Editor’s Note: But for the COVID-19 pandemic, Wimbledon would now be underway. During the next two weeks ATPTour.com will look back on memorable matches and happenings at the grass-court Grand Slam. This story was originally published on 5 July 2017.

The Climb. Everybody in the tennis world knows it, and those old enough vividly remember their surprise in witnessing the unique celebration. Now a staple of any finals day at a major championship — 14 players since 1987 have scaled the Centre Court architecture at The Championships — and those triumphant few at Wimbledon pay homage to Pat Cash, the original climber to his family and friends. The Wimbledon champion, who dared to dream and delivered 30 years ago.

Having punched away a forehand volley — his 52nd winner on the world’s most famous lawn — to beat World No. 1 Ivan Lendl 7-6(5), 6-2, 7-5, Cash turned to his team and raised his arms to the sky in celebration of the ultimate prize. After a period of thought on his courtside chair, Cash ran 16 steps across Centre Court and deep into the crowd — a standing-room only area. “For a moment, I had stared at them and waved,” says Cash, 30 years on. “I almost chickened out for a minute, because I could see people lining up already and the presentation party getting ready.” But up the Australian went, and as he drew closer to a television commentary box, below his family and friends, doubts started to creep in.

“I joke about it that I beat three top players to win the Wimbledon title, but all people remember me for now is going up into the stands,” says Cash. “It was pre-planned, but I didn’t think about it too well. I didn’t want to jinx it, so I didn’t think about how to get up there or who to hug first.”

Ian Barclay, his coach for the past 11 years, watched on in horror. “I didn’t know anything about it,” says Barclay, a coach for 50 years. “It frightened the hell out of me, as there was a 30-foot drop, as that area was a standing room only area.” Darren Cahill, who had practised with Cash prior to the semi-finals and final, and has returned to the locker room after losing the mixed doubles final with Nicole Provis, recalls, “I remember thinking, ‘What in the hell is he doing?’ Like everyone, I suppose. But it was great, spontaneous and emotional… very similar to the way Cashy has always lived his life.”

A phoney ‘priest’ with a dog collar, who isn’t of the cloth, but has got through the Doherty Memorial Gates and blagged his way onto Centre Court, watched Cash’s climb through his camera lens, taking photos on a polaroid. Cash climbed onto the shoulders of the ‘priest’ to the next level. Shortly after the spectator gave his snaps to Barclay, who, despite the polaroids fading over the past 30 years, treasures the photos to this day.

“When I got there, I didn’t realise there wasn’t any seats to stand on,” says Cash. “It was standing room only. I was regretting it midway up, but I thought I was going to make myself the biggest fool of all time. I was thinking about turning around, going down and back onto the court. But I knew I couldn’t do that, so it took me a while to test out the strength of the commentary box roof.”

Meanwhile, His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent, had left his wicker chair, before walking down the Royal Box steps and out onto the sport’s cathedral. He stood beside the trophy, perched on a table covered by the Union Flag. You can set your watch to the time between match point and the start of the trophy presentation. Since first awarding the trophy to Rod Laver in 1969, no presentation of the Duke’s had been delayed. ‘Buzzer’ Hadingham, in his fifth year as the All England Club Chairman, a man of considerable personal charm and a first-class communicator, was getting twitchy.

The wait is almost over.

Dick Enberg, now 82, was commentating with the late Bud Collins for NBC from the commentary box in 1987 that Cash climbed onto, then over a ledge to the friends’ box. Enberg remembers, “During the course of the final, our NBC director, Ted Nathanson, had trained a camera on Cash’s father sitting in the stands. The rugged-looking character, wearing a cap, reacted by clenching his fist whenever his son made a brilliant shot. When Pat Cash junior and senior bear-hugged, it was a manly embrace — every son hugging their father.”

“That’s what it was all about,” admits Cash. “I had this team. They were really important to me and my Dad, who managed the business side with IMG, was everything to me. Afterwards, the chairman came up to me and said, ‘Enjoy the moment, but promise me you won’t do it again.’ He said it because I kept members of the Royal Family waiting.”

The 11-year journey, since Barclay had first begun coaching Cash at Heatherdale Tennis Club, founded by Harry Hopman, was complete. “Mr. B, one day do you think I can win Wimbledon? Will you stick with me?” asked the young Cash, very single-minded and always dedicated to what he was doing.

Cash was always different. “It’s always the one who was the last on the court and wanted to keep practising that eventually makes it,” says Barclay, who coached five national champions from the club in a 14-year period. “You needed a tractor to pull him off the courts. When other guys had had enough, he’d continuously say ‘Let’s keep going.’ You have to want to do the work deep down. You have to have tunnel vision over what you want in life. Pat never needed to be encouraged.”

On a trip to Italy in 1981, sponsored by members of the tennis club, Barclay took five youngsters, including Cash, across to Italy, where seven of the eight quarter-finalists, including Stefan Edberg, Guy Forget and Emilio Sanchez, would later make it into the world’s Top 10. “I don’t remember seeing that quality in a junior tournament in 50 years of coaching. When Pat won the singles title, beating Edberg, I can remember walking away and saying to my wife, ‘This guy’s going to win something super one day. He’s just an incredible competitor.’

“He was just a kid, but he was a super athlete, super strong physically and mentally. As a result of this dedication Pat won the Victoria Hard Courts at 16, the Australian Hard Courts at 17 and his first Davis Cup match at 17 beating ‘Flossie’ [John Lloyd], who’d been runner-up in the 1977 Australian Open. Incredible, he was a baby.” Fitzy [John Fitzgerald], when he would partner Cash, would often say, ‘I’m playing with Superman.’”

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For all of their epic battles, one thing that the ATP Head2Head series between Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras lacks is five-set battles. But their 1993 Wimbledon quarter-final that started as a mismatch would end as a compelling affair that marked the first of only two five-set matches in their rivalry.

Sampras withstood a fightback from defending champion Agassi to prevail 6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4 in their debut grass-court meeting. Both of them earning the right to face each other in the last eight appeared unlikely 10 days earlier. Agassi struggled with tendonitis in his right wrist before the start of the tournament and Sampras dealt with intense pain in his right shoulder, but Agassi refused to make excuses in defeat.

“The only time I’m devastated over a loss is when I don’t feel like I gave it everything, when I felt like there was something else I could have done. I’m not convinced I could have today,” Agassi said. “He turned out to be the better man in the end.”

Agassi admitted that he was “borderline embarrassed” in the first two sets as Sampras’ game plan worked perfectly. He blocked the defending champion’s serve back and frequently sliced his backhand, giving Agassi no pace to work with.

“You’ve really got to make it a mental match with Pete, keep it close and take advantage of a few opportunities,” Agassi said. “But if you allow him to get up… He starts playing off confidence and his ability really shines at that point. It’s hard to stop.”

Eager for more tennis, the already pro-Agassi crowd became boisterous as they tried to urge him back in the match. He obliged by beginning to gamble more on his returns as Sampras let his guard down slightly. As Sampras’ first-serve percentage dropped and the pain in his serving shoulder appeared to return, Agassi dictated more of their rallies and eventually brought the match to a fifth set.

The medical timeout that Sampras took for shoulder treatment early in the deciding set did wonders in restoring his game. He broke Agassi at 2-2 and wasted no time serving out the match, firing three consecutive aces before advancing to his second consecutive semi-final at the All England Club.

“The crowd was really pulling for Andre to come back because in the first couple of sets, I was dictating play,” Sampras said. “The third and fourth sets, he started serving much better… I’d like to think the crowd was pretty partial in the fifth. I hope that I have a couple of fans out there against Andre.”

Buoyed by his victory, Sampras scored two more impressive wins against Boris Becker and Jim Courier to lift his maiden Wimbledon crown. It proved to be the start of his dominance at this event as he prevailed seven times in an eight-year stretch (1993-1995, 1997-2000), putting him only behind Roger Federer on the all-time list at this event.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga hadn’t yet lost to Roger Federer in their 2011 Wimbledon quarter-final, but it appeared inevitable after he dropped the first two sets. The Swiss had never lost from two sets up in his 255 career Grand Slam matches.

But on the back of what arguably remains Tsonga’s best display of serving, he did the unthinkable. Landing well over 70 per cent of his first serves and only offering Federer a single break point throughout their lengthy clash, he fought back to unseat the six-time Wimbledon champion 3-6, 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

“I served unbelievably. I’m the kind of player who likes these big moments, so I hope I will have some more,” Tsonga said afterwards. I felt so good on the court. I was quick. I was just perfect today. It was feeling like a dream.”

The Frenchman’s runner-up showing at the 2008 Australian Open already proved that he could deliver his best tennis at the world’s biggest events. Inconsistency and injuries prevented him from building on that breakthrough run, but the 26-year-old remained a player that no one wanted to face. Tsonga’s attacking style is perfectly suited for grass and he felt emboldened by his decision that May to split with longtime coach Eric Winogradsky, opting for more ownership of his career.

After dropping his opening service game against Federer and trailing 0-3 after seven minutes, Tsonga settled in and found his range. But while the Frenchman continued to comfortably hold serve, he was unable to assert himself in their baseline rallies.

With little to lose after falling behind two sets, Tsonga charged the net whenever possible and attempted to hit winners from unlikely positions at the baseline. His bold gambles paid dividends as he cracked 63 winners to just 22 unforced errors on the day, with most of the winner tally coming in the final three sets.

After another strong serve on match point led to Federer hitting a return long, Tsonga dropped to the ground in celebration. Federer graciously tipped his hat to the Frenchman afterwards and acknowledged there was little he could do against an opponent playing so well.

“He believed in shots that maybe you don’t hit as often. But exactly when he needed them, he was able to pull them off,” Federer said. “When it got important, he went for it. It all worked out for him today.”

Although Tsonga fell in the semi-finals to Novak Djokovic, his inspired run at the All England Club spurred him on to an outstanding second half of 2011. He picked up a pair of titles in Metz and Vienna and finished runner-up at the Rolex Paris Masters to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, where he defeated Rafael Nadal en route to the championship match.

Federer would get his revenge that year, though. Although he fell to Tsonga again at the Coupe Rogers, the Swiss rebounded to defeat his rival four times in a two-month period. He dominated Tsonga in their US Open quarter-final clash, then scored another straight-sets victory in Paris before twice defeating the Frenchman at The O2, prevailing in round-robin play and an entertaining three-set final.

Alexander Zverev confirmed Wednesday that he has started a coaching trial with former World No. 3 David Ferrer.

“Some good news: I am going through a trial period with David Ferrer on my team. Could not be more excited to get to work,” Zverev wrote on his Instagram story. “Can’t wait for the Tour to be back.”

The German has previously worked with former World No. 1s Ivan Lendl and Juan Carlos Ferrero. Ferrer retired last season after losing against Zverev in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open.

“He’s the most respectful guy for me on Tour, and one of the most loved people on the Tour as well,” Zverev said at the time. “We’re going to miss him.” 

Ferrer became known as one of the hardest workers on the ATP Tour. The relentless baseliner’s final Top 10 win came last March, when he rallied to beat Zverev in three sets at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

Many college tennis players dream of using their time as a student-athlete to propel themselves to ATP Tour success. The men’s team at the University of California, Berkeley, will have the chance to learn from a player who has done just that.

Rajeev Ram, No. 9 in the FedEx ATP Doubles Rankings, signed on as a volunteer assistant coach for their upcoming season. The current Australian Open doubles champion (w/Salisbury) is coming full circle after holding an identical role at the University of Illinois when he first turned pro. He played there for one semester in 2003, leading his squad to an NCAA team championship and winning the men’s doubles title with Brian Wilson.

Former ATP Tour players Wayne Ferreira and Robby Ginepri held similar positions while on Tour at the University of California, Berkeley, and Georgia Tech, respectively, but Ram is the first active Grand Slam champion to enter into the role. However, he made it clear that he has no plans to end his playing career and any coaching duties will revolve around his Tour schedule.

“With the NCAA rules, it’s very difficult to practise with the team unless you’re a member of it in some way,” Ram told ATPTour.com. “College coaching is something I’ve thought about after I’m done playing. I thought I could learn a bit about how it all works and [head coach] Peter Wright is a phenomenal person to learn from. I think I could be good at it and it’ll be a fun experience to figure out. It could help me in a lot of ways as much as it may help them.”

Although Ram’s time as a student-athlete was brief, he’s always viewed education as a priority. The 36-year-old graduated in 2018 from Indiana University East, a partner of the ATP that provides several options for players to complete their degrees online. Ram was the first player to enroll at the university through the partnership, earning a General Studies degree with a concentration in humanities and behavioral science.

“One of the requirements to be a head college coach is to have that degree, so that was a big motivation in case this ends up being something that I want to pursue,” Ram said. “I was able to finish my degree while I was still playing and enjoyed being able to focus on something else.”

The doubles expert is currently practising in Northern California, marking the first time in 13 years that he isn’t at Wimbledon due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But with action scheduled to resume at the Citi Open on 14 August, he’s remained in touch with partner Joe Salisbury (also a former college tennis player, at the University of Memphis) as they look to continue their momentum from the start of the season.

Having avoided significant injuries during his career, the current suspension of play is the longest that Ram has gone without competing since turning pro. He said the time away has given him renewed perspective about life on Tour and made him look forward to returning to cities that have become familiar stops for more than a decade.

“We always complain about how much we have to travel, so maybe those types of things won’t be as annoying. With everything going on not only with the pandemic, but all the other stuff that’s happened, especially in America, I’m hoping everyone can be more considerate and nicer to one another,” Ram said. “There are people at these tournaments every week who try their absolute best to make us have a good experience, so hopefully we can all be more appreciative of things like that.”

Andy Murray is used to having all eyes on him as he competes on the ATP Tour. But the former World No. 1 recently swapped roles for SPORTbible, analysing amateur tennis videos. It’s safe to say he didn’t expect a racquet to be flung over a fence.

Some strong contenders in this….??? https://t.co/yTeisSnemp

— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) July 7, 2020 

“I like that, taking the return nice and early. A bit of doubles here,” Murray said of one video, before abruptly bursting into laughter. One of the players missed a sitting volley on top of the net, and proceeded to chuck his racquet. “Okay, that is a proper helicopter out of the court there and I think well-deserved.”

One of the videos showed a young player competing on a small court, working her way to net to finish the point.

“I loved playing short tennis when I was younger. Nice volleys, good footwork. It’s pretty rare you see young kids playing up at the net,” Murray said. “That’s a nice volley to finish with. Love a bit of short tennis and nice to see the youngster up at the net there.”

There were two lefties featured, both players hitting trick shots. ATP Champions Tour star Mansour Bahrami is not a lefty, but the videos reminded Murray of him.

“If you’ve not watched any videos of him, I mean, he’s brilliant,” Murray said. “[He’s] so entertaining. Really, really good.”