WIMBLEDON, England — World-class croquet lacks the surrealism of the Queen of Hearts’ game in Disney’s animated film “Alice in Wonderland,” with playing cards replaced by rigid hoops often so narrow as to barely allow a ball to pass through. Competitive croquet also does not include the tactical spitefulness of stepping on one ball while sending an opponent’s ball flying into the backyard shrubbery, as in the 1988 dark comedy “Heathers.”
What top-flight croquet does have, less captivatingly, are talented players often reeling off perfect shot after perfect shot without much interruption.
Though now synonymous with tennis, Wimbledon’s grass courts were born from croquet.