Wimbledon

A Wimbledon Dream Come True:
My day of tennis at the All-England Club

I was successful in the public ballot this year. The computer chose July 6, 2006, as the day I would get tickets, and it chose Centre Court for me. It turned out to be the Ladies Semifinals Day. The tickets cost me $152 each (£69 face value plus $25 each wire transfer fee), but it was worth it.

I had to pick up my tickets at the ticket office on the day, so I had no idea where the tickets would be (in fact, I assumed they would be near the top, in the nose-bleed section). The tickets said entrance D, row A, seats 29 and 30. I couldn't stop laughing (and crying) when we found our seats and they were front row! It was better than I could have ever imagined. Both of the above photos are taken of me in my seat. The only thing between me and the grass (other than the nice security man) was the photographers' pit. Notice we arrived less than an hour before the match, but the net was not yet up.

Here is Kim receiving serve.

AELTC
P.O. BOX 98
London SW19 5AE
ENGLAND

A Wimbledon Dream Come True: My day of tennis at the All-England Club I was successful in the public ballot this year. The computer chose July 6, 2006, as the day I would get tickets, and it chose Centre Court for me. It turned out to be the Ladies Semifinals Day. The tickets cost me $152 each (£69 face value plus $25 each wire transfer fee), but it was worth it.

"Why was it worth it?" you say. BECAUSE I HAD FRONT ROW, COURT-SIDE SEATS IN CENTRE COURT!!!!!! I had to pick up my tickets at the ticket office on the day, so I had no idea where the tickets would be (in fact, I assumed they would be near the top, in the nose-bleed section). The tickets said entrance D, row A, seats 29 and 30. I couldn't stop laughing (and crying) when we found our seats and they were front row! It was better than I could have ever imagined. Both of the above photos are taken of me in my seat. The only thing between me and the grass (other than the nice security man) was the photographers' pit. Notice we arrived less than an hour before the match, but the net was not yet up.

It was Wimbledon, after all, so it started to pour just after we arrived at 11 am. The rain stopped before 12 pm (our matches were scheduled to start at 1 pm). During the rain, we suited up (yes, I am wearing a poncho over my raincoat) and walked around the grounds. This is taken from the top of the terrace ("Henman Hill") looking towards Centre Court.	I had wanted to get a picture with just the Order of Play and me, but it was not to be. It was raining when we arrived, and everyone else wanted to look at the order, too.
	The first match on Centre Court was Justine Henin-Hardenne vs. Kim Clijsters. I am a Justine fan (although, oddly enough, less so since I have now seen her in person); one of my students this past year was a big Kim Clijsters fan (I thought of him during the match). To the left of the scoreboard is the NBC booth. We got to see Mary Carillo, Ted Robinson, and John McEnroe through the window during the second match. During the first match, the glare was so strong, I could only imagine Mary and Ted. Notice the strong military presence around the stands. Also note that the player's box is above the NBC booth (notice the Player's Box Honorary Steward in the brown hat--he was interviewed on the TV). The Royal Box is not visible in this photo. Also notice that it was warm but not yet hot; the linesman is still wearing his Polo jacket.
Here is a photo of the coin toss before the match. Note that both Justin and Kim turn their chairs toward the court, as does Amelie Mauresmo, but Maria Sharapova keeps hers perpendicular to the court.
	Here is Kim receiving serve.
Here is Justine.

Justine won! Kim congratulates her.	Justine thanks the crowd, Kim gets out quick, and I get my picture with them.

The first match was the one I wanted to see. I am not much of a fan of Amelie Mauresmo (left) or Maria Sharapova (right). Theirs was longer than the first match, though, but not better (as both ladies made more mistakes than Justine or Kim did). Wimbledon doesn't joke around with the time schedule. I left just after Kim and Justine did (to go get some sandwiches for lunch to eat during the second match). I didn't dawdle and barely made it back before the second match started. Don't let the commentators fool you: Maria Sharapova's grunts aren't that loud.
Amelie won in the third set. Maria congratulates her in this photo. [If you don't know, in the final, Amelie beat Justine to win her first Wimbledon title. I was sad, as I wanted Justine to win (as the Williams sisters didn't make it).]
Notes on Wimbledon:
We stayed for six hours but could have stayed longer (as they started playing mixed doubles on Centre Court as we left). I did get to see Max Mirnyi and Jonas Bjorkmann in person, though, which was neat. Food prices at Wimbledon were again expensive but not exorbitant. I still don't understand the whole Pimm's thing (they kept talking about it on the morning news), but I did get to see strawberries and cream (a bowl of strawberries with milk-like cream poured over them for £2).	If you would like to try for tickets through the public ballot, send for an application by sending a self-addressed envelope with an international reply coupon between August and November to: AELTC P.O. BOX 98 London SW19 5AE ENGLAND BBC's weather forecasting is a joke. They say things like "Today's weather will be fresher" and expect that to be enough. No radar, no frontal boundaries, no color-coding on their maps. They need The Weather Channel!