‘We just wanted to humiliate them’

ATP Masters Series, Monte Carlo, 2005. World No. 1 Roger Federer attempts to become the first player to win three back-to-back Masters Series titles. An 18-year-old Richard Gasquet stands in his way. It’s the final-set – a tie break. Federer is 7-1 up.

“Monaco was really the beginning of it. This was the first time I watched him play live and from then on, he was Swiss, I was Swiss, I kind of knew it had to be him that would inspire me.”

Federer went on to lose the tie-break 10-8, paving the way for another 18-year-old – one Rafael Nadal’s – first Masters win. For a nine-year-old Nicolas Fremont, none of that mattered; Federer’s ethereal genius mesmerised, his forehand like a sorcerer’s wand casting magic across the court – Fremont was spellbound. Nicolas’ story with tennis, however, began four years earlier in his country of birth: Switzerland.

Image: The Boar Photography/Alice Fish.

“It was in Geneva. I was four or five. My parents wanted me to start. They wanted me to do some sports and tennis was a good sport. For the whole five or six years before going to Monaco, actually, I hated it. It was on some kind of indoor carpet. I hated this. I hated my coach. Not too good, you know? When I got to Monaco, it was the best thing that could ever happen. There were clay courts outside, good weather. Everything. I started getting really interested in tennis and just playing more seriously.’

Twelve years on and Nicolas continues to play seriously. A third-year business student, Nicolas is now a seasoned veteran of the men’s Tennis 3s, balancing his degree and the perennial cycle of job applications with his love of tennis. It takes little prompting, however, before the memories of first-year come flooding back.

“I went straight to trials for the first team. I mean, there was no other plan, I absolutely wanted to get into the team. There were about 145 in my first year applying for trials. About six got in. Only six. There’s no margin for error, you know? I was a bit stressed, yeah…”

It’s been a mixed bag for Warwick men’s tennis this season, epitomised by the contrasting fortunes of the 1s, who sit first in the Midlands 1A with a genuine chance of promotion, and the 2s, who languish behind in sixth as they struggle to acclimatise to the step-up in quality since last year’s promotion. Despite a recent away defeat to Birmingham 1s pushing the 3s down to fifth in Midlands 2A, Nicolas cuts an optimistic figure and insists that promotion remains “the aim”. At the mention of our bitter rivals, however, his mood darkens.

I went straight to trials for the first team. I mean, there was no other plan

“We lost really badly against Coventry this first term and a lot of people, not just in tennis, around Warwick, when we told them we lost against Coventry, everyone gets quite mad because nobody wants to lose against them.”

Image: The Boar Photography/Alice Fish.

His voice takes on an almost apologetic tone, the shame of not just defeat, but defeat to Coventry, imbuing him with regret. Yet his eyes burn with enmity, yesterday’s disappointment lighting the flames of tomorrow’s revenge. Varsity is coming – Nicolas knows it.

“In my first year I played Varsity because all the three teams played, but since last year it’s only the first team that plays Varsity, so that changes things a bit because obviously when you get the whole team playing, everyone wants to come out to support everyone.”

Nicolas cannot hide his frustration that he won’t be playing in this year’s Varsity, nor was he able to last year. Since last year, only the first teams are afforded the chance to compete in Varsity. It’s a move that attempted to redress the balance between the two universities, excluding the likes of Nicolas in the hope of a closer competition – one that the third-year clearly struggles to accept.

“Now bringing it down to just the first team is kind of a shame really, I think that, because you don’t get everyone to play, and most people enjoy playing, even if it’s less competitive, the spirit is still there, you know, we still want to beat them.”

Let’s put it this way. We know we’re going to win.

And beat them they do. The last time men’s tennis lost a Varsity game to Coventry, London were hosting the Olympic Games. It’s a spell of dominance the team savour, though it brings a new kind of pressure.

Image: The Boar Photography/Alice Fish.

“Warwick were smashing Coventry every time. Literally, it was about 30 games that we played, two points per game, which means we ended up winning 60-0 at the end of the day. I mean, losing one match was not acceptable. We just wanted to humiliate them.”

To revel in an opponent’s humiliation ordinarily skirts well beyond the realms of sportsmanship. But Varsity is different. For men’s tennis, beating Coventry has become an obsession. With a division and a half separating the two teams, Nicolas expects nothing less than a landslide.

“Let’s put it this way. We know we’re going to win, we just wonder how we will perform, and obviously not letting them win a single game. That is always the object.”

It would, then, take something of a miracle for Coventry to loot Westwood of two points on 25 February; that, or some grievous complacency on behalf of the home team. For Nicolas, it’s an occasion to support his teammates, bask in the dismantling of our noisy neighbours, and to enjoy some quality tennis.

Yet, in what will be his final chance to soak up the heated delirium that only Varsity can provide, Nicolas cannot help but wish for a game of his own too. At Varsity, who could blame him?