Bharat...soon after disembarking at the Southfields tube station. [Southfields is the nearest Tube Station to All England Lawn Tennis Club ....and not Wimbledon station :) ]
Sleeping bags in hand ....fully prepared for the night [...well , almost :) ]
5:30 AM, 27th June, 2008..... we couldn't believe we had survived the whole night out in the open, queuing up for the tickets ....not to mention the overnight rains, which we braved with just an umbrella above our heads ! [Yeah ..its a bit too bright for 5:30 AM ..the sun rises pretty early these days]
Whilst everyone else had come prepared with tents, we were the only 2 IDIOTS who had just sleeping bags !
The campers packing up their gear to resume their positions in the queues ! [since we had no gear, we had nothing to pack :) ]
BORAT !!!
6:30 AM....the sea of people queuing up !
Around my neck is the tennis ball-shaped binoculars that came free with the morning's 'Daily Mail'.
7:30 AM ...The long queue sluggishly moves on through the Wimbledon Golf Course.
Finally, after queuing up overnight ...braving the rains and nearly 4 hours of waiting in the morning, we finally got our Centre Court tickets .....
Bharat just outside the turnstiles leading up to Court 1
The Men's draws !
There were hordes of people from all over the world inside the Wimbledon village !
Outside the food-courts
Sign-boards
Me outside Court 1
The boutiques of the partner companies - the one in the middle is Evian !
The Centre Court
Outside the Wimbledon Shop .....part of Centre Court.
One of the smaller courts..
Ball-boys and ball-girls awaiting the start of match
The ambience at the village was truly upbeat !
When Amelie Mauresmo and her coach walked-by right in front of us !
Strawberries and cream - the must-have tradition at Wimbledon. Being HSBC customers, we had them free as there was a promo going on :)
Bharat with our Strawberries & cream ...courtesy HSBC bank :) ................Yummy !!!
I had supported Sampras in that finals :)
Steffi Graf all the way !
First sights of the Centre Court. We were inside an hour before the scheduled start of play !
The ball-boys and ball-girls march in ...It was amazing to see how well-organized and professional they were !
The chair-umpire's chair is brought in ..[that's the best seat in Centre Court :) ]
Bad news ...the skies start pouring again ...and the covers are out !
Rain...rain ...go away ! Roger Federer wants to play !
The score-board before the start of the match
That's me ..doing some justice to the Californian chicken whilst waiting for the match to begin
Prince Phillip - [ better known as Queen Elizabeth II's husband ] walks in !
The Royals in the Royal box.....In the front row, is Prince Phillip
Tyring to shoot the Royals .....with a camera, of course !
Finally ....one of the most unbelievable moments of my life ! Roger Federer walks into the arena !
Federer and Gicquel - all set to battle it out
Federer and Gigquel have a small talk.
I scanned the whole audience for Federer's girl-friend. Finally, spotted her [the one right above the 2:35 mark]
Roger warming up !
His grace and presence was majestic !
In the course of the match
The unfortunate man on the other side of a Federer-serve !
The ball-girl in action !
Federer serve - 1) The toss
2) The swing
3) The contact !
Federer charges-in for the kill !
During one of the breaks ....the ball-boy fetches an Evian !
There would be a retractable roof over this by next year !
The King in his arena !
The packed Centre Court audience
Frozen in time !
Game, Set, Match ...Federer mercilessly demolished Gicquel in straight sets ...6-3,6-3,6-1
It wasn't his fault to be placed against one of the greatest players of all times !
The second match at Centre Court - ex-women's champions Serena Williams and Amelie Mauresmo
Serena Williams
Her biceps would give any guy a complex :)
Mauresmo serves to Serena !
Serena leaving after thrashing Mauresmo
A doubles match in progress in one of the other 18 courts
Atop Henman hill.....people come here just to watch the matches on the big screen
The ambience here was just so laid-back and amazing !
Not everyone queues up overnight and gets tickets to enter the main courts
Bharat watching a match in progress
That's just about the luggage he had carried along ! [..the rest can be left to imagination :) ]
In the far horizon, above my head , are the sky-scrapers of central London
Back in Centre Court ...to watch the conclusion of the Serena-Mauresmo match
Its been a long day !
We were walking around when we spotted our local boy Rohan Bopanna playing a mixed-doubles match on Court 6
Bopanna's opponents - Miss Vesnina and someone who gets to play with Miss Vesnina :)
Rohan and his partner during the match
Vesnina faces the ball
Thank God for Russia :)
Thats just about the audience that was there for this match
Rohan and his partner resting
The Lines Men and Women awaiting their shift
Thats how close we were watching the match from ....Rohan and partner won the first set, and we left
The garden parties and some live music
As we were coming out of the Wimbledon village at around 7:30 pm ..there were these 100's and 100's of people queuing up to go in
A lake inside near the Wimbledon Golf course
Finally, back to the Southfields Tube station
