LOVE ALL AT THE NET
In Wimbledon's first week, Buster Mottram
the former British No. 1, explains why sex and tennis are inseparable
THE well publicised, tightly fitting dresses which Mary Pierce 'barely' wears on court illustrate the close relationship tennis has always had with sex. The public (particu- larly hot-blooded Gallic males) are stunned and sometimes even shocked. Her attire often becomes the talking point of the tournament, as Suzanne Lenglen's was in the Twenties.
Sex and tennis are two peas in a pod as inseparable as Torville and Dean. This has always been the case, ever since the game was established in the latter part of the 19th century. In an era when social proprieties between men and women (at least in public) were strictly observed, ten- nis offered the sexes the opportunity to fraternise and for courtship and possibly marriage to develop without offending social mores.
Most tennis was played privately on vicarage lawns or at country houses by well-to-do people, as there were few tennis clubs in existence at the time. When Thomas Hardy in 1887 described young people as being 'so madly devoted to ten- nis that they set about it like day labourers at the moment of their arrival', he failed to notice or chose to ignore (more likely) the highly charged sexual nature of the game.
It was at one of these events that Margot Asquith (born Tennant) met Arthur Bal- four, prime minister and future president of the Lawn Tennis Association. Love blossomed, to be replaced in later years by a lifelong friendship which continued after her marriage to another future prime min- ister, Henry Asquith.
More recently, the late Harold Wilson met Mary, his wife to be, at the Wirral Lawn Tennis Club on a weekend club afternoon. He was there to watch his father play in a match, but so delectable was the sight of young Mary that Harold joined the club instantly and reputedly bought a 15-shilling racket, though he never played the game.
Perhaps an even more notable example of marriage being arranged over the net is that of the present Emperor of Japan, Aki- hito, who met his sweetheart at a tennis party in Tokyo. So burning was his passion for the future empress that he was pre- pared to defy the royal court and marry a `commoner'.
John Betjeman, no mean tennis player himself, waxed lyrical about Miss J. Hunter Dunn, when he wrote:
Love-thirty, love-forty, oh! weakness of joy, The speed of a swallow, the grace of a boy, With carefullest carelessness, gaily you won, I am weak from your loveliness, Joan Hunter Dunn.
In 'Olympic Girl' he was more explicit, writing:
Oh I would I were her racket press'd With hard excitement to her breast ... And then, with what supreme caress You'd tuck me into my press, Fair tigress of the tennis courts, So short in sleeve and strong in shorts.
The poet laureate understood all ton well the appeal of tennis to the epicurer personality. Nothing could be more desir- able for such people than playing social tennis on a warm evening after a stressful day's work, followed by a barbecue or drinks in convivial surroundings. Barriers are soon broken down and tennis, like the cares of the day, is quickly forgotten. This explains the popularity of mixed" club evenings in comparison with single-sex events. Even today, it is so much easier for the sexes to meet one another in these organised club tennis evenings when they are grouped together, as opposed to having to 'break the ice' and affect an introduction artificially with a perfect stranger at, say, a wine bar, or for the young at a discotheque, or for the brash on the Tube! With the greater sexual openness of modern society, it is not unusual to see ten- nis used as a conduit in lonely hearts adver- tisements. Frequently one reads, `Curvaceous brunette seeks partner for . . tennis . . . friendship and possible romance.' Tennis is now recognised, even by those with a superficial interest in the game, as the cement that can bond a prospective relationship. For those who are married or an 'item' it adds sparkle, as is the case with William and Caroline Wald - grave, and Harold Pinter and Antonia Fraser, who play regularly with their respective spouses. The beauty of tennis is that it is one of the few sports where men and women can play alongside or against one another at club level. The game is very physical and Its movements and sounds can be sexually sug- gestive — the power, speed and piercing shriek of a man's service delivery can be a great turn-on for women. Likewise, the thrill of seeing an attractive woman flash her embroidered knickers (remember Got:" geous Gussie) as she bends and stretches Is central to the male fantasy. Priestley used to salivate at the beauty of women's ankles exposed during exercise long before foot fetishism went public with Alan Clark's , drooling over Mrs Thatcher's ankles and John Bryan's infamous toe-sucking. The French championships have recently appeared to be encouraging titillation, Per," haps with a view to becoming the world s top tennis fashion parade as well as being the toughest of the four Grand Slam events to win. Women will always be attracted to athletic, young, muscular men in short and often tight-fitting shorts. Now it seems that men's interests could be heightened further by beautiful, scantily clad girls sporting flesh-revealing outfits a la Pierce. But not, sadly, at Wimbledon. The Granddaddy of the Slams will not abide contraventions of its rules on dress.
The author is a former British No. 1 and 14th world ranked tennis player.
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