How Diogo Jota’s death penetrated the Wimbledon bubble ...Middle East

WIMBLEDON — The All England Club is a bubble where very little from the outside world seeps into this green-and-purple microcosm within SW19.  

There is the odd protest – with puzzle pieces and confetti – but by and large these Wimbledon Championships are an escape the second spectators walk through the gates, last year’s General Election being a prime example. Not a peep about politics.

More than anyone, the players must learn to tune out and zero in, focusing only on their own game and the match in hand.

On Thursday, Neal Skupski could have been forgiven for getting distracted. The British doubles player was born in Liverpool and is a massive Liverpool FC fan.

Skupski had evidently learned of Diogo Jota’s tragic passing, posting “Tragic news. YNWA” on X before his match here, which the three-time Wimbledon champion went on to win in the evening alongside men’s doubles partner and compatriot Joe Salisbury.

Tragic news. YNWA

After the match, The i Paper went into their post-match press conference to ask Skupski about Jota – any memories of the footballer who lost his life alongside his brother.

In a small huddle, he reveals why this day, why this tournament, has been extra difficult.

“It’s been a tough day for Liverpool fans,” Skupski starts. “I found out this morning that Jota had passed away and then I’ve just found out my nan has just passed away, so it’s been a very tough day.”

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Admirably, he continues on Jota: “It was a bit strange this morning. You’re on Twitter, you see something like a headline about Jota in Spanish, and you didn’t know what it was, but it’s along the lines of accident. And it’s like, has he actually really died here?

“You never think your heroes or sportsmen or people that you look up to… they’re like invincible. It just shows that everyone’s human. Things come at you and you just don’t know what’s around the corner.

“Yeah it was really tough to take with his passing. Him and his brother, it’s a tough one for the whole family. My condolences go out to his family and it must be heart-break for them at the moment, so the more privacy they get the better.”

The interview sticks with Liverpool. With Jota. Skupski attended the club’s training centre in 2023 shortly after winning the Wimbledon men’s doubles title, and he adds: “I met the whole team.

“I’ve spoke to some people today who are connected to Liverpool and they basically say he’s not just an amazing footballer, but the person he was, he was incredible, so down to earth, very nice.

“A great finisher but also someone that kept the whole dressing room together. It’s going to be a big loss, I’m sure they’ll do something in his memory.”

Skupski is then thanked for even attending, for talking to the media. He says he only found out about his grandmother’s passing some 30 minutes after getting off court.

Mary, 98, was a “fighter”. She’d been ill for a short while and Skupski regards her as the closest grandparent he had. It puts things into perspective. He leans forward, he sits back. You can see the grief kicking in, and it’s clear tennis is his escape.

“Obviously I’ve only just found out, but walking onto the tennis court is only going to help me take my mind off it,” Skupski says.

“It’s something she’d have wanted me to do. I’ll just go out on court and try and enjoy it as much as possible, not worry too much if I’m missing too many shots, there’s more to life than missing a tennis shot.

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“I’m glad I’ve had time to know it was coming, rather than just ‘Boom’ and she’s died out of the blue. I’ve been able to come to terms she was coming to an end. It’s part of life, it will be a tough one for my family tonight and the next few days.”

Skupski also reveals he had planned to wear a black armband in tribute to Jota – with Wimbledon willing to relax their strict all-white dress code – but decided against it knowing his grandmother had been unwell. “Maybe in the coming days I might,” he adds.

It’s a surreal press conference, switching between a tragedy that has rocked the sporting world and a personal one that he has only just learned of.

“She’d want me to be here,” Skupski says. “She’d be proud of me for what happened today, fighting through.”

And so: back to this bubble. How has Skupski been able to shut all this out? To focus on something that feels so trivial at times like this?

“You think you are shutting it out but I don’t know if you actually are. I would say maybe my mood’s changed a little bit coming up to the Championships,” he says.

“I’m quite bubbly on the practice courts, quite good with energy, but maybe the team have seen I’m not myself. But I think people, like my brother, my coach, he had spoken to some of the coaches that we work with and told them the situation.

“But yeah, it’s Wimbledon now, it’s my job. Being with Joe, it’s something that she’d have wanted me to do, to fight. We’re here, we want to win the whole thing but one match at a time. We don’t play tomorrow. I’m looking forward to getting back out there.”

Both Skupski and Salisbury happened to be stateside in September 2022 when Queen Elizabeth died. Salisbury in fact beat Skupski in the US Open men’s doubles final the day after her passing.

“You can sense it, a slight change of mood, but ultimately we’re here to do our jobs and play,” Salisbury says, referencing both then and now.

“Once we step on the court we try and focus on that and put everything aside. Neal’s done a great job with that, really tough day for him, and it’s going to be a tough couple weeks.

“Most people wouldn’t really know and I think once you step onto the court you’ve got to get on with what you’re doing.

“In some ways it helps put things in perspective, and takes a little pressure off or changes your mindset once you step onto the court, which can seem like the be all and end all when you’re playing in the biggest tournaments. There’s obviously a lot of bigger things.”

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