Well thank goodness for the roof, is all we could say!
Had a fabulous day at Wimbledon tennis on Wednesday, courtesy of my very generous boss Monica - thanks for a great day.
starting with lunch in the Renshaw restaurant under Court One.
Yum! (salmon, beef and strawberries, if you're interested!)
I have cropped a lot of the photos but you should also be able to click on them to enlarge them to get a better view yet (but don't forget to come back and read the narrative!)
after lunch it was time to head to Centre Court, where the roof remained firmly shut all day
We did miss the start of the first match, which was a Ladies Singles
but not all of it. At least Shrieky Sharapova wasn't there..
Next up, Djokovic and Mannarino
he's off...
the well rehearsed ballboys and girls rush around at change of ends
the Royal Box wasn't full all day all of the time.. no major Royals in attendance apart from Prince Michael of Kent, though I see Cliff Richard appears to be there in the second row back.
a watery late afternoon sunshine trying to shine through the roof!
Although the score looks quite one-sided, it was quite a tight match and Mannarino played well, eventually taking the third set to a tie-break
at one point Novak slipped
match point...
but in the end, won victory in straight sets
Novak saluting the crowd.
now, time for afternoon tea before the next match, Federer agains British wild card Marcus Willis
yum again!
dainty sandwiches, cakes, scones and jam/cream and of course strawberries and cream.
then back to the tennis...
the first set was over by the time we got back on court and here we catch the action up in the second.. Marcus preparing to serve...
a huge outsider, ranked 772 in the world, Marcus played with spirit and enjoyed whipping up the crowd with wild cheers every time he won a point
but all too soon it was match point for Federer
and he didn't waste his chance.
Marcus won a lot of fans on court today, and got a deserved standing ovation at the end
so, the match over, and the players leave court
must be time for the bar again - Monica on the left with her friend Juley
and Juley's partner Mike. more champagne...
just to prove I was there
the limited sun of the day sinking beyond the courts
the last few spectators beating a weary way home after a very wet day (play didn't start on the outside courts till about 5.30)
A big thank you to Monica for once again treating us (the rest of the office go on Monday)
and to Mike and Juley for lots of laughs.
(you might think this isn't as many photos as normal- I did take loads, over 250; but one leaping serve shot is much the same as the next) but was enjoying the tennis so much I didn't take as many probably as I normally do!!
