My mum has subscribed for years and is therefore able to access all of the amazing offers, competitions and events from the team at MyTimesPlus. We've been to quite a few events, ranging from film screenings to a Downton Abbey talk with Julian Fellows and a Q&A with Miranda Hart. Living in London these past few years has proved particularly advantageous, and was especially good for this latest event.
Tennis is by far my favourite sport. I'd never confess any sort of enthusiasm for sport in general, nor would I claim to possess any sporting ability or knowledge beyond the basics I learnt in high school P.E. and Games. I was mildly swept up by the London 2012 Olympics but largely because they showcased Britain at its best and featured a Spice Girls reunion, and I'm a lot more interested in the Quidditch World Cup on Pottermore than this football malarky in Brazil at the moment. Tennis, however, is a different matter entirely, and Wimbledon in particular makes me giddy every year.
There's something so unapologetically British about Wimbledon. From the beautifully mown grass, to the strawberries and cream stands, the gleaming tennis whites, and the infamous Queue, the entire fortnight is an iconic celebration of world-class sporting achievement against a background of British tradition. For me, nothing beats it.
(IMAGES SOURCED FROM (L-R): www.thetelegraph.co.uk; www.chatteringkitchen.com; www.theguardian.com)
For a while I'd resigned myself to the fact that the odds of me actually visiting Wimbledon and not merely relying on pictures and the BBC for a fortnight were incredibly slim. Centre Court and Henman Hill were something I'd have to admire from afar as I always assumed getting tickets in the ballot was like finding faeries at the bottom of your garden: you really hope it'll happen but know it probably never will. However, all this changed thanks to the team from MyTimesPlus, as on Monday my mum and I were lucky enough to not only attend a Q&A with Tim Henman - one of Britain's most beloved tennis players - but also to have an exclusive tour as the All England Club prepared for the world's most famous tennis tournament.
We were pretty excited from the minute we stepped off the tube and were greeted with immaculate grass verges and signs directing us to the grounds.
After being issued with our security passes we were ushered into the beautiful Robinsons Suite and offered refreshments and our first glimpse of the courts.
I had assumed we'd then be moved to a conference room or somewhere a lot larger for the Q&A but was astounded to find out there would be nowhere to hide as there were only 20 of us… this was a lot more intimate than I anticipated!
We took out seats on the front row (very keen…) and practically buzzed with excitement as Tim Henman entered the room.
Even for a self-confessed sports novice, it's difficult not to get goosebumps in the presence of a sporting legend as prolific in Britain as Tim Henman. Before Andy Murray won the men's singles at Wimbledon last year in an emotional and entirely brilliant match, Tim Henman had been Britain's most successful male tennis player since Fred Perry. Quite frankly he's a national treasure, and having now seen him up close it's glaringly obvious why.
In the Q&A with Times sports writer Alyson Rudd (who is also brilliant as a woman triumphing in a male-dominated world) he came across as charming, warm and utterly professional. His behaviour throughout the conversation was obviously indicative of years of practise from endless press conferences and interviews, however Henman never gave a clipped or short monotonous preprepared response. Instead he answered with rich detail and witty anecdotes (obviously well worn but still told expertly as if for the first time). His enthusiasm for the sport seems not to have waned since he retired from professional tennis in 2007. Henman spoke about the importance of getting children actively involved in tennis from a young age, critically assessed Andy Murray's chances in the coming few weeks and even commented on the issue of excessive noise - as seen by female players like Sharapova and the Williams sisters. He was engaging and animated, also offering several seemingly unintentionally inspiring quotes, including "practice makes permanence"; answering his own rhetorical question of 'what is success?' with "maximising your potential"; and declaring that "there's no grey areas with commitment: you're in or you're out." My admiration for him skyrocketed - what a gent!
As the Q&A drew to a close and everyone scrambled for a photo, the biggest shock of the morning descended - Henman began to lead us out of the Robinsons Suite and seamlessly into a tour of the grounds. There's no other way to articulate this properly, but omg best. day. ever.
He shared anecdotes about his time at the club - he certainly has many having first encountered Wimbledon aged 6, to his time playing professionally, to his current status as a member of the Club's board - and pointed out particular spots like a cross between an expert tour guide and a man proudly showing you round his back garden. Henman seemed totally at home and completely at ease.
The whole thing seemed to pass in a giddy blur. I can't work out if having Tim Henman show us Henman Hill (!!) or having a picture with him in Centre Court was a personal highlight. Either way, that's a pretty good dilemma to be faced with!
Afterwards we almost skipped away, a Cheshire cat grin refusing to leave our faces. We went to the Wimbledon Museum in an attempt to calm down before heading home, but ended up getting even more excited as I geeked out over all the artefacts from the start of the twentieth century and the birth of tennis at Wimbledon (once a history nerd, always a history nerd…) and mum was reminded of why she began to love tennis growing up, recalling stories of naughtily skipping classes by feigning illness in order to watch the women's singles finals while in Sixth Form.
I can't thank the team at TimesPlus enough. These sorts of events are once in a lifetime and I know I'll definitely cherish these memories for the rest of my life. It's not every day that you get to meet a tennis legend and have him graciously discuss his career before showing you his namesake in the form of the one of the most iconic hills in Britain! Not bad indeed.
In the run up to every championship, Henman must be asked who his money's on by practically everyone he meets, so he said he names someone different every time so that he'll be right at least once. For the 2014 Wimbledon Championships and for TimesPlus he called Roger Federer and Serena Williams. I'm not going to write off Andy Murray, but I feel it'd be foolish not to trust an expert, and especially as he's so lovely…
*****
The 2014 Wimbledon Championships start on Monday 23rd June and run for a fortnight till Sunday 6th July. If you fancy visiting the grounds but missed the ballot for tickets, then you can find out more information on the Queue here. More photographs from this event can be found on the MyTimesPlus website here.
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