Wimbledon was terrific. The only slam I’d been to previously was the US Open, and Wimbledon is completely different, smaller, quieter (grass is a quieter surface than hard court), and beautiful..the green lawns, the purple flowers, really nice. I arrived really early, via the Tube and a 15 minute walk (of course I went first the wrong way, but on foot it was an easier thing to correct), and found the will-call booth for my tickets. Unfortunately when I opened the envelope they were for the same day, but I was assured my ticket for Tuesday would be sent to the booth on Tuesday. So I went in, walked around, watched a bit of practice…actually watched two women hitting on Court 17, while waiting for Donald Young/Alex Bogolomov Jr, 2 Americans to play…and realized one was very good…it was Jelena Dockic, who was scheduled later for Centre Court! I watched 2 sets of Young and Bogolomov. I was right next to the court, and it was an interesting match. Both were really tense, it was a good opportunity for both. Bogolomov seemed more professional. Young had a break early and a chance, up 40-0 on Bogolomov’s serve, to put the set away, but seemed to lose focus, or let down…his feet stopped…anyway, things change quickly on grass, Alex held, broke and won the set. Young won the 2nd set and I left to watch Rafa play another American, Michael Russell, on Centre…Alex B ended up winning the last 2 sets decisively…

Rafa was impressive on Centre Court as was the court itself…my seat was great. The people going to Wimbledon, at least the ones on Centre, certainly seem better dressed than at the US Open, but then it was a lot cooler at Wimbledon! There are no suites on the court, so all the seats seem good. I was just above the International Box and opposite the Royal Box. I ran into some friends who were just below me in the International Box. The next match was Dockic and Francesca Schiavone. It was a good match, Dockic hits so flat, she was controlling the points. The two split sets and then early in the third it started raining hard…I got to see the tarp in action, the people move really fast to get it onto the court! Then the roof was closed, and it’s a cool, translucent structure. When the players came back, Schiavone was playing better, flatter, more aggressively and won. Then we watched Murray play a Spaniard who was zoning…for a while. All in all it was a really great experience.

Tuesday I arrived later and had to pick my ticket…unfortunately there was an hour long line at least, but it was very orderly and once I got in, I went to Ct 1 and watched Roddick play…he was sporting the low sock look…something he picked up from Mardy Fish? Everyone seemed pretty well dressed there too. I saw a bit of Wozniaki, but it seemed to be a blowout….it was..and then went out to see matches on the outer courts. I walked by Ct 7, saw a Canadian, Frank Dancevic, playing, and thought I’d see the end of the match, as he was up 2 sets…I found a seat next to the kids in green who roll out the tarps in case of rain, and some Candians…and Dancevic got into trouble…he lost a game after being up 40-0 on Mello’s serve, then was broken…served for the match in the 4th, was broken, broke back, had 2 set points in the breaker at 6-4….and lost the match. It was entertaining, but I felt bad for Dancevic. Mello was mellow during the match and really played consistently. The last match I watched was Ryan Harrison, who was really impressive against Dodig, moves well, really consistent and made it to net some too.