We had the good fortune to attend our very first tennis match on Saturday at Wimbledon. The weather was beautiful (again) and there was real excitement in the air as Britain was cheering for Andy Murray, the 10th seed Scot to pull a win.

As this was our first trip to Wimbledon, we decided to drive into town so that we could get back at our leisure. Of course, this meant paper based navigation as I had lent my TomTom to a Canadian friend who is the country for a few weeks. Big mistake. I successfully turned a 45 minute drive into a 1:30 minute drive. How did people get around before GPS?

Eventually arriving, we started the day at the Wimbledon Club, which is across the street;

Wimbledon Cricket Club was founded in 1854, just nine years after Surrey County Cricket Club. Early matches were played on Wimbledon Common. By the 1880’s visiting teams increasingly expected a permanent pavilion, which was not permitted on the Common, and in 1890 the Club moved to its present ground in Church Road, initially on a ten – year lease with an option to purchase the freehold after then years. This was duly exercised with the help of Debenture holders, most of who had no expectation of a return on their investment. When the debentures were redeemed in 1965 it was at the same price at which they had been issued.

It is interesting to note that Wimbledon started as a Croquet club:

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, which is responsible for staging the world’s leading tennis tournament, is a private club founded in 1868 as The All England Croquet Club. Its first ground was situated off Worple Road, Wimbledon.

In 1875 lawn tennis — a game introduced by major Walter Clopton Wingfield a year or so earlier and originally called ‘Sphairistike’ — was added to the activities of the club.

We enjoyed a fantastic lunch, champagne and Pimms (again) while watching the members play tennis on the grass tennis court. We never drank champagne before coming to Britain, where it is a staple offering at dinner parties and events, and one that I have become quite fond of. Of course, there was also tea accompanied by strawberry’s and cream – nothing is more British than that on a summer day.

I enjoyed looking at these lists as you entered. Note the ‘war years’ annotations.

Then it was off to Wimbledon. What an amazing place. Packed to the rafters with 20 matches going on at all times, from world ranked professionals to boys and girls. The below map gives you a great idea of layout of the event.

We were fortunate to be sitting in centre court. I am not a big ‘sports watcher’ on TV, but I love it live. The atmosphere was electric.

Of course, the royals have their own box. I forgot my invite on the kitchen table so the guards turned me away.

The stadium is actually quite small. There really isn’t a bad seat in the house. It was a little irritating as I don’t have a zoom lens on my camera. A new lens is now ordered.

The first match was between No.2 ranked Jelena Jankovic (SRB)[2] and No. 31 Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)[31]. It was an amazing match (with many surprised by Caroline’s tenacity). She was screaming the serves over the net at 106 mph (versus Jelena’s sub 100mph serves) and at times looked to have Jelena on the ropes. As the match progressed, Jelena began to limp, calling out her trainer to put a tensor bandage on her knee (after losing the next set without winning a single point, she had it removed). In the end, she won 2-6, 6-4, 6-2. You can watch the match (or download it) here. In the end Jelena pulled it out and won. Great match.

It was amazing to watch the power and form of these athletes.

 

Early on in the match, a man was yelling out to Jelena. Turns out it was her father, the only one who could get away with that (although as the day progressed, the crowd got more and more vocal). He is the one with the video camera, a few seats down from us. About half way through the match, at a point where she was really battling, he yelled something in Serbian that made her look up and start laughing. I would love to know what it was …

The second match was the one everyone was waiting for – Andy Murray (GBR)[12] versus Tommy Haas (GER). It was explained to me that Andy (Scottish) was Britian’s best hope for a winner in the tournament. It was a good match but Haas was no match for Andy’s 135mph screamer serves.

What was also noticeable was the military presence. Every branch of the military was present operating the gates. Quite cool to see and for them, I would hope a nice perk.

I could not help but notice the dress of the officials, with their great old fashioned hats. It was also fun to watch what much have been young volunteers as they eagerly handed the players towels and quickly grabbed discarded balls.

One story floating around was about a ball boy/girl stopping a pro from taking a towel that was not theirs from the court. The Times call the whole Wimbledon towel thing the ‘great Wimbledon towel swindle’:

We’ve all done it. You’re on holiday, the hotel is expensive, and for some reason it’s difficult to leave those complimentary items behind, regardless of how complimentary they actually are. Soaps, shower gels, perhaps even sachets of coffee or sugar are fair game.

There are limits, though. Many people would stop at towels. Not the millionaire tennis players enjoying the plush surroundings of the All England Club locker room it seems. More than 2,500 lush cotton towels, at £24 each, went missing last year, costing Wimbledon around £60,000. Even Roger Federer admitted the practice was commonplace among the affluent elite at this most refined and traditional of sporting institutions, although the numbers of disappearing towels are down this year.

Last, it was interesting to see the photographers with their huge lenses. As a Canon user, it was interesting to see the Canon white to Nikon ratio, by my count 2:1. I was surprised.

All in all, another AMAZING day in the UK. Thanks Britain!