Monday is Wimbledon!

The weather is still glorious the next day and we are due on Center Court. Yeah!!!!We take the tube to Wimbledon. This being England, although there are at least three stops with the name Wimbledon in the vicinity, the station closest to the courts is called Southfields. That said, you can't miss it. This is where the packed train empties... onto green carpet!

It is quite lovely, really.

And the adverts (yes, I have found my British accent again...) are adapted.

Then there is a 1500 yards walk along a small road, with taxis and buses crawling in the middle, with hordes of humans all walking in the same direction. There are shuttles, but they are stuck in traffic like everyone else. 

It is a long and winding road, but when you get there... The view on London in the distance... The combination of old and new, as in most of England... 

Onto Centre Court... First game of the day, the winner of last year's tournament - Federer - against an unknown (at least to me) Colombian, Falla. I've never seen a grass court before. It is so quiet and the grass looks so good, it feels like they are on a carpet. Magical. The burning sun is hidden by clouds. Can life get any better?

Like everyone else, we expect to be out in an hour and a half and on our way to exploring the other courts. But Falla has other ideas. He plays brilliantly. Federer makes a lot of errors. And after a couple of hours of grand tennis, Federer is down 2 sets and a break in the third... Could HE be out in the first round? At Wimbledon???? Maybe he hasn't recovered from his humiliating early exit at Roland Garros - first time in 27 Slam tournaments he didn't make the semi-finals... Maybe he's done. Maybe we are watching the last match Federer will ever play. Now, that would be something!

But of course, you know how this story ends. Federer steps up his game. Falla is still playing brilliantly. It's just that Federer has heard his wife scream - so did I. Obviously, she hasn't had time to do her shopping in London yet and is not ready to go home today...

Federer wins the third. The fourth. I predict 6-0 in the fifth. After almost sending the reigning champ home in three, on center court, on opening day... and failing, there's no way Falla will recover. He gets broken in the first game of the fifth...

But again, Falla has other ideas. And in the third game, he is up 40-love. Yet, you know how this story ends... 

half a dozen deuces later, we are on our way to the predictable bagel...

But Federer knows he got lucky and the embrace at the net is a beautiful thing to behold. And the standing ovation they get when they leave a vibrant contrast to the respectful silences during ball play.

It is a tough act to follow and Jankovic is not the girl of the situation. She is her usual irritatingly inconsistent self. Every time I've seen her play, I've wondered how she made it to the top three, Her job today is to dispatch a 16 year old Brit, ranked 236. Well, Laura Robson was actually born in Australia, but in the current dismal state of British tennis, they'll take anyone who can swing a racket, really. (Too bad the French soccer team doesn't have that option.) Robson is at home and in no rush to leave. She's pretty to look at, but not enough to keep me interested. Off to the outer courts!

There, the players are at the same level as we are. You could really touch them (when they are sitting in their chair). We see Llodra (who very clearly swears, in French, after each lost ball), Robredo, Dent, Chela, Patty Shnyder,... 

They change the scores by hand!

AA loves it - he can sneak through people and be in the first row. 

Most of all, I love the lines persons.

We get back to Centre Court for the last match of the day, Djokovic (he's really cute) against francophone Belgian Olivier Rochus (not so cute, but fun). They play well, but you know Rochus is not going to last the distance. (They'll actually play until 11 pm, under the closed roof, and with the predictable outcome).

It's time to go, wake up the boy and walk the 1500 yards back to the tube station. What a day!