Wimbledon - We were there, but not at the end

An unexpected offer of two tickets to the second Monday of Wimbledon tennis only arrived a few weeks ago. We had heard nothing from the public ballot by early spring, so why it came so late, we will never know. The seats were on Centre Court, but not together. But we accepted nonetheless.

We were promised a hot day, so it was fortunate we had seats near the back and under cover. We watched victories for Federer over Soderling and Dinara Safina over an unlucky Amelie Mauresmo. The latter will always be known as the first match to be played under the new roof. It started to rain during their match and the decision was made to close the roof. I made a quick dash down the steps to get a photo of this historic event.

The last game featured Andy Murray against Stanislas Wawrinka. Play did not start until 6.36pm so was bound for a late finish. Just how late we were to find out. It was well after 9.30pm and into the fourth set with Murray leading by two sets to one that we finally decided to call it a day. Alison had work the following day and I would have another late night at Stratford. On our way out, we passed the crowd on the hill watching the big screen in the near dark. In the end, Murray eventually won at 10.45pm, the tie only completed because of the lights under the roof. It was great that we were there.