He is going to have to work on his joy, MaliVai Washington is. Even before his concluding volley smacked off the venerable and unimpressed sod of Centre Court, Washington was on his knees, fists clenched, mouth agape, eyes washed in exuberant relief.
This is final-match gratitude, Bjorn Borg stuff, Andre Agassi antics, Boris Becker behavior, prematurely and politically correct.
Should Washington beat Holland’s Richard Krajicek for the Wimbledon men’s title Sunday, there will have to be more where that came from.
“You know this is the biggest match of your life,” Washington said, sounding like a TV promo. “You know you will experience the ecstasy of victory or the agony of defeat. Fortunately, today I have the ecstasy.”
Todd Martin, agony on the other side, stared ahead in numb disbelief. Martin had lost the longest semifinal fifth set ever at Wimbledon, 10-8, after being up 5-1, a classic choke, a Novotna-level gag.
“I obviously froze up a little bit,” Martin said.
The two Americans, tour friends, resort neighbors, practice partners, met at the net to share the private residue of their struggle, over two days, through rain delays, up the hierarchy, over the seeds, past more celebrated countrymen, through the regret of the ticket-holders, each man to be defined by what had just happened.
“It’s a moment you dream about,” Washington said. “I appreciate the heck out of it.”
Washington now would be the game and tenacious survivor, admired and recounted, forever, at the very least, a Wimbledon finalist.
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Martin would be the enduring choker, stained until his next opportunity to change opinion, though Martin will need to find a moment as large as this one. The truth is that both men had eaten from the same apple. It was just that Martin took bigger bites.
“I told Mal to win it,” Martin said. “When he comes home, he better throw me a party.”
This will be the least pedigreed men’s final ever, the first between two unseeded players, though Krajicek probably should have been given a number.
“I am No. 13 in the world,” he said.
And Krajicek has beaten two former champions–Michael Stich and Pete Sampras–while the only player of quality Washington had to beat was Martin.
“The toughest opponent was myself,” Krajicek said. “I beat Stich and Sampras with better tennis. I played so well there was nothing they could do.”
Nor could Australian Jason Stoltenberg, gone in straight sets. Unlike the elated Washington, Krajicek treated his achievement with barely a shrug.
“I’m on a mission, focused,” Krajicek said. “I’m not unbelievably happy. There is still tomorrow, one more step.”
Martin had thrown in three double faults and three unforced forehand errors in the two service games he had to win. More amazing than going from obvious winner to unstrung loser in four games was Martin’s quiet and classy explanation of how it went wrong.
“You get mad at yourself,” Martin said, “you laugh at yourself. You experience the whole gamut of emotions.
“I think it’s a game. I mean, I’ve practiced a lot of times and I’ve never felt a feeling like today. That’s why I play. If I had won, it would have been the greatest feeling I’ve had in the game.
“To lose it makes me realize that right now I don’t have a grip on the game overall. Now it’s back to the practice court and hopefully next time it won’t be so difficult.”
Ready or not, Washington becomes his generation’s Arthur Ashe, though he says his priority for succeeding goes from self to family and then to others.
“I consider it an honor to be the first black man since Arthur to be in a Slam final,” Washington said, “an American.”
Ashe, a sixth seed, defeated No. 1 Jimmy Connors at Wimbledon 21 years ago.
“I was only 5 years old,” Washington said, “but I’ve seen match point since. Serve out wide, high volley winner.”
Familiar.