Centre Court

Stan always counted heads before we left, then told us some things about the matches we would see. Along the bus ride to the matches we saw lots of the typical side-by-side townhomes, that have little or no front yard.
Above: I thought it was quite a contrast as we walked from the private home to the entry gate, to notice the razor wire at the top of the walls to keep people out, mingled with colorful flowers. See the apartments? Those people get a great view of the matches, I think.

Right: A ticket for the first day. The bar codes in the lower corner were scanned when you left, so others could see the remaining matches.

Left: The courts were set up for singles, so the net itself was moved in. I'd never noticed that on TV at home.

Andre Agassi sipping some water prior to his match.

Left: Greg Rusedski

Above: Andre won a fairly easy match against Delgado. He is returning to the locker room afterwards.

Above: Tim Henman
Above: this is the broadcast booth that's just to the left of the royal box.
There was only one short (45 min.) rain delay in the three days we attended. It was amazing how fast the umpire's chair was pushed back, the net lowered to the ground, and the tarp pulled out. The tarp is still full of air and hasn't settled down on the ground. One year a man was caught underneath and they had to go to some trouble to get him out.
Stan told us that there is very little advertising on Centre Court, compared to other tournaments. IBM sponsors the service speed board, Rolex sponsors the score board, and Slazinger sponsors the balls and has one small name on the side of the courts.
This demonstration with costumes and flag appeared at the end of each game Henman won. On the right is the Royal box, which has padded, wicker seats.
A separate building for restaurants. The shots you see of the crowds walking around, come from these cameras.
Above: signs for the various areas.

Left: Shots you see of the courts from above come from a very large crane. And yes, there really is a person at the top. You can see where it folds down to let him off when weather is getting bad.

These steps, with the waterfall at the left led to the very top of a hill. View from the top of the hill toward London.
On the hill people with general admission tickets set up picnics. They're watching TV on a very large screen.
The big screen TV is really big.
It wasn't breakfast time, but I couldn't resist having strawberries and cream, a Wimbledon tradition. Lines were long, but moved pretty fast. Yum!

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