A Wimbledon First

I have been lucky enough to have been to Wimbledon four times now. These visits have included getting to watch amazing matches -one of which was on Centre Court- as well as some beautiful sunshine (translation: a very sun burnt Roo), some endless rain, of course strawberries and cream and endless amounts of queuing. None of my four Wimbledon trips ever disappointed, so I always look forward to this time of year and adding to my tally. 

In spite of my four trips, the one thing I have never experienced was camping (my earliest Wimbledon start was 5:30 am last year, with included a 5 minute journey from my bedroom to the queue). Megan (Richard's sister for those who haven't read my last post, in which case: shame on you) is a huge tennis fan and an equally impressive Roger Federer supporter and having flown endless amounts of miles and hours from South Africa, she wanted to give herself the best chance of seeing him play. As Federer is one of the most loved tennis players here at Wimbledon, this presented us with only one option: camping. Having cut our tourist trip short on Monday and bought all the camping necessities, we joined the queue around 4pm and were given ticket number 670 (ish). Given the number of excessive Federer fans in front of us, we didn't consider ourselves to have a good chance to get a ticket to see him but nevertheless set up camp and went out to get some food. 

Living minutes from my flat was a bit of a saviour (for a non-camper like myself, that is). It allowed us to keep our food fresh for the next day, have a hot drink if we pleased (without paying £3 for a filter coffee) and when I woke up with a soaked back from the condensation outside of the tent, I was able to run home, take a hot shower and have some lemon tea to prevent any sort of cold from developing. 

As Natz joined us for a couple of hours in the queue on Monday, we all had a bit to drink (some more than others) and in spite of the Stewards waking campers at 5:30am, I had been awake since 3:30, with only 3.5 hours sleep. Nevertheless, having packed up, dropped our camping stuff back at the flat, we were eventually moved into an actual moving queue where we found out that (through the median of a wrist band) we got a ticket on Court 1 and would therefore get to see Federer. Furthermore, not only did we get our tickets but managed to get courtside seats, just three rows behind where Federer was sitting for his change of ends!!!

The day turned out to be sunny and hot and although I am not a Federer fan myself, it was a great experience to see one of tennis' greatest players. I’ve only been to one other grand slam, but I have to say that Wimbledon and its crowds is really special. Possibly my favourite part of my day was when Federer was cruising along against Paolo Lorenzi (who was giving it his everything): in spite of 80-90% of court supporting Federer, everyone really got behind Lorenzi and urged him on, clapping and supporting every good point or game he won, as if he won the set, or match. Lorenzi clearly appreciated the support and it made for a good match and brilliant atmosphere! 

As well as Federer, we managed to see one of my favourite female tennis players, Maria Sharapova and although for just a game, my favourite male player; Jo-Wilfred Tsonga. The last match we managed to see was Anna Ivanovic which proved to be a great match but by that point in the evening, we hit a plateau and were fighting to stay awake. 

It proved to be a great day and it was wonderful to share it with Richard and Megan who were experiencing the tournament for the first time. We returned home beyond tired, managed to eat our dinner and all but pas out as soon as our heads hit the pillow. 

Muah

Roo xx