Wimbledon’s here. Well, its always here, just round the corner from Kingston upon Thames, if you can face the journey. Down the A3. Follow the roadworks all the way and you can’t miss it. But I mean ‘Wimbledon!’ The tennis tournament. And again, I mean ‘THE’ tennis tournament. There are loads of others, some of them apparently quite big and important. But nothing like Wimbledon. Americans may view the tennis season slightly differently, the Aussies view everything differently and the French would argue just because they’re French and its what they do. But Wimbledon is just… its just Wimbledon.

I love tennis. I play it every Saturday, every Sunday at my little club. Summer, winter, rain (to a degree) or shine, I’m there. Because I lack the imagination to think otherwise. And I speak to the coaches there who often say, ‘you going to watch the final today?’ with all due excitement. ‘It’s **********ova playing ***********ova in the Roland Garros!!!’ Or, ‘the men’s final at the Open!!!’ And the answer is always the same. A brief and abrupt ‘No’. Non. Nein. Nyet. Simply not interested in any of it. I sometimes cast a cursory glance at the results of these ‘other’ tournaments in the papers, but for me, the ONLY tennis to ever watch is at Wimbledon. To be there is to be in a place of total magic. And on tv, it is just the best. Though due to ‘constraints’ (work, Lila, eating…) I am limited most of the week to the highlights program. Which is fab. Quick fix. John McEnroe. Claire Balding. It’s still on ‘series record’ from last year. They should offer ‘lifetime record’.

And yesterday was such an amazing start to the fortnight. A little gel of about 12 beat Venus Williams. Who is 39 (how did that happen?) and played yesterday like a 49 year-old. But even as such, she’d be a 49 year-old Williams. And they’re not like mere mortals. The force is strong. Ok, Coco (as I call her) Gauff is actually 15, but is the youngest player ever to qualify. And the youngest ever to win a match in the tournament proper. And the youngest… yeah, ya get the drift. She’s fucking amazing, precociously talented and ‘the next big thing’. Without a doubt. But how can a 15 year-old have the mindset to beat her own idol on a stage the likes of which she has never before encountered?

But wonderkinds can peak early. Is Naomi Osaka, the American and Aussie champion, already ‘over the hill’ at 21???? She lost yesterday in the first round to a tiny little girl from Kazakhstan. And Naomi didn’t look champion-like at all. Though the little Kazakh is something of a nemesis to Naomi.

And in the mens, Setefano Tsitsipas looked awesome. Even though he took 5 sets to beat an Italian. But the Greek hits the ball harder than anyone. Harder than Federer. Harder than Djokovic. Harder than me. Though he doesn’t have to fish them out of the brook when he hits them that hard, like I generally do.

Happy Wimbledon Fortnight

A xxxx