Firetop

Went to Wimbledon today, was going to go on Monday (Day 1) but the weather was pretty terrible (only 45 minutes played all day). Was up at 5am ready to get the first train out of Dorking to Wimbledon (5:45am), in Wimbledon for about 6:15am, then the shuttle bus they put on outside the station to the tennis grounds for 6:30am. Walked about a mile to get to the end of the queue but just glad to get there in time to get a queue card (position 1089) which lets you know if you’ll get in or not.

Queued for four hours in all, they have new ‘airport style’ X-ray machines for bags this year following ‘Metropolitan Police advice’. £17 each for the outer courts, in the gates by 10:30am, first match at 12pm. Started on court 13 then just wandered as most people do, you can get a good feel for a game in a set and a half. Saw a good few seeded players:

Ivan Ljubicic (No.5)
James Blake (No.8)
Radek Stepanek (No.14)
Justine Henin-Hardenne (No.3)
Francesca Schiavone (No.11)
Mark Philippoussis (not seeded anymore but still a big hitter)

Britain’s Melanie South beat the Italian 11th seed Francesca Schiavone 3-6 6-3 6-4 on court 18 which was a good match - watched the entirety, Mel looks like a great prospect for the future. I recommend court 18 for the sheer view of play - the steep sides to the surrounding seats means fewer heads in the way of your vision. Nice to see a Brit win because for the second year running I was present on Henman Hill to see Tim lose - perhaps I should stop going when he plays…

Some other added bonuses - saw Eastenders’ ‘Nana Moon’ (Hilda Braid) on court 13, Rob ‘It’s a bit of fun’ Brydon outside the south restaurant (I was so tempted to shout ‘it’s a bit of fun!’), Jeremy Bates and Andre Agassi up in the VIP stands overlooking court number 2.

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