As the final chapter unfolded on the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s annual Wimbledon championships, one unsung hero took center stage — Rufus the Hawk.
For Wimbledon regulars, Rufus is a familiar figure, a Harris’s Hawk trained by a family of falconers for two decades to serve as the pigeon control officer on Wimbledon’s hallowed grass courts.
Stepping into the shoes (or talons) of his predecessor, Hamish, Rufus has dedicated 15 years to his morning ritual during the 42-day-long tournament, expertly shooing away pigeons that might have invaded the courts overnight.
Rufus, true to his role, doesn’t harm the pigeons but triggers a flight or fight response, leaving the courts pigeon-free.
The avian saga began in 1999 when Donna Davis, inspired by a match featuring champion Pete Sampras disrupted by pigeons, proposed her falconry services to Wimbledon organizers. Armed with small bells on his feet, Rufus, guided by Donna or another Davis family member, Imogen, starts the day on Court No.1 and systematically clears all the courts of pigeons drawn to the tempting grass seed.
In the midst of Rufus’s vigilant duties, Wimbledon 2023 witnessed remarkable tennis battles.
The Gentlemen’s Singles Final saw Novak Djokovic, the GOAT, facing off against the rising star Carlos Alcaraz. In a tightly contested match, Alcaraz’s raw power and confidence denied Djokovic his 8th Wimbledon title and 24th Grand Slam. The statistics tell the tale, with both players tied at 134 points even as late as the 9th game of the 4th set. Djokovic grappled with Alcaraz’s brilliant slices and drop-shots, struggling to break through the young player’s 130 mph serves.
The Ladies’ Singles Final added its own chapter of history as the Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova, an unseeded player, clinched the title against Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur.
Vondrousova’s victory echoed a historic achievement, becoming the first unseeded player since Billie Jean King in 1963 to reach the Wimbledon final or secure the championship. Jabeur, the first Arab or North African to make it to a Women’s singles final in any major tournament, put up a spirited fight, but Vondrousova secured the win with consecutive 6-4 sets.
Amidst the excitement, it’s believed that Rufus, the hawk on a mission, found particular enjoyment in the Gentlemen’s Singles Final, perhaps reminiscing about the 2019 championship when he was cheering for Federer. In the tapestry of Wimbledon’s history, Rufus stands as a unique and feathered guardian, witnessing and contributing to the drama on and off the courts.