Today we were off to Wimbledon. After entering the ballot for tickets last year, we managed to get ourselves tickets to the Court 1. And what a great day it was turning out to be. The temperature was in “heat wave” territory for the UK at 27 degrees, and the sun was shining. The perfect day to be not working!

We got into the hustle and bustle of Wimbledon tennis centre about midday. Sasha headed straight for the strawberries and cream, and I was in the line for Pimms. Doesn’t get any more English than that magical combination. And I have to say that while it was never going to be the cheapest meal, the atmosphere, sounds and tastes were fantastic.

Walking through the tennis centre, especially on the smaller courts, everything is so accessible. Players are walking past you making their way to and from certain courts and all the Wimbledon paraphernalia is yearning to be bought. Have to say I did manage to pick myself up a Wimbledon 2010 towel, as well as a quality sweat band!

Court 1 was due to kick off at 1pm and as we made our way through, following the directions on the back of the ticket, something was a-miss. Walking past a few entrances where the stairs take you up into the stadium, we saw our entrance but there were not stairs. Only a ramp going down. Checking in with the volunteer Air Force chap, we were shown to our seats in the second row! Right next to the service lines-person and next to where the officials and players walk out. What fantastic tickets!

First match was Maria Sharapova (RUS)

[16] v Ioana Olaru (ROU) and it was surprising to see just how tall Sharapova is compared to her opponents. After a few photos I had to switch to video just to capture the noise Sharapova makes when hitting the ball. It sounds noisy and distracting on the telly and that is multiplied live. By the end Olaru was getting in on the grunting as well, but after an hour twenty, Sharapova had had a pretty easy run finishing up 6-1 6-4.

A few controversial rulings in the game led me to question the use of technology. I sided with the linesmen, having seen the ball bounce myself, but Hawk-Eye had a different ruling.

Next match was Robin Soderling (SWE) [6] v Marcel Granollers (ESP). We only stayed for the first set, but the speed difference in the serves was amazing and the rallies were a lot better in the men’s match.

Once out of Court 1, the crowd was building for the match of the century on Court 18, John Isner (USA) [23] def. Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 6-4 3-6 6-7 7-6 70-68 in 11 hours 5 minutes. We were next to the court when it finished and applause when the match finally got a result was sensational. Surprising the players could still stand up.

Mixed in with all of that, the Queen also took in some tennis that day, turning up to centre court to watch the Andy Murray match. First time she had been to Wimbledon since 1977.

Overall, a great day out, and we will definitely be trying out luck again later in year to see if the ballot returns some great seats for Wimbledon 2011.