S.W. and Rich Hermansen
Guest Writers
wine@lbknews.com
Frenetic celebrations in locker rooms have become a tradition after Major League Baseball 
World Series victories, National Football League Superbowl championships, National Basketball Association finals, and Hockey Stanley Cup wins. Both teams in the finals have magnums of Champagne ready on hand for the winning players to open and spray on their teammates and coaches, all in good fun. So a more aggressive take on Champagne spraying during a championship celebration surprised us.
We are talking about an impromptu happening during the ceremony congratulating the winner and the runner up of the 2024 Hamburg Open Association of Tennis Professionals 500 tournament July 13-21. 20-year-old Arthur Fils of France upset the ATP world 4th ranked Alexander Zverev, a German citizen of Russian parentage playing on his home turf and defending his title as the champion of the 2023 Hamburg Open. During the match, some fans trolled the 6’7” tall Zverev for whining to the chair umpire about line calls and the like. The third set of the match featured long rallies and powerful forehands and backhands on both sides of the court, many close calls landing just inside the baselines and sidelines. When Fils resorted to an underhand serve during the late stages of the match, supposedly because his serving arm was cramping, Zverev rebuked him for failing to respect the game and the crowd turned against Fils. If the crowd noise bothered Fils, he didn’t show it; to counter the high bounces of Zverev’s looping topspin shots, Fils attacked the ball on the rise and drilled returns cross court and down the line. The outcome of the match hung on a thread until the 3rd-set tiebreak. In the critical tiebreak, the tour rookie Fils steadied his focus like a seasoned veteran and won the match going away by a 7-1 margin.
Eyeing a scowling Zverev cautiously, Fils celebrated his victory with a subdued gesture, hitting a ball into the stands and walking toward the net. Zverev met Fils at the net with his head turned away, barely touched Fils’ outstretched hand, and walked away toward the chair umpire muttering to himself. He reproached the umpire before walking away, acting the part of a sore loser.
Zverev’s moping depressed the mood of the Tournament’s closing ceremony until the finalists received magnums of Champagne as one of their prizes. While holding one of the bottles, a sly grin crept onto Zverev’s face. He quickly popped the cork, held his thumb over the mouth of the bottle, gave the bottle a vigorous shake, and began spraying his opponent with Champagne. Fils tried to flee from the onslaught, but Zverev pursued and thoroughly drenched him, smiling all the while. Fils appeared caught off guard at first. Zverev’s smile and laughter brought Fils into the joke. Zverev from a height poured Champagne into Fils’ mouth and the two embraced to gesture the end of what earlier seemed an ugly little feud.
We know that diplomats use Champagne as an icebreaker at gatherings of contentious participants in negotiations. Zverev’s different take on an icebreaker came at a chilly moment in his career. After a devastating ankle break in 2022 at age 23, he has recovered well but has faltered in his quest for a first major title. He redeemed himself after a display of anger with his full-body Champagne toast of a French tennis star of the present and the future. Another reminder, it seems, of the versatility of Champagne….
S.W. Hermansen has used his expertise in econometrics, data science and epidemiology to help develop research databases for the Pentagon, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Agriculture, and Health Resources and Services. He has visited premier vineyards and taste wines from major appellations in California, Oregon, New York State, and internationally from Tuscany and the Piedmont in Italy, the Ribera del Duero in Spain, the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale in Australia, and the Otego Valley in New Zealand. Currently he splits time between residences in Chevy Chase, Maryland and St. Armand’s Circle in Florida.
Rich Hermansen selected has first wine list for a restaurant shortly after graduating from college with a degree in Mathematics. He has extensive service and management experience in the food and wine industry. Family and friends rate him as their favorite chef, bartender, and wine steward. He lives in Severna Park, Maryland.
