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The Gladiator Voltchkov deals with issues most qualifiers wish for
Posted: Thursday July 06, 2000 07:44 AM
Vladimir Voltchkov wasn't on top of Pete Sampras' list when it came to the Wimbledon champion nominating his possible semifinal opponent at this year's championship, nor anyone else's for that matter. Not even the President of Belarus, the country from which Voltchkov hails and who called him after his quarterfinal victory over Byron Black on Wednesday. The message was relayed to the interview area here at Wimbledon, where all and sundry were suddenly clamoring to talk to the first men's semifinalist to come through the qualifiers since John McEnroe more than 20 years ago. "Can Vladimir please call the president of Belarus?This is his number." That was it. Plain and simple. Just moments earlier, the man from Minsk told me how Mr. President had phoned his Mum earlier the week -- but that HE hadn't heard from him yet. It's all happening now, though, for this former Wimbledon junior champion. If he's not careful, he might even get a clothing sponsorship. For his match against Black, the biggest of his career to date, Voltchkov borrowed shorts from Russian player Marat Safin. They were branded with the Nike logo. His shirt was made by Adidas, some old thing he found from this past year's tournament. Clearly, he doesn't possess too many whites of his own, and one must wear whites at Wimbledon.
Such is the life of a qualifier, who earned more money this fortnight than the rest of his career put together. As he moved on in the tournament, Adidas gave him some shoes, then Nike followed suit. Perhaps he'll get a few pairs more for the semifinal against Sampras, which Voltchkov readily admits "scares me a bit." To temper his fears, he might just go to watch the movie Gladiator for a fifth time. He's seen it on four occasions in London already and says: " Russell Crowe is a great actor and the film just inspires my soul." Voltchkov explained that he'd rather use his money to watch this Roman epic than on eating out. His Dad is with him (along with another player from Belarus, Max Mirnyi and his father) and is a good cook, so who needs restaurants anyway? Centre Court will be the setting Friday for Voltchkov's own gladiatorial battle with the rarely vanquished warrior of Wimbledon. His weaponry won't trouble Sampras too much, one suspects, but his heart and spirit will allow him to leave the arena with an emphatic thumbs up. Phil Jones is co-host of World Sport, the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International.
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