It has been one of those rare beasts, a calm and quiet day, from our perspective.
There was the morning address to give, from which point on the story has been sunny spells, a gentle breeze, and uninterrupted play.
Once again, our window on to Court 14 provided the showcase for another cracking match, this time between Australia’s Daria Gavrilova and Croatian Petra Martic, with Gavrilova losing minutes after playing a stunning smash deep into the baseline corner.
I have been forced to take advantage of these quiet moments to buy salted caramel ice cream and familiarise myself with aspects of the Club with which I am not au fait.
Digging into the history of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, I find out the reason why strawberries and cream have become the perma-dish of the day at the tournament.
Back when fresh produce was eaten seasonally, the strawberry season just happened to coincide with Wimbledon and the tradition stuck.
The Club’s Librarian, Robert McNicol, also brings me up to speed on the other sport that takes place here. Because this is the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
Originally, when the Club was first set up in 1868, no tennis was played at all. It was all about croquet. But soon the fortunes of the two sports started to reverse, with one of the croquet lawns being converted to a tennis court in 1874.
Does the handling of the mallet share anything with the racket, I ask Robert?
Some of the Club’s Members, such as John Barrett and Mike Hann, play tennis in addition to being top croquet players, he says.
But Robert thinks the skill is more akin to playing snooker or golf.
If you want to know more, next year’s exhibition at the Museum celebrating our 150th anniversary is all about the Club’s other sport – croquet.
In the meantime, anyone for strawberries?
