After reading Sue’s memoir recently, I was intrigued by this follow up that centres on the hallowed tennis grounds of Wimbledon. It’s a bit of mish-mash of stuff, Sue’s memories, a history of the tennis tournament, and details of some of the biggest stars that have graced the courts, alongside more recent bios of players. The chapters do jump about all over the place a little bit, but equally, it’s such a joy to spend time in Sue’s mind like this, she has so much knowledge and insight, and it’s just a privilege to have it shared with us!

As usual, I took some time off work this year over the Wimbledon fortnight to watch as much tennis as I possibly could. This time, I decided to shift the days a bit and focus more on the second week rather than the first… so typical that this was a year in which most of the top seeds went out super early and so I was left watching rather random people instead.

You always have to be a bit skeptical when a famous name writes their first novel, but I thought this was a really good one. Judy makes no bones about the fact that Anton du Beke basically talked her into it but you can’t fault the tennis story coming from someone who knows what they’re talking about! It’s all a bit predictable, but the characters are a joy and the journey is a lot of fun to go on - just like the actual Wimbledon tournament. Definitely worth a read if you’re a tennis fan. I see that Judy’s second book is a murder mystery… so we’ll see if that holds up as well!

The second week of Wimbledon was somehow so much better than the first but also really quite frustrating. The singles action got really interesting and good, but it felt much harder to keep track of everything else. It was a really, really wet fortnight and it’s so impressive that the schedule didn’t slip very much considering there were a few days with basically no play. But the concertina effect did make it hard to find anything outside of the main show courts.

Although the UK is suffering from a lack of summer at the moment, the sporting events continue apace. Some are enjoying the football, if enjoying is the right word(?) but for me, it’s all about the tennis. Going into Wimbledon this year, the field seemed wide open and even more so when Sabalenka pulled out of the championships. My focus has been on the women’s side, as always, but it’s hard to avoid seeing what’s been going down on the men’s side of the draw too. But here are some thoughts from the first week, anyway:

During our second 90s evening (it’s becoming a thing!) I noticed something during the Gladiators episode that was so smoothly done, it hadn’t even registered in my mind. The men’s and women’s events were swapped in order throughout the show and for each episode. For example, who was introduced first, sometimes the men, sometimes the women. Who took to the Eliminator first at the end of the episode? This time it was the men, the other time it was the women.

It’s Wimbledon time! Lush green grass courts, strawberries and cream, and one eye always watching the weather to see how much play is going to get completed each day. I can’t wait! Here are five things I’m looking forward to ahead of the 2023 tournament: Being on it. Have watched qualifying and kept an eye on that draw, as well as being ready with the draw and the order of play for Monday. Let’s do this! The battle for the top prize. Can Świątek do it? Is this Jabeur’s time? Will Sabalenka conquer her demons to get a Wimbledon win? I’m not sure this counts as looking forward to, but the Venus Williams versus Elina Svitolina first round match is must watch for me. I can’t believe the only non-Brit wildcards have to face off in the first round, and I want both of these to do well, dammit. Such a wide field, and so open, we could have a complete surprise on our hands like last year, or it could be one of the players who is on everyone’s predictions list. Dark horse and underdog story, anyone? Thanks to Break Point, I actually know a bit more about the men’s draw as well, I’m usually fully focused on the ladies but this time I might spare a minute to browse the men’s results too. There’s always a rumbling of political aspects within sport at the moment, but I’m hoping this will be a great fortnight of quality tennis to enjoy. Ready? Play!

Two weeks of tennis drew to a close yesterday, with the Wimbledon 2022 tennis tournament crowning its final champion and then standing down to give the grass its well-earned rest. It wasn’t a simple fortnight, with plenty of discussion points and controversies, and a final day of tennis that included a fight for the men’s singles championship between two less-than-ideal candidates. I kept abreast of the men’s side of things only because I was listening, as I do every year, to the wonderful Wimbledon Radio Channel - a fantastically fun broadcast that covers everything going on every day with a rotating set of presenters, guests, experts and commentators. Otherwise, I would only have focused on the women’s game, which itself was full of intrigue.

I’ve seen it before and thought it really wasn’t going to stand the test of time but actually it was better than I remembered it being. It’s cheesy and pretty far-fetched but it’s a gentle funny rom-com that does the job. I also really like the time capsule of Wimbledon we see here - nearly twenty years ago, there were no roofs, no Hawkeye, the website was different, rain delays just meant sacking it off and going home. Amazing.

How joyous for Wimbledon to be back on our screens! One week down and one to go, and what great tennis we’ve seen so far. I hadn’t particularly intended to write a post about this year’s championships, but then I remembered that it’s so-called Manic Monday, and it’s potentially the last one we will see. Going forward, Wimbledon will no longer have that sacred Middle Sunday off, instead they will play on through.

What a weekend of sport that was! I’ll admit my focus was pretty much exclusively on Wimbledon, but it was hard to miss the fact we were doing well in the cricket, and there were a handful of motorsport events to also catch the eye. But the tennis held me in thrall for the full weekend. I’m not a huge fan of the men’s game anymore, it’s too whippy and too long, but I couldn’t help getting invested in the Federer/Djokovic rematch. I’m sort of in the camp that thinks it’s a bit disappointing to end up with the same names in the finals all the time. Djokovic, Nadal and Federer, if it’s not one it’s the other. But you can’t take anything away from the fact that these guys are incredible, and that’s why they’ve managed to sustain such success.

I have, during the course of writing on this blog, mentioned many times the ways and means I am enjoying Wimbledon - whether that is indulging in endless TV and radio streams, analysing what options are available on various app stores, or even being lucky enough to attend the tournament itself. This year, I am firmly back in my armchair, and have even indulged in a couple of days off work to ensure I capture as much of the opening matches as I possibly can.

For the past two weeks, the 2017 Wimbledon Championships have been underway, and they’ve provided lots of ups and downs, highlights and disappointments, the usual Grand Slam tournament soap opera. This year was different for me, though, because I was there on day one. I was one of those attendees in the grounds of the All-England Club. I never really thought I’d get to Wimbledon in person. It was a vague desire, but the complexity of getting tickets alongside the fact that coverage at home only ever gets more comprehensive and engaging meant I thought I’d be an armchair fan for the foreseeable future.

Usually when I watch sports, I am looking for a good game/match/race, and may have a favourite in the mix but as long as it’s a good battle or an impressive display, then I’m happy. Over the last six months or so, I’ve been investing myself into the WTA tournaments so that now I have a handful of favourites, for a variety of different reasons. Somehow, I’ve escaped without any of them meeting each other when it really matters, but now, on the second Tuesday of Wimbledon, the inevitable has happened.

At the beginning of the month, when I was catching up with the Radio 5Live Wimbledon podcasts, I was intrigued by this snippet of conversation between John McEnroe and Pat Cash. McEnroe was hosting one of those 606 listener call in specials, but Cash had to share a sudden irritation of his that wasn’t in relation to any question in particular. Pat: Something that annoys me a little bit, people calling you former Wimbledon champion, or something. If you won the championship, they don’t take it away, do they? So, former Wimbledon champion is like taking it away from you. You’re always a Wimbledon champion. People say “you’re a former Wimbledon champion.” No, I’m a Wimbledon champion!

Whilst watching Wimbledon this year, Mr C questioned what those tennis players were consuming when they squeezed little gel packets into their mouths. I assumed they were some kind of gel thing for top sportspeople, but then I realised they sell them in the supermarket. We decided to try some. Eww. I mean, I wasn’t expecting a sweet treat or anything but this was not good. It tasted like medicine, and as a gel it was all gooey and gross. I didn’t particularly feel any extra energy but then I wasn’t in the midst of a mammoth tennis game either.

As a change of pace to all the football talk, here’s a post about Wimbledon! It seems it’s become an annual thing for me to summarise all the ways I’m trying to keep up with the best tennis tournament around. In 2008, I talked a little about the live commentaries, whilst in 2009 it was all podcasts and apps. This year, I’m going to do more of the same, as the list of ways and means keeps growing!

This year, there are more ways than ever to keep up with what’s happening at the hallowed tennis grounds, and I am grateful because each year I get more and more scatterbrained. I extolled the virtues of the BBC’s coverage last year, and there’s more of the same going on for the next two weeks. From what I can tell, we can enjoy: The Wimbledon live blog, giving updates from all over the competition High profile live match updates - including video, and game by game commentary Tennis programmes on the iPlayer, including a couple of matches each day in their entirety, plus the usual Today at Wimbledon fare. Live radio and BBC Two streaming. Tarango & Cash’s Wimbledon Tennis podcast. That’s enough right there, if you ask me. However, the official Wimbledon site has some goodies on offer as well. There’s online video, the interactive draw plus some excellent live scoring.

Wimbledon is always on at the same time every year, and yet this year, it completely slipped my mind. At one stage in my life, it was the sport I followed. Much easier than F1, as it only spanned two weeks of the year. I even created a massive wall chart to follow the progress of players throughout one of the championships. It was gaudy, but I liked it. This year I have very little time to consume anything tennis related, especially as it’s the same time as Silverstone testing and the British GP. I am incredibly jealous of the person I know who has taken the week off to revel in seven days of tennis-y goodness.

I was watching the football last night - Argentina vs Holland was promising to be a fantastic game and yet there were no goals whatsoever, how disappointing - and I suddenly realised how much sport I watch these days. When I was a kid, and I was a little bit plump, and PE was hell, and they turned my school into a sports college which was my worst nightmare and I am not bitter about at all, I hated sports. The only sports I could stand to watch was Wimbledon because hey, Tim Henman was going to win one day!!

I mentioned previously that whenever I vote for something, it has the opposite effect than what I’m aiming for, so I’m not voting for anything ever again. Remember that? Well, since I went and sat in front of the television, Andy Murray has gone from two sets up to playing catch up in the fifth set. This is ridiculous. Does that mean I can’t watch tennis anymore either because they’ll all lose? What if I pretend to start rooting for the other guy… will I fool it? Either way, I couldn’t bear to watch anymore.

A disappointing week this week. Starting with Resident Evil 2 and The Talented Mr Ripley (which was recorded off the television, not rented), both of which left me feeling I’d missed something. Resident Evil suffered from the fatal “sequel disease”, the symptoms of which include trying too hard to come up with a story that doesn’t really work thus include much more shooting and monsters to try and make up for it. These were swiftly followed by Wimbledon and Bridget Jones 2, accompanied with some homemade trifle.

The end of June already. I can’t believe it. A quick note to those who don’t believe I can read fifty books in a year… I’m on my 41st. So there. Henman’s out. The English suck at every single sport possible. Except curling. Apparently that was Scotland.

We went to the pub to the watch the footie - something I have never done before. I’d always been a bit nervous of the idea of hundreds of people yelling at the television. But where we went was surprisingly empty, a group came in at half time with their faces painted, and we sampled lots of nice beer, so I learnt that it can be fun. Of course, I’m regretting it a bit today, I don’t usually get a hangover, maybe a bit of a headache from the dehydration, but nothing major. Today however, faced with getting up early for work, my stomach wasn’t happy - and my head still isn’t!