Sunday, Super Sunday

So, where were you on July 14, 2019, exactly five years ago to the day? It was a Sunday so super that sports fans around the world tend to remember their precise geographic location as one tends to for far graver global events, like the assassination of a world leader or 9/11.

I was in Barbican in central London, 8.5 miles from Wimbledon’s Centre Court, where Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer were locked in what was easily the best final since the Swiss played Rafael Nadal on these lawns in 2008, and 4.2 miles from the cricket ground of Lord’s, where hosts England looked to win their first ODI World Cup final against New Zealand. While I was physically in the middle of it all, so was every other follower of these two sports, be it in Mumbai or Manilla, all of us in fact seated in the intersection of peak tennis and peak cricket’s Venn circles, with our eyes shifting between multiple screening devices in living rooms and sports bars around the world. And for a long while, the magic of both events unfolded together like a miracle, teasing and tormenting all that they had together enticed.

Federer lost despite having two consecutive match points in the fifth set (8-7, 40-15), both saved by the GOAT-in-waiting, Djokovic. And England won despite not having won at all, the World Cup final ending on tied scores on two occasions, the second being the Super Over. As for us, the fans, all the packets of crisps and cans of beers, soon to be emptied, couldn’t fill the onset of the void within. True greatness, playing out across sports at the same time, is the rarest of thrills. But luckily for us, our patience is rewarded when a Super Sunday aligns itself with new promises a few years on in the future.

The first Super Sunday (definition: the title match of two or more international sports occurring on the same day) I can remember was back in 2004, when defending champion Federer beat Andy Roddick in the Wimbledon final, a few hours before hosts Portugal and eventual-winners Greece clashed to decide the European Championships. Wimbledon seems to be the common thread in these Super Sundays, for the next time it occurred, in 2006, was the first time that Federer and Nadal would meet at SW19, followed by the final of the FIFA World Cup. Federer won the crown, Zinedine Zidane lost his head and Italy triumphed on penalty shootouts in Berlin.

The Italians once again were the flavour of the Super Sunday of 2021, although the venue for all the action was once again London. Matteo Berrettini took on Djokovic in the summit clash of Wimbledon, which was but a curtain-raiser to England versus Italy at the Wembley later that evening. Only one Italian lost that day, as Harry Kane’s side that promised to bring a major home for the first time since 1966, succumbed at the penalty kicks. And the wait, for England to end their drought as well as the next Super Sunday, began. Three years later, both threaten to end on the same day.

It had to be July 14, a date ostensibly chosen by the sporting gods. Just like in 2019, 37-year-old Djokovic once again finds himself in a Wimbledon final, his 10^th appearance here on a second Sunday, against the new GOAT-in-waiting, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz. When the two met at this stage last year, 20-year-old Alcaraz beat Djokovic in a five-set thriller to win his second Grand Slam. On this Super (Spanish) Sunday, he is going for his fourth major win in the mother of all rematches, just as his country’s football team seeks to shut down England’s dream of a title in Berlin.

Will Kane win the first big trophy of his career, or will Djokovic win his 25^th? Who is to say. These questions are futile leading up to Super Sundays. The only one worth asking is perhaps this: Where will you be on July 14, 2024? Choose wisely, for one tends to remember the place of viewing for the rest of time.

2019cricketEnglandfootballJuly 14New ZealandNovak DjokovicODI World CupRoger FedererSuper Sundaytennis