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When the jacket you left folded in the basket on your bike locked up in the park is still there 11 hours later it helps restore your faith in human nature.
That’s Wimbledon for you! Back at home on the coast my bike is always being harvested for spare parts.
But better still, before I found the coat was, incredibly, still where I’d left it, those nice men Anthony and Alan, from stores, had procured one of those much nicer navy blue cagoules with the coveted Championships logo on. Result!
There’s a real buzz in the air here. Where Wednesday was one degree cooler than it was here on Christmas Day, we’ve had gorgeous blue skies for most of the day.
Among the first in through the gates this morning was a man with a giant racket, looking rather like a founding father holding aloft a staff on a pilgrim’s progress. Others followed where he led, to Court 18, where the seats aren’t ticketed.
From our perch at the forecast centre, I spy the long, lithe figure of a beaming Venus Williams striding past the press centre after winning her match against Maria Sakkari. And here comes Rolling Stone and new dad, Ronnie Wood, buddying up with Pat Cash.
Earlier, we watched in disappointment as Britain’s Heather Watson failed to convert three match points in her first round match to lose to Germany’s Annika Beck 12-10in the final set.
Meanwhile the BBGs are doing a fantastic job. Deputy Championships Manager Mitzi Ingram Evans tells me she and other staff members have been spending two hours every day helping to train the BBGs – ball boys and girls – by acting as players on the indoor courts during the winter.
The BBGs have to learn how to store a towel and hand it to a player, how to hold their head and hands, where to stand on the court and to have a very good knowledge of tennis scoring.
Where it was once a case of “No 59 – lift your arm up a little higher!” and “227 – roll the ball!”, Mitzi is really pleased to see so many doing their job so well now on the courts. However, it’s tough and not everyone makes the grade.
