'Jester' Mansour Bahrami holds court as Wimbledon's elder statesmen delight crowd
"Mum, why can’t we watch Serena Williams, even on the big screen? I don’t even know who these guys are. I didn’t think Wimbledon let old people play like this,” protested a teenage boy complete with an eye roll as the British duo of Andrew Castle, 55, and Jeremy Bates, 57 warmed up against another Brit in Chris Wilkinson alongside the French Iranian-born 63-year-old Mansour Bahrami.
Blatant ageism apart, to those uninitiated to the joys of Wimbledon’s senior gentlemen’s invitational doubles competition, the notion that four players without a major singles title between them could attract a close-to-capacity crowd on No 1 Court on the same afternoon as the women’s final may seem absurd. But then you probably have yet to experience Bahrami’s unique brand of tennis theatre.
There were gasps and applause as he managed to hit a 120mph serve, albeit it ended up out. The trick-shot specialist is the oldest competitor here but few others, barring perhaps Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, or a young darling such as Cori Gauff, could evoke such affection from the crowd.
The Court Jester was the apt title of Bahrami’s 2009 autobiography, but as he took great glee in loudly sledging former British No 1 Castle with lines such as “Castle, I’m going to get you, I was born ready”, as he bounded across the court, one could not help but wonder what could have been for the player if it had not been for the political upheaval in 1970s Iran.
Bahrami was a prodigy who was on the Iranian Davis Cup team as a 16-year-old, but due to the Islamic revolution, tennis courts were closed as the new regime viewed it as a capitalist and elitist sport, which prompted the player to flee to France. By then his best as a singles player had passed, but he became a successful doubles player, even reaching the Roland Garros final in 1989. But he has cemented his reputation as a crowd favourite on the senior’s tour.
Although he was sharing the court with a British trio, it was only Bahrami who elicited sympathetic cries of “aw, no!” when he hit the net. While although Castle received quite a few catcalls and murmurs of “what a dish” coming from some ladies sipping on wine which had been hidden in a handbag, the player-turned-daytime-television-presenter cast himself as a pantomime villain, haughtily returning serve to Bahrami.
Even the umpire was getting in on the act, giving Bates, the most successful player in his heyday in this match, having reached a career high ranking of No 54 and won the 1987 Wimbledon and 1991 Australian Open mixed doubles, a code violation because “the crowd didn’t like it” when he played a neat defensive shot to nullify one of Bahrami’s whacky backhand shots.
One line judge tried so hard to stifle his giggles that he struggled to maintain his standing-statue pose. He was not the only one who has succumbed to the virus of laughter that swept across No 1 Court. The usually stony-faced official who sits every afternoon in the same seat as he keeps fastidious notes on the performance of the ball boys and girls was grinning. An immaculately turned-out sailor, who had been lending military precision to crowd control all week could barely contain himself as Bahrami attempted to serve the ball while kneeling.
The atmosphere was in stark contrast to the highly-charged anticipation on Centre Court as Williams and her conqueror, Simona Halep, lined up, and even to earlier on No 1 Court as 17-year-old Ukrainian Daria Snigur landed a surprise victory in the girls’ singles as she defeated the American 10th-seed Alexa Noel, both players deadly serious as they aimed to impress on the biggest stage.
There is something rather infectious about four men with the average age of 56, none having ever made it to the very pinnacle of the game, playing with such unguarded joy and enthusiasm on a Wimbledon finals weekend.
When the match reached its conclusion with Castle and Bates winning on a 10-4 tie-break, the quartet clutched hands like actors at the end of West End performance, taking a bow to a standing ovation. If you need further proof of the golden oldies’ ability to win over a crowd, just as they were about to walk off the court, the previously sceptical teen ran down from his seat in search of an autograph.
