised just how much it meant,. For Australia this has proved a good tournament having eleven players in the draw and converting four into that converted main draw place , the goal of course is to have 11 in the main draw without having to qualify! Having Ash Barty as a role model seems to have had a golden effect !

The most emotion has to have been shown from Mexican Contreras – Gomez she beat Timea Babos in a long tough battle to get that illustrious main draw place. As she realised this was it she had done it she let out a scream and fell to her knees embracing the grass. Her native flag came out and lots of hugging was to be had from family and friends, her grandfather having played at Wimbledon made it extra special. He had reached the last 8 at Wimbledon and was part of the famous last 8 club enabling him to come and watch her in the main draw.

So there we have it as the last match was completed around 6.30 pm and those golden tickets had been handed out we come back to “the stage awaits!”

As this centinery year begins and homage is paid to centre court the proceedings will begin on Monday.

Wimbledon will enter its gates once again with no covid restrictions and the celebrations can begin. We look forward to this unique tournament beginning, the amazing atmosphere and that English heritage showing itself again, Wimbledon we embrace you and your centinery year.

Wimbledon Qualification

Day 3, Inspiration

Everyday new ideas and innovations are appearing at this tournament. As the sun continued to shine and the temperatures continued to soar, the All England Club had taken pity on the melting spectators. Today on entering the grounds a big screen had appeared next to the innovative mini grass courts where spectators were able to watch the tennis on the big screen under teepee style tents. Young kids were able to glance at the screen to get inspiration and motivation dreaming of playing in the famous historical event whilst buying into this years theme of “the stage awaits“.

You get a strong feeling this year of inspiring the young. With the mini grass courts and the commercial advertising the BBC are using of animation to promote the tournament. In addition to this the second week of the championships will include an u14 exhibition tournament to inspire and encourage both the competing young and the next generation.

Though the qualification event is fiercely competitive outside the courts the atmosphere is relaxed and calm. With the extra seating on all courts and courts having been spaced out everybody gets a clear view . There is no hustle and bustle as there can be on the outside courts at the main event and no standing on tip toes to get a glimpse of you favourite player, it would go under the hashtag of #spectatorsatisfaction!

Day 3 provided both a mix of male and females players and with the dry weather there was little sliding and slipping around the court, a firm grasp was felt under foot.

I sat most of the afternoon with my friend Paul Kilderry from Tennis Australia as we watched the Australians compete of both men and woman as they fought it out next to each other. Both players we watched had come back from some serious injuries and surgeries, 4 knee surgeries for one of the players, but the lure of the famous grand slam had pulled them back in to compete, after all Aussies and grass historically go together!

Players famously try and make their comeback at Wimbledon but on the other side they also like to retire there, history and the final page plays a big part in a person tennis career.

As I leave I see a coaching colleague playing mini tennis on the grass courts with his son.I am happy to take pictures and videos of them playing tennis together, who knows if in years to come his son will be playing at Wimbledon,either way we made memories for the family album.

We look forward to Day 4 the testing day when everything is on the line to have that gold(or green!) qualifying place and be part of ‘the stage awaits’.

Wimbledon Qualification

Day 2, Ladies Day 

Yet again we were blessed with more glorious blue sky and radiant sunshine to start day 2 of the Wimbledon qualification process.
After entering the vast expanse of rolling green grass courts, first stop was to look at the new Centre Court that is being seeded and built for next year. A new practice area will also be built at the front of the club so spectators get to watch the warm ups of their favorite players again increasing spectator participation.

With ladies day always being Wimbledon Tuesday and in this special centenary year more female history was in the making. It was very apt that British player Sarah Beth Gray became part of Wimbledon history. Having been 1 set and 3-5 down, Beth as we know her clawed her way back to play the first 10 point tie break at 6-all in Wimbledon history to clinch the victory. Having had heart surgery only a few months ago it was also great to be part of history in a positive way. Exciting for me having known her and her tennis journey for a long time and to see this result .

Also on an injury comeback was previous doubles runner-up Timea Babos. It was good to see her return to the court having sustained the injury in last years at Wimbledon. She had a convincing 6-1 6-1 win over Katharina Gerlach. On a positive female theme It was good to see mothers competing, one of these being Yanina Wickmayer who in her 13th year playing Wimbledon confessed that she found grass her favorite surface to play on and just loved the special atmosphere that surrounded Wimbledon.

Around the courts various conversations were had about the lack of points this Wimbledon but everyone agreed that Wimbledon still came out the worthy winner of being a unique event that players wanted to compete in and of course there is still the prize money! With players from around the world competing 7 Australian women progressed to the next round strengthening their pool of players.

Spectators were delighted and grateful with the new spectator tents where some shade could be taken and sun lotion reapplied as the temperatures continued to soar. Though there is not so much pimms and strawberries consumed at this event you will see more enthused tennis fans not wanting to waste much time away from the competitive court. The tents provide another welcomed addition provided by the all England club for people to take a quick rest bite before heading back to the courts to watch more high quality tennis.

It was interesting to see some great grass court tennis from the likes of Argentinian player Nadia Podoroska, where you would expect to see higher clay court tennis being played. Great tactical awareness could be seen of the bounce of the ball, increased slice work and the charging of the net.

Especially pleasing for me was to see a young player I had formerly coached, Ranah Stoiber aged 17, being given a wild card into the event . Having had a good run at her first junior Wimbledon last year and a couple of good grass court weeks leading up to the qualifying she tried to make the most of her debut but narrowly missed out 7-5 in the third set. It’s always nice to see the younger ones coming through when it only seems like yesterday you were starting their journey!

Day 3 looks likely to provide another filled day of tennis with both the men and women playing their second rounds and the sun yet again shining down on the courts!

Virgil Abloh

the reinventor, Quote Unquote, Remembered

Trailblazer, visionary, polymath, genius.

These are just some of the words that have been used to describe the late, brilliant fashion designer and entrepreneur Virgil Abloh. His passing on 28 November 2021, after battling a rare form of cancer at the tender age of 41 has created an inextinguishable void in the art and fashion world. But the void is also felt in the tennis world, particularly through a short but impactful collaboration which produced some of the most iconic and dramatic tennis outfits to grace today’s professional tour. 

Fast forward to March 2022, when Abloh’s final collection from his luxury label Off-White was unveiled posthumously at Paris Fashion Week to emotional applause. Showcasing his final designs on the catwalk were names from fashion’s aristocracy: Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Kendall Jenner, and Karlie Kloss. Amongst them, walked none other than tennis’s aristocracy, Abloh’s dear friend and muse—Serena Williams. On her Instagram account, Serena shared a clip, commenting that “it was truly an honor being part of my good friend Virgil’s last Off-White show”.

Abloh and Serena had become close friends since their first Nike collaboration for the 2018 US Open. Just 4 months earlier, Serena had worn a black Nike catsuit at the French Open to much controversy debating whether it was suitable tennis attire. The outfit choice was based on her health. After a history of blood clots and experiencing life-threatening complications during childbirth, the catsuit provided body compression. However, it was later banned, as announced by the French Tennis Federation president. Serena’s stylish response to the criticism materialized 4 months later, thanks to Abloh. The collection was aptly named “The Queen collection”, which was unveiled (of course), in Queens, New York. The collaboration had been much hyped throughout the fashion press. Abloh was the man of the moment. 2018 was his year: the year that he was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. It was also the year that Abloh became Artistic Director of Louis Vuitton menswear. His stock was rapidly rising.

 

This marked the beginning of Serena’s revolutionary and emblematic look, breaking the boundaries of what defined tennis wear. These on-court outfits became a metaphor for the way she felt at the time. As she walked out onto Arthur Ashe Stadium, Serena sensationally emerged from the tunnel to rapturous applause. She wore a dress, the skirt of which had—of all things: a tulle tutu. This was an outfit unlike anything previously seen on tour. Unlike the other outfits that year at Flushing Meadows, this did not look like tennis wear. Was it fashion, or was it sport? It was both: a fashion-sport hybrid.

The dress was a homage to Serena’s love of dancing and ballet. It was about having fun, whilst showcasing her personality, passion, and strength. Cut asymmetrically on the body, the outfit had Abloh’s recognisable nuance: quoted words. The Nike swoosh logo on the chest had the words “logo” printed above it. “Serena” was embellished on a single sleeve. Fishnet compression tights completed the ensemble. Abloh had designed two colourways: lilac for daytime matches, and black for night. As with many of Abloh’s creations, this was a tennis dress reimagined, as he explained: “I was trying to embody her spirit and bring something compelling and fresh to tennis…So the dress is feminine but combines her aggression. It’s partially revealing. It’s asymmetrical. It has a sort of ballerina-esque silhouette to symbolize her grace. It’s not about bells and whistles and tricks. It’s just about it living on the body and expressing Serena’s spirit with each swing of the racket.”¹ That tutu was the embodiment of Serena Williams. It represented grace, power, and determination. Its beauty lay in its silhouette whilst in motion. Nobody else could have carried it off as perfectly as her. The photographs of a balletic Serena in action wearing that dress are breathtakingly dramatic. Only Serena could do it. Only Abloh could do it for her. And together, like some of the world’s best artist/muse collaborations, they did. 

Their second collaboration happened the following year, for the 2019 French Open. In true Abloh style, this outfit also seemed inconceivable on a tennis court. The black and white press preview photographs showed Serena and Abloh together; Abloh in ripped jeans and a Nike hoodie, Serena in a black and white zebra print ensemble including a floor length skirt with a high side split. It had a matching crop top and jacket. When she walked onto the French red clay that May, the floor length skirt was replaced by a short skirt, paired with the crop top and jacket. Mesh netting showcased her impressively toned abs. Once again, Abloh had embellished the outfit with his signature quoted words. Serena’s superhero style caped jacket shouted female empowerment, with “mother, champion, queen and goddess” in French. This was a direct response to her previous year’s critics. The point was made, stylishly and clearly. When Jon Wertheim asked Serena post-match what she thought of the outfit, she said “it’s all positive reinforcement for me. And I kind of love that”.² This, she said, made her feel like a warrior. She later commented that “it talks about me being a mom and me being a queen, as all women are. A champion”.³

In tennis, there was no better partnership. Both had much in common: unorthodox, breaking boundaries, and successful upon their own merits. Abloh considered Serena a leader for future generations. He wanted to work with people like him who saw no limits, who could help lift and inspire others. He once said, “What I’ve learned … with design is that there is an inherent style and focus that exists amongst athletes and designers alike: What propels them to be the best comes from deep within.”⁴ Like Abloh, Serena has always been a moderniser. Her unconventional fashion sense goes back years. Think back to the short micro jumpsuit from US Open 2002, or the denim skirt and knee-high (yes, knee-high!) biker style boots in 2004. Nobody had quite dressed like this before on court. Their collaboration was destiny. 

But Abloh’s foray into the tennis world didn’t start with Serena. He had always wanted to work with Nike. So, in 2016, he collaborated with Nike to design ‘The Ten’: a range of Nike’s classic sneaker styles. But rebuilt and ‘remixed’ by Abloh. They were an outstanding success, quadrupling the retail price in the secondary market, making them highly collectable. The following year, Abloh redesigned an Off-White x Nike Air Jordan 1 pair, in a classic red and white colourway for Roger Federer. They had Abloh’s trademark flourish. Right there, unmistakably on the midsole, was a hand scribbled “Federer”, quoted and in permanent marker. Federer wore the sneakers at the 2017 US Open’s Arthur Ashe Kids Day. Last summer, Abloh designed wedding outfits for the lavender-themed wedding of Elina Svitolina with Gael Monfils, in custom Off-White. Svitolina wore a cream gown with lavender tulle. Monfils wore a 3-piece lavender suit to match. Upon the news of Abloh’s death, Monfils paid a touching tribute on Instagram: “I am so devastated by the news and still can’t believe it. I had the privilege to talk with you during those years and you were a true inspiration for me. Only a few months ago you gave us the honor to design Elina wedding dress. I’m forever grateful for our connection. My prayers go to your family”.

On 8 April, Nike released a posthumous collaboration sneaker with Off-White, “in accordance with Abloh’s wishes”.⁵ Unsurprisingly, it sold out immediately. Only a month later, on 21 May, another posthumous sneaker was unveiled at an exhibition at the Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse in Brooklyn, USA. Abloh had masterminded one of his most ambitious projects just before his death: a collaboration between Nike and Louis Vuitton. The product of that marriage is the “Air Force 1”, with 47 editions released for Spring/Summer 2022. The pieces are museum collection worthy, showpieces in their own right. We can certainly expect these investables to be traded and re-traded for years to come in the grey market. Described as “a heritage Nike design, tweaked with Louis Vuitton iconography, and manufactured in the Louis Vuitton atelier in Venice⁶”, this sneaker is pure Abloh: a juxtaposition of streetwear and luxury. 9 of the 47 editions will be on sale from June.

 This July marks another milestone in Abloh’s chronology. Coinciding with Wimbledon, 1 July 2022 will also be the opening day of the exhibition that Abloh will sadly never see. Before his death, Abloh had been meticulously planning every detail of his retrospective exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum entitled “Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech”. What began as a travelling exhibition, was scheduled to culminate in its final iteration at the museum. And to appreciate the concept of this exhibition is to understand the man behind it. 

Abloh named his successful label Off-White, because it is “the gray area between black and white as the color Off-White.”⁷ Perhaps also reflective of himself, who wanted no compartmentalisation. He was much more than a fashion designer. In a sense, a jack of all trades. Trained as an architect, Abloh had an unconventional start in the fashion world. He didn’t go to fashion school, but worked in street fashion, with young creatives, graffiti artists and hip-hop DJs. Through an internship at Fendi, Abloh met and eventually collaborated with rapper Kanye West before setting up his own labels, including Off-White and becoming the groundbreaking artistic director of Louis Vuitton, where he wanted to “define the title of artistic director for a new and different era”.⁸ His very first collection made an impact, blurring the lines between fashion, art, music, politics. His collaborations through the years have showcased his diversity, from Ikea furniture to Rimowa luggage to music. Abloh once collaborated and DJ’d for Pioneer, designing transparent DJ consoles, which were then exhibited at the Chicago Museum for the Figures of Speech exhibition. 

Arguably, the quoted words in his creations are amongst the most recognisable characteristics. They were to provide irony, make people think, and to strip things back to their basic function. He labelled some of the most prosaic things, like shoelaces (with the label “shoelaces” in quotes), plastic zip ties, furniture and even bottles of Evian water! Rihanna once wore a pair of $1,000 stiletto over-the-knee white leather boots embellished with “For Walking” up the back of the boots. She wore them on stage, but they were for anything but walking. To Abloh, these ordinary objects were sculptures or pieces of art⁹. 

And art was everything to Abloh. In some respects, he was today’s Andy Warhol. Like Warhol, he brought a fresh new look and value to everyday objects by reworking them into new pieces of art. Much like Warhol’s soup cans, this reworking caused controversy throughout his career but also brought great success. Like resampling an old song in hip-hop, Abloh was the DJ of his creations, remixing images of old masterpieces, and showing them in a fresh modern light. He loved 17^th century baroque paintings as much as he loved graffiti art. Each season became a lesson in art history, as he focused on a single artist, from Édouard Manet to Leonardo da Vinci to Jean-Michel Basquiat. (Naomi Osaka has been spotted wearing one of the Mona Lisa Off-White hoodies when off court)! But the most referenced artist in Abloh’s collections was the Italian master of chiaroscuro, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. 

Abloh printed Caravaggio’s The Entombment of Christ, Madonna of the Rosary, Annunciation, Narcissus, Saint Jerome Writing and The Seven Works of Mercy across his collections—on t-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies. Perhaps one reason why Abloh liked Caravaggio so much was because, like himself, Caravaggio was controversial. Michael Darling, of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago wrote in the Forward of the “Figures of Speech” exhibition book, that “Abloh was “blown away” by Caravaggio’s innovative use of the painting technique known as chiaroscuro and how it changed history … Abloh says that studying the Renaissance “rewired” his brain and that chiaroscuro made him realize that art wasn’t just for rich people”¹⁰. Intriguingly, there is a tennis connection. Allegedly, Caravaggio was so passionate about tennis, that shortly before his death he was on the run from killing a man over a tennis match!

The July exhibition is about much more than just design or fashion. The pandemic and 2020 racial protests in the US made Abloh rethink the plan to make it more political. Consequently, the museum’s centrepiece will be a black house. The house has been constructed with unmatched doors/windows. Although everything works, nothing fits. The construction is symbolic of “negritude architecture… Or the way Black people make things, houses or magazine stands in Harlem, for instance”.¹¹ Things are deconstructed, and re-designed, like converting a tutu into a tennis skirt. This transformative approach was applied at Louis Vuitton. He once repurposed a classic Louis Vuitton trunk into a boombox. Louis Vuitton’s origins were as a trunk maker. Abloh’s reinvention attracted a new demographic. This exhibition is certain to make a lasting impact.

 

Both collections that Abloh designed for Serena show his profound understanding and respect for one of the greatest athletes of our time. Only an artist who knows their muse well can bring out the best in them, and vice versa. Art history has shown us the best examples: Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Pablo Picasso and Dora Maar or Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick amongst others. Likewise in fashion, collaborations between Ines de la Fressange and Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, Hubert de Givenchy, and Audrey Hepburn, Azzedine Alaïa and Grace Jones have produced the most iconic looks still admired today.

Amongst the most notable tennis muse collaborations from the past were the creations of fashion designer Ted Tinling, throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Like Abloh, Tinling created tennis dresses that were considered daring and ahead of their time. He too had deep rapport with his muses, who were champions: Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, and Chris Evert. Over 50 years later, the tennis world was treated albeit briefly, to Abloh-Serena. There could have been many more outfits to come. 

Virgil Abloh had so much more to give to the world. Whether we hear of an imminent posthumous tennis collection or not, one thing is certain: Serena and Abloh had only just begun.

 

Story published in Courts no. 3, Summer 2022.

¹ www.nylon.com/articles/nike-the-queen-collection-virgil-abloh-for-serena-williams

² www.highsnobiety.com/p/serena-williams-french-open-outfit-off-white/

³ https://fashionista.com/2019/05/serena-williams-french-open-2019-off-white-outfit

⁴ https://news.nike.com/news/virgil-abloh-nike-the-10

⁵ www.complex.com/sneakers/off-white-nike-blazer-low-first-posthumous-virgil-abloh-collab

⁶ Caramanica, Jon. “Louis Vuitton Meets Nike in Virgil Abloh’s Dream Sneaker”. New York Times. 20/05/22 URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/style/louis-vuitton-nike-virgil-abloh.html

⁷ http://web.pdx.edu/~allstott/hypebeasthistory/offwhite.html

⁸ http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/jun/21/virgil-abloh-louis-vuitton-debut-show-paris-menswear-spring-summer-2019

⁹ www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/in-search-of-virgil-abloh

¹⁰ www.complex.com/style/virgil-abloh-off-white-best-art-references

¹¹ www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/in-search-of-virgil-abloh

Wimbledon qualies

The start up of “the stage awaits”

As you approach the club you instantly see the difference since the All England Club has taken over this venue. Smart signs and Wimbledon borders guide you into the club. The layout has changed with grass mini tennis courts available for kids to get their first taster of the hallowed turf. New food and canteen areas are available and there is definitely more of a professional Wimbledon vibe to the tournament.

Day 1 starts with the mens draw and both players and spectators were blessed with fantastic weather. Some players still struggled to find whites and even at this level there can be a mad dash to find white kit if you have no sponsor. As you would expect the quality of the matches was strong but you could see the majority of the players that had come off the clay courts struggling to adjust to the different bounce, speed of the ball and different footwork patterns needed. A couple of the matches only lasted 45 mins as some struggled more than others.

As the sun bounced off the crisp whites which are obligatory for both the Wimbledon qualification and main draw the style of slice, drop shot and volley was there across all matches. Larger practise areas and player tents make the whole complex seem bigger with more seating which also gives spectators a more comfortable watch. The crisp bounce of the ball and linesman’s calls could be heard across the open spaced  complex.

Matches were able to continue right through to 7pm which is always a great start for the tournament director. Let’s hope the good weather continues throughout the week and it will be interesting  to see extra additions that the All England  club introduces. Roll on day 2 the woman’s draw .