Wimbledon

Hello all,

I kept waking through the night last night because I had an early alarm set. I suspect I was worrying in my sleep that I would miss it. I decided to go to Wimbledon today for the tennis. When I lived here in 2015 I did a tour of the grounds in March, but when the tournament was on I was working on weekdays and I tried and failed once to join the queue to get in after work. I was too late and didn't get in.

Today Shannon and I quickly visited Tesco to get some food, and then Shannon dropped me off at Wimbledon Park on his way to work so I could try my luck in the queue. A tennis tournament was first held here at Wimbledon (which is actually closer to Southfields tube) in 1877. All these years later, Wimbledon is one of the very few places in the world that you can still queue up on the day of to try and secure a ticket to the event. Take note, MCC! If it’s good enough for Wimbledon, it should be kept for the AFL grand final too.

I joined the queue at about 6.30am, and some Irish girls kindly let me perch on the edge of their picnic blanket. Here we sat for an hour or so. The English know how to queue. They had different sections all organised and lined up, and you received a queue ticket with a number on it (I was 1501) which was checked many times throughout the whole process so no one could push in, and no one lost their place if they headed to the toilet or cafe.

After we moved the first time, the waiting continued for 2-3 more hours. I rounded a bend and was able to secure a wristband for court 2 which was £90 and included a reserved seat and grounds access as well. I was really happy about this because I most wanted to see Alex de Minaur, an Australian, play against the Chilean Cristian Garin. Nick Kyrgios was playing on centre court (yuck) and I wasn’t too phased by court 1 either. As well, the first match on court 2 started at 11am which suited better after having waited so long. Apparently 500 tickets for centre court, court 1 and court 2 are handed out in the queue.

At 10.40am I reached the counter to pay, and the lady said “are you by yourself?” I replied yes and she smiled and said have a good day. She had a bit of a twinkle in her eye which later made sense. I then passed through the security check and the man there told me I looked excited. I was!! Once in the gates I took in the sights of people rushing around, the beautiful flowers and the order of play board. I had seen all this before on my 2015 tour, but it was fantastic seeing the tournament buzz about the place.

I grabbed a Pimms and ran to court 2, making the match between De Minaur and Garin by minutes. I was ecstatic when I arrived to find out that the cashier with the twinkle in her eye had assigned me a seat in the front row on the end of a row. I had an excellent view and you could see me on TV. I was so glad I had bought a ticket for this particular match! I really like Alex de Minaur and the way he plays. I hadn’t heard of Garin, but he was impressive too. The match went for five sets, with De Minaur winning the first two and being up 3-1 in the third set tie break, and then Garin going on to win the third and fourth, and finally the fifth in a close tiebreak as well. It was a thrilling match with lots of twists and turns such as De Minaur cutting his hand at one point and needing a medical time out, and Garin running out of challenges and losing a point at the end he probably shouldn’t have.

I would honestly say it was one of the best tennis matches I’ve ever watched, and definitely the best I’ve watched in person. In the end it went for 4 hours and 34 minutes and I was gripped the whole time. Sadly my hip didn’t agree, I was very sore for much of the match as I couldn’t stand up for so long. As a result, afterwards I went for a bit of a wander. I walked around briefly looking at some other courts, and sat on The Hill for a little while watching Kyrgios win and Kubler lose for Australia. I definitely picked the right court to purchase a ticket for - Kubler lost in straight sets. Apparently people at home were pretty annoyed that channel 9 switched over to Kyrgios and didn't cover the match I attended after the third set. Kyrgios later won and made his first quarter final since 2014 here, I remember seeing his victory against Nadal back then on the board during my tour.

I grabbed another Pimms and a serve of strawberries and cream, which was free thanks to the HSBC bank account I still have set up from when I lived here - win!! Strawberries and cream are a famous Wimbledon staple, dating back to the fashionability of strawberries in early 19th century London. Back then they were only available for a few weeks per year which coincided with the tournament dates and was mainly attended by the city’s upper class. Today, they’re hand picked in the morning and delivered to the grounds at 10am ready to consume. They were delicious, but the liquid cream was a bit weird. Whipped cream would be better.

Speaking of the upper class - despite having not attended the Australian Open since the end of 2015, Wimbledon definitely seemed a lot more posh. People were much more dressed up, at the Australian Open I recall more people being quite casually dressed. No one at Wimbledon had their face painted or anything like that, and large flags were even banned. The strange contrast is that whilst large flags were banned, patrons are allowed to bring two cans of alcohol in per person (which sadly I found out too late as I arrived!). You can even bring in a bottle of wine! Overall the tournament and the attendees seemed a lot more well behaved and presentable I suppose you would say, and I had a fantastic time. I liked that it was a bit more posh than the Aussie Open.

I ended the day by heading back to court 2 to watch part of Alja Tomljanovic (Australian) vs Alize Cornet (French). I got really tired and even more sore all of a sudden here though so didn’t stay for too long. Since Ash Barty retired I feel like I don’t really know any of the womens players. I later looked and Tomljanovic won. On my way out, the crowds were insane as the Kyrgios match had just ended.

I was supposed to be going out to dinner with two friends Mum and I made in Sri Lanka tonight, but sadly they’ve tested positive for Covid today so we’ve had to cancel it. Hopefully they’re ok! Instead, I've had a nice hot shower and am watching a movie and having takeaway with Shannon and Alisha.

Today was a “remember forever” kind of day. I don’t think I’m going to forget that excellent mens match or the experience overall for a very long time. What a day!

Love to all
Claire
Xoxox