It’s almost game, set and match-ready…

For the next two weeks, SW19 will be out of bounds to anyone who dislikes tennis.
Yep, the Championships are happening and many 10s of thousands will be descending on Church Road in the hope of witnessing some sporting history for the next 14 days.
There is almost zero chance of a singles winner in the men’s or women’s section, let alone a South London interest going deep into the second week.

But that has not stopped the AELTC from putting on what it believes to be the best show in the tennis calender.
Excluding the hundreds of players and their entourage, which can be a hefty number in itself, there are thousands of people working from early morning to late at night to ensure they and the paying public are well looked after.
You might see loads of the Land Rover cars zipping up and down the roads near the stadium.
They will be taking players and officials from hotels to the practice court in good time, and then taking them home again.
Inside the massive complex, all the courts are in perfect condition.
On Friday, it was the chance for all the testing to take place.

Some players were on Centre and No1 Courts playing out a friendly match. Thus allowing line judges, umpires, ball boys and girls as well as TV coverage to get their acts together.
It also allowed for the Hawkeye technology to be fully tested.
The objective is that come 1.30pm on Monday, when defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic steps out onto the court, all will be ready for him, his opponent Argentina’s Pedro Cachin and the packed Centre Court crowd.
It will be a time when the only issues of note will, hopefully be sporting ones.
For those not lucky enough to have show court tickets, there will be plenty of action on the outside courts.
To keep the crowd happy, there are numerous opportunities to buy food and drink to suit all tastes.
The shop and museum are well worth a visit to pick up that souvenir you always wanted.
Used balls will be available  to buy almost as soon as they have had their six games in the sun having being whacked across the net at 100mph or so.
But do take a bit of time to check out the plants that adorne the complex.
They create the classic calming effect.
Myself or Charlie Stong will be here everyday, reporting on what’s going on, on the courts and sometimes off it too.