Anyone for Tennis?

 

 

Success is a journey, not a destination.

The doing is often more important than the outcome.

– Arthur Ashe

 

Wimbledon gave the world the Wombles and Wimbledon football club. But most people will know my hometown for just one thing; Tennis. People travel from all over the world to watch the champions compete at the All England Club.

I grew up with tennis. I dabbled with playing but I didn’t really move much around the court, kind of expecting the ball to come to me. The game doesn’t work like that. Our local schools were all involved in providing the ball boys and ball girls for the tennis fortnight; Time off school! But our P.E teachers neglected to tell us that you had to be in two school sports teams to be considered. I was swimming in galas, representing my school and my town. But that year I dropped out of the school netball team, to spend more time working towards the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. I missed out on the ball girl trials.

And so I became a fanatical spectator of the sport. On the first Friday of Wimbledon fortnight, we would get out of school a bit early and head straight up through Wimbledon Village to Church Road.  We would buy a simple ‘grounds ticket’ and make a beeline for either No. 1 or Centre Court, depending on who was playing. There we would hovver patiently, teenage girls in their royal blue uniforms, and smile sweetly as people vacated their seats and exited the court. Every year we would score tickets from tired tourists heading back to their hotel rooms, after a warm afternoon of watching the game. Over the years I was lucky enough to be given tickets to watch Navratilova, Borg, McEnroe, Connors, Agassi, Graf and many other great tennis players.

My last Wimbledon was almost 20 years ago now, before we moved to Zambia. I met my future Mother in Law, Ange, at Wimbledon Station. We made our way to the grounds and joined the snake-like queue to buy tickets. We were the envy of everyone around us, as we happily consumed the contents of our brunch picnic; Croissants, strawberries and sticky buns, washed down with a bottle of Bucks Fizz. Once in the grounds, we watched several matches on the outside courts. Henman Hill was full of fans. And as always, the atmosphere was amazing. I’ve been to tennis tournaments in other places. But there is no-where quite like the courts at S.W.19.

Our merriment continued away from the courts. ‘Every night is Friday night’ in Wimbledon Village during tennis fortnight. We started in a cocktail bar (it slipped my mind that in this particular bar all measures were doubles), we moved on to another place, then another. There was a lot of Pimms. We were in high spirits. It was such a memorable day and I’m so glad that I got to share that day with her.

We’ve been far from Wimbledon most years since then. Many matches have been watched in hotel rooms on trips. I can remember matches by where we were. There was a conference in Athens, being glued to the TV screen in a tiny hotel room with a terrible room service meal, and the nail biting match between Nadal and Federer in 2008. I’m a huge Federer fan. Who’s your favourite tennis player?

The following year we were in Johannesburg for The British Lions Rugby Tour. Our chalet at Misty Hills in Muldersdrift was in a gorgeous setting, with 60 acres of botanical garden. But I couldn’t leave the room during the Wimbledon final. The DSTV signal was going in and out, adding to the tension. But eventually we got to see Federer defeating Andy Roddick to take the championship.  To date Roger Federer has won the Mens Singles title at Wimbledon more than any other player, a record 8 times.

In 2013 we were in Dublin’s, at The Clarence’s Octagon Bar, watching Andy Murray taking on Novak Djokovic. When Murray won, our friend Barry danced a celebratory jig. What are your Wimbledon All England Club memories?

Last year the All England Club announced that the whole grass-court season would be cancelled, because of the Coronavirus pandemic. It was the first time that the Wimbledon tournament had not been played since World War II.

So it is with great excitement that everyone gets to welcome Wimbledon back in 2021. The qualifying matches have begun already. There have been changes made, because of the pandemic. Tickets were distributed a little differently this year. The number of fans being allowed into the grounds will be restricted for some courts and matches. And ticket holders will have to show proof of COVID status and wear a face mask while moving around the grounds. A very different Wimbledon.

Will you be travelling to Wimbledon for the tennis?

 

© Maggie M /Mother City Time