Eastbourne hosts an international tennis tournament each year, and this year we went along for a day. We were too late for show court seats, but we didn’t mind standing on the outside courts as we were so close to the action it was great fun to watch. Novak Djokovitch was there and we could hear the action and watch it on a big screen, but we didn’t see him in the flesh. I also made the brilliant decision not to take a bag – which meant we skipped the long lines (waiting for their bags to be searched) and waltzed right in!
It was a lovely relaxed atmosphere, more like a village fete than a high profile sporting event, although it’s all very professionally organised. Being there brought back memories of Wimbledon in the seventies, when schoolfriends and I would take the bus across London to queue for ages to get in, then rush onto the Centre or Number 1 courts where we could stand and watch Bjorn Borg or Ilie Nastase or Jimmy Connors. The standing space on Centre was so close to the court we could hear the photographers calling to each other from their dugouts. I was also a fiendish autograph hunter and managed to grab many of the top players for their signature – in the days when they would just come off court and walk through the grounds.
Anyway, we mostly saw women player last week at the Aegon, and I took a few snaps with my phone.
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