Day 3 of the 2022 Wimbledon Champs and I was lucky enough to be there. A big thanks to my sister who let me know that Wimbledon were releasing tickets back in March. They were strangely selective in sending out e-mails about ballot returns! I managed to get one of the last pairs of tickets at the time for No.1 Court. We were back row but just happy to get through the gates and ended up having one of those classic days wandering around the outside courts. So much fun! I write these posts as a memory for myself to look back in future years. Hopefully they are interesting about the Wimbledon experience too!

Day 3 Matches 🎾

Jule Niemeier d. Anett Kontaveit, 6-4 6-0 (R2, Court No.1)

We had hoped to watch Ryan Peniston on No.3 Court but when they pushed back play again to 12:30pm due to drizzle, we bailed and ended up going to our seats on No.1 Court for the first match of the day between Anett Kontaveit and Jule Niemeier. It was over in a flash and was an “upset” with Niemeier scoring the biggest win of her career. It was a very impressive display – big serve, big groundies and Niemeier seems to enjoy the grass. Just the one test on serve early on in the second set which Niemeier passed with flying colours.

Kontaveit actually started OK and seemed positive, fist pumping after most points she won. She didn’t do a lot wrong in the first set. It was just one break of serve and Niemeier had a fortunate net cord at 30-30 in the game where she broke serve. The second set though… oh jeeps it was a complete collapse from Kontaveit and actually pretty uncomfortable to watch. Kontaveit relinquished her serve twice on double faults and was spraying balls all over the place. No resistance whatsoever as Niemeier swiftly wrapped up the win in 58 minutes. FIFTY EIGHT!

I really feel for Kontaveit who recently ascended to world number two in the rankings at the same time as struggling with the after-effects of COVID which she picked up in Madrid (and shared after her first round loss at Roland Garros). Her form prior to Madrid had started to dip so it’s been a bad few months on the tennis court. Kontaveit is now working with Torben Beltz which I think is a dynamite partnership. I like Anett and hope she feels better soon and can start to turn things around on the hard courts this summer.

Niemeier appeared calm and reserved for most of the match so her huge reaction to winning at the end really took me by surprise! I love to see that release of emotion and how much this win meant to her ❤.

Karolina Pliskova d. Tereza Martincova, 6-3 6-0 (R1, Court No.1)

This was one of the strangest matches i’ve watched live, lasting just 12 points! Pliskova and Martincova were halted on Tuesday night with Pliskova leading 7-5 5-5 under the roof. The pair returned to bright sunshine to resume their match.

There were some long drawn-out rallies right from the first point (of twelve 😂) which immediately captured the imagination of the crowd. Pliskova managed to break to 30 and then serve out the match to 30. There was a weird, muted reaction at the end from the crowd. I almost wondered whether some of the crowd realised what had happened with the match being held over from Tuesday. This was the second year in a row that Pliskova has beaten Martincova at Wimbledon. A decent win for Pliskova although it’s already not relevant as I type this because she went out to Katie Boulter on Thursday.

Jessica Pegula d. Donna Vekic, 6-3 7-6(2) (R1, Court 17)

After Pliskova-Martincova, we headed out to Court 17 to catch one of the final first round matches that had been held over from Tuesday.  Court 17 has no stewards and you can just wander on. We got stuck standing in the entrance for a few games. We then got lucky as two front row seats suddenly freed up on the next changeover. I love being so close to the action! This was one of the highlights of the day as this was the first ever time i’ve seen Jessica Pegula live!

As first rounds go I thought this was a good quality match, particularly the second set which was decided on the tiebreak. It was to and fro although I always felt like Pegula was going to win and she played the big points better. Twice Pegula found herself at deuce serving to stay in the second set at *4-5 and *5-6. Vekic had some openings but Pegula was impenetrable. The second set tiebreak was one way traffic and it was sad to end on a Vekic double fault. Vekic was pretty sullen for most of the match. We were sat in front of her team and there were a lot of stares in our direction 👀. Vekic’s team tried to offer encouragement during the match.

Pegula is just such a solid and reliable player. It doesn’t sound like much of a compliment but I really do mean it as one! Pegula has a great mentality and has established herself has one of the most difficult players to beat on the tour. It’s a given that you have to play well to beat the j-peg. I actually went for Vekic in my draw as I thought Pegula would take some time to adjust to grass as this was her first competitive match on this surface this year. Not the first time I have been burnt picking against Pegula 😂.

Alison Riske-Amritaj d. Maja Chwalinska, 3-6 6-1 6-0 (R2, Court 18)

Random question – Has Riske just started using her married name or I have been sleepwalking for the past few months?! Ali on grass is a wondrous sight. I was also keen to see Chwalinska for the first time having watched her run Siniakova absolutely ragged in the first round.

There was a bit of a subdued atmosphere to start on Court 18 after the long match beforehand which emptied out the court. I had my Pimms so I was all fine and dandy 😎. Riske was out-of-sorts at the start with so many unforced errors. I think you could attribute some of that to Chwalinska’s game which is kind of unorthodox with slices off both wings and then these pockets of power unleashed down-the-line. Riske began to work her way into the match from 0-3 down. The rallies were getting longer by the end of the first set and Riske was starting to dictate them. She was just missing the final ball.

Chwalinska won the first set, 6-3 and then we headed off for another wander around the courts. I wasn’t surprised to see Riske fight back in the second. Didn’t expect that scoreline though! Chwalinska is certainly on my “one to watch” radar now. I’ve got Riske to the quarter-finals in my draw and would love to see her have another deep run at Wimby. Bouzkova next though…

Jannik Sinner d. Mikael Ymer, 6-4 6-3 5-7 6-2 (R2, No.3 Court)

This was probably the best tennis we watched all day. Good match and nice atmosphere. We joined towards the end of the third set. Sinner had a *0-30 opening on Ymer’s serve at 5-5. Sinner, who was sliding all over the grass, had a bit of a slip and that seemed to throw him off. I appreciated Sinner’s aggressive approach, trying to come forward. He was trying to do the right things. The precision wasn’t there and a few errors creeped into his game as Ymer won the third set.

The fourth set began with three breaks of serve. Sinner re-breaking in a lengthy deuce game at 1-1 was the clincher and he then sped away with Ymer’s resistance broken. Both Sinner and Ymer are fun to watch. Loved watching Sinner unload on his forehand. He hit a couple of wowzer cross-court forehands which the crowd went crazy for. I realise the picture below is a backhand 😂.

Nice to see the pair hug at the end and show respect for one another. Nice vibes on Court No.3! Sinner advances to the third round of Wimbledon for the first time in his career. Come on, Jannik. Please beat Isner in the next round…

Ons Jabeur d. Katarzyna Kawa, 6-4 6-0 (R2, Court 12)

We were sat on Court 3 with front row seats for Ons. I was so excited until we realised they’d moved this match to Court 12. I’m still pissed they did that! There was a huge queue outside Court 12 with the match already underway. It was a sad sight to see the stands so empty because there isn’t enough time on the changeovers to get a significant number of people into Court 12. We wandered off, gutted and mopey faces, but came back at the end of the first set when the queue had subsided and we finally managed to get in.

It was pretty uneventful to be honest. I was just glad to end the day seeing Ons up close! Kawa took a medical time-out midway through the second set – shoulder? Jabeur cruised through the second set for her second consecutive straight sets win in under an hour. The only resistance was in the final game. Jabeur thought she’d won only for Hawkeye to overrule. The only other takeaway is this is the second Jabeur match i’ve watched live this year and both times the drop shot wasn’t really working!

Practices and outside courts 🎾

Unfortunately the early rain killed any chance of watching players practice prior to the 11am start of play. It was a very frustrating start to the day with a few episodes of drizzle that would have been fine at Rolly G but not on the grass. When we gave up waiting for Peniston-Johnson on Court No.3, we headed over to the Aorangi practice courts where the courts were uncovered. We watched Petra Kvitova practising with coach, Jiri Vanek.

The set-up around Aorangi is awful! It’s not an enjoyable experience even though it wasn’t that busy. A narrow pathway takes you down to some of the practice courts. It wasn’t controlled so it was hard to tell if there was a queue or if it was just people standing and watching. Half of the path is cordoned off for player access so it’s a tight squeeze. You can’t get close to the fence so there is no opportunity for pictures. It’s nice spotting players walk by – we saw Liam Broady, Panna Udvardy, Tereza Martincova and the queen herself, Monica Niculescu 😂. Hopefully they will improve the access to the practice courts in the master plan as Wimbledon lags behind the other majors in this department.

It was one of those fun days spent hopping from court to court. We saw little Diego in doubles action. He’s still bloody taller than me 😂. The light was perfect from under Court No.3 looking out to Court 4 so I was pleased with the picture below!

You couldn’t miss Martina Trevisan and Jasmine Paolini in doubles action playing against the British pair of Naiktha Bains and Maia Lumsden on court 8. I could hear Trevisan from several courts away! They were a fun pair to watch. Lots of forza, forza, forza! Trevisan was leading the Italian pair and trying to gee up Paolini after every point they won. The pictures do the joy justice. The British pair won in the end in straight sets.

Liam Broady and Jay Clarke were in action in doubles, as was Luke Saville with Dasha watching on. Later on we saw Tereza Martincova and Marta Kostyuk against Madison Brengle and Lauren Davis in the sun. Adore the southern end of the grounds when the sun is going down! 😍

Our last watch was Kaja Juvan and Dalma Galfi – we saw a bit at the start in the windswept sun and a bit later in the second set with the light fading. Really enjoyed this match and it was two more players i’d never seen live. I’m always impressed when I watch Juvan and kind of surprised that she hasn’t pushed on further. I think it’s coming. Juvan has a super game. Juvan won, 7-5 6-1 against a mummified, Galfi.

Around the grounds 🌱

The grounds were looking rather dashing. I don’t know if it’s because I have become a keen gardener since lockdown but I noticed all the plants. I was jealous of their ferns by court 3 – they were immaculate. I had serious fern envy 😂.

Row ZC is officially the back row of No.1 Court. There really isn’t a bad seat in the house though and I felt as close or even closer to the action than when we were midway up the upper tier at Court Philippe-Chatrier at the French Open earlier this year. We were side on which I don’t enjoy as much for actually watching the matches so we ended up spending most of our time on the outside courts.

It was the first time we’ve got in the queue for Court No.3 and they have a clear system which seemed to work well. You join the main queue that snakes along the south stand and then by the side of court 8. At the front, you get given a card and sent to one of the entrances. We started queueing at 3-3 third set Sinner-Ymer and were in the court within one or two changeovers.

A Pimms now costs £9.75 plus a £1 deposit for the cup which you can get back. It’s a joke but of course I still bought one. It’s a tradition! We missed out on the strawberries and cream. Too wrapped up in the tennis so one for next time.

I’d noticed from the TV and heard from the Tennis Podcast that attendances are down so far at Wimbledon. I did get a sense of this. Outside courts were busy at lunchtime but I think that was down to the delayed start and obviously the 1pm and 1:30pm starts on No.1 and Centre respectively. I hate the late start times especially if it’s raining. Presumably it’s for corporate? I think they should be starting much earlier. Court 12 always had seats which was rare. The picture below is during Jabeur’s match before the crowd could pile in. I remember the race at 10am to find a court. None of that this year.

FPAs 😎

I’m always on the hunt for FPAs (famous person alert) and compete with the bro to see who can score the most. Assessment of the day – could do better! The bro’s best spots were Kyle Edmund entering the grounds and Marcus Buckland at the entrance to the media area near court 14. Mine was probably James Ward, the former British player, who was all dressed up walking by Centre.

New player alerts 🔔

My quest is always to see and photograph players for the first time. It was a brilliant day! Chuffed to see Pegula for the first time and tick off a few others too in singles and doubles actions on the outside courts.

Jessica Pegula ✅

Kaja Juvan ✅

Martina Trevisan ✅

Jasmine Paolini ✅

Elena-Gabriela Ruse ✅

Jule Niemeier ✅

Dalma Galfi ✅

Snap of the day 📸

I can’t pick a favourite player photo so i’ve gone standard for this one of another gorgeous evening at Wimbledon. Would have been our seats for Ons on Court No.3 if they hadn’t moved it to court 12. Yep i’m still bitter 😂.

Wimbledon album 📚

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