They are the players who steal their iconic towels. And with impudence

Wimbledon is tradition. The British tournament that started in 1877 has become one of the great events of world sport and this year introduced a technological novelty: replace line judges for an AI. It is a change that has already brought controversybut there is something that does not change is that players love to steal Wimbledon towels. So much that it has gone from being a headache for the tournament with simple resignation.

And the funniest thing is that players have no qualms about detailing their ‘tricks’ to get the coveted loot.

Specials? We might think that a towel is nothing with the more than 53 million pounds that are They will distribute This year during the competition, with three million only for the individual and female individual winners. But the towels, protagonists of fights in the stands, are also part of that loot that players want.

They are “normal” towels. Manufactured by the British company Christy for 38 years, they measure 133 x 70 centimeters, weigh 500 grams and are made completely cotton. The male towels are always the same, with the “butter” letters and a purple and green design. The female were changing every season (although recently That is over and everyone receives the same) and a cult has been aroused around these towels, which even They announce His designs before tournaments.

Bite in towels. As each element of a sport, especially if used by the star you have gone to see, a towel can become a Collection objectlike a ball or a doll. However, we are not talking about the towels being popular only among fans: the real problem of the tournament is with the players.

How far? As we read in The Timesthe tournament had about 7,000 towels in stock this year with a single purpose: that they were a tool for players. Until last Thursday, when only the first rounds of the competition had been played, they had already distributed 2,799 towels. The players know that they must return them (not mandatory, but they will be asked for) before going to the locker room at the end of the game, and the All England Club – those responsible for the event – usually do it, but of those 2,799 distributed, only 828 returned to where they should.

Modus operandi. The question is how they do it with all the cameras pointing and knowing that the theft of towels is A controversy Internal that the tournament has been dragging for years. The short answer is that the big stars, directly, do not care that the cameras point them. In fact, some tell how several dozens of towels get during their career.

At the beginning of the game, each player receives two towels and, if the games lengthen and sweat more, or if it begins to rain, they can ask for an additional chair judge. They are extremely conservative numbers of the tournament because reality is very different. As we read in BBCDjokovic is one of those proper names. He says that, as soon as the game begins, one gets into the racket bag. And, in the middle of the meeting, ask for another due to sweat.

Another way is that of Tracy Austin, who said he takes advantage of the rain stops to get some extra and that he usually ends four at the end of the game. So that? For what you are thinking: give it away To friends and family because, as Austin said, it is not enough to buy one of the memories store (they sell the same for 60 euros and that also sells your own Christy Online), it must be the authentic players. And there is no request for requests because it depends on the chair judge and it would be rare for him to refuse.

The big blow. Here are those who have more or less great collections. Djokovic has a good trousseau to give away and Serena Williams also commented on BBC that has towels since 1997 of both women and men. Rafa Nadal is another of the players that each game can end a good booty of towels. The amount of sweat depends on each person and there are times when even We have seen Nadal loading with a garbage bag full of these objects.

According to the Official numbersare returned between 15% and 20% of the towels each championship and, although Wimbledon not short of funds, it is estimated that this habit of the players generates losses of $ 160,000.

With the greats it is a “joke.” With the “little” no. It seems that the All England Club does not put too much effort to recover the towels of the stars, but in Wimbledon there are also minors who are emerging and there they have taken measures. If you have seen a Wimbledon game in which a white towel is distributed, it is because it is one of the destined to the Junior tournaments and the tennis players invited by the championship.

They are given a Wimbledon officer of that year, but the second is white, without any distinctive and, of course, much less glamorous because if you give it to Wimbledon or anywhere else.

Resignation. What All England Club is clear is that they will not be chasing anyone. They already ask for the towels back educated, but in this year’s edition, Winston Sedgwick, of the logistics team of the event, said in The Times that players know perfectly that they give towels and that there is no limit. “We used to expect them to return them, that’s why we asked them to try to recover them, but that will no longer be done.”

“It’s like when you’re going on vacation and you bring back a souvenir home,” says Sedgwick with resignation. And what I am clear is that I am going to look much more on this issue (yesterday Alcaraz took a few and could be seen perfectly Fritz closing his backpack with at least one pair).

Images | Wimbledon, Xataka, Christy

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