I’ve lived in west London for almost 24 years and until this weekend, hadn’t visited the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Club.  This is mostly because the whole ticket business seemed more difficult than finding Voldemort.  One day, a few months ago at work, a cry went up to say that Wimbledon tickets where being advertised on the intranet.  I had a look, it was for Court 1 on the second Saturday but hey, all I had to do was phone a local number.  I did and I was the only one to get through!  With the rest of my colleagues queuing behind me to take their turn on the phone, I soon had two tickets.

I thought we’d be way up back, but no – great seats behind the baseline!

Court 1

This is the first time I’ve watched a live tennis match and oh my, what a difference. Everything; the action, the sound and the emotion is so much more – bigger, brighter and bolder.

The first match was the Girl’s singles final, watching their ‘inner game’ was as fascinating as the actual tennis.  In the last set, we all thought the match had been won twice but two successful challenges meant that it went on, until finally Anastasia Potapova got in the shot that closed the match and sealed her victory.

I was surprised how emotional that would be, particularly when the girls hugged each other over the net and then when Anastasia jumped into the spectators to hug her parents.

Girls final winner

Next up was the mixed doubles semi-final, won by Kontinen and Watson.  A great match, ultra competitive, which was soothed by the super smooth tones of umpire Kader Nouni. He really does sound like Barry White, particularly how he pronounces love, deuce and time.

BW Umpire

Just in case you’re thinking my mind wasn’t on gardening, there were purple petunias tumbling from every point it was possible to tumble. No photos, because we all know what a petunia looks like!