Wimbledon Weblog 2010

2010-08-03T09:01:00.001+01:00

A little late... but here are the closing statistics for those of you who like that sort of thing:

Aces - most

Men: John Isner 113 (from 1 match), Tomas Berdych 111 (from 7 matches)
Ladies: Serena Williams 89 (from 7 matches – a new Championship record)

Attendance

Overall attendance was 489,946, which is the second highest overall for 13 days in spite of the reduced capacity of 37,500. All time highest of 511,043 was set in 2009 with daily capacity of 40,000
Attendance on Sunday 4 July was 32,036, a record for the final Sunday. Attendance of 41,920 on Friday 25 June was also a day record.

Catering

Strawberries – up 12% to 31,360kg for the Fortnight

Fastest Serve

Men: Taylor Dent - 148 mph (new Championships record)
Ladies: Venus Williams - 128 mph (also holds the Championships record of 129mph set in 2008)

Longest match

John Isner (USA) bt Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68
11 hours 05 minutes duration
Final set lasted 491 minutes (8hrs11mins), 1hr 38mins longer than the previous longest match in tennis history.
980 points played in total – Mahut won 502 and Isner 478 of them (Serena Williams won 789 points over seven rounds to win the Ladies’ Singles)
Isner served the most aces in a match – 113
123 balls used

Merchandise
The top selling items in the Wimbledon Shop were:

18,000 Yellow Mini Tennis Ball Keyrings
13,000 Mens Championships Towels
8,500 Ladies Championships Towels
8,200 Crossed Rackets T Shirt (Mens, Ladies and Kids)
8,000 Twin pack wristbands
7,500 4 ball can of tennis balls
7,400 5 inch tennis ball

Tennis Balls

54,250 Slazenger balls used during the Fortnight

Viewing Figures (UK)

29.3m people, 51% of the UK population, watched coverage of The Championships on BBC TV
Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final: Rafael Nadal’s victory over Tomas Berdych was watched by an average audience of 5.6m, peaking at 6.8m viewers, representing the second highest share over the last nine years at 44% (to last year's 50% share)
Serena Williams fourth Ladies’ Singles title (bt Vera Zvonareva) was watched by an average audience of 2.3m
Andy Murray's biggest audience was in the semi-final with an average of 5.6m, peaking at 7.1m
250 hours were transmitted on BBC1, BBC2, and the HD Channel
500 hours were transmitted via the Red Button
150 countries received live Wimbledon coverage

Weather

Championships recorded as being without rain interruptions since 1922: 1931, 1976, 1977, 1993, 1995, 2010

wimbledon.org

11.5m unique users
Visits 35.5m
Page views 307m
Wimbledon iPhone ‘App’ was downloaded some 850,000 times, +30% on 2009

That's it... all done for another year. If someone hasn't already done so, please can they switch off the lights (and shut the roof on their way out.). Thank you

End it has...

2010-07-08T11:37:00.020+01:00

... and I have taken a couple of days to adjust back to a more normal routine, let the event sink in, and to process the remaining shots I took whilst there.

Firstly, thanks to Wibmbledon Blogger, without whom this blog wouldn't happen at all. Nor would it be anywhere as interesting or informative. Erudition, wit, know your collective place at the point of his nib! Or should that be fingers, as I doubt he wrote his posts longhand...

This year at Wimbledon has been as enjoyable as any other. Hard work, for sure, but good to do nevertheless. Due to the generosity and skills of my good friend e0e I have been able to take advantage of some borrowed time and get out to photograph the goings on. So, a heartfelt thanks to him too, as without the personal photo aspect this event might well lose a little of its lustre to me.

Andy, with whom I have worked for the whole time I have been at IBM, deserves more than just a mention. He has been a good friend and mentor, and always manages to get the best out of me regardless of the situation. His knowledge and abilities are fundamental to the continued success of the project, imho. And my career.

Hmm, where's Kanye West when you need him?! Sufficed to say, the team that I work with here are exceptional, and that is one of the critical factors in making the twenty one long days at the Championships good ones. Sometimes I feel extremely lucky to do the job I do.

And thank you to you, whomever you are, for reading :)

A few photos to post. Some from the doubles match between Kournikova/Hingis and Austin/Rinaldi-Stunkel, played out in the fading light of Saturday evening on Court 18. Much has been made of the return of Kournikova and Hingis, though personally I didn't get the fuss. Years ago, and if I could find the file I would post it, I took a shot of Kournikova on Court 18, whilst perilously balanced on a wall and clinging to the ply screen with one arm whilst a security guard tugged at one of my feet imploring me in hushed tones to get down. Kournikova stared into the lens, I hit the shutter release, and within an hour (things were a little slower back then), the photo was on the official website, the first image taken with a digital camera to be used so.

This time round my vantage point was secure, and I could stay there unchallenged. Kournikova played with the strength and skill of a blade of grass. Hingis was more convincing, striking the ball with an enthusiasm and power her partner so obviously lacked. The photos I took are ordinary... though I will note that the last shot in the set has a strange secondary light source. I can only think it is from a TV light, or at a stretch reflected light from a window underneath my spot on the roof. Anyway, the light could only have been on very briefly, so, strange that I caught one shot (in a burst of three)...

The remaining photos I shot on the last morning of the event. The water feature finally gave up its bright logo in the early sunlight. I toured the southside courts with Andy, grabbing a couple of seat shots on Court 2, the columns of the new Court 3, sundries... and then it was back to work. The final push, in every sense...

I have learnt a lot again. There are things I can improve on as regards the photos; better observation of horizontals, faster anticipation, settings settings settings, processing of the images... the list goes on. Still, I hope you have enjoyed the imagery, nay, this blog!

And now I am home. Sitting here wondering if it all happened. The courts are silent again. The memories of the tournament are already smudging into an amorphous purple and soft-focused blob, juggernaut Wimbledon disappearing into the distance, and though I have not grown any fonder of the actual game of tennis, I can already feel the rhythmic rally of longing for next year's event.

I hope I am there...

Stroll on

2010-07-04T23:40:00.018+01:00

So. It ends.

On the BBC, Sue Barker's final piece to camera as she reviewed the last two weeks, was a simple "I'm missing it already". Then the credits rolled to the sound of Frank Sinatra singing Too Marvellous for Words over a montage of memorable images from this year's event.

I, too, have had my own, personal soundtrack to this year's Championships - the aptly named Demon Days. It's been on an almost continuous loop and has accompanied me through each and every journey to and from the AELTC. And some of those journeys were in excess of three hours each way, as there were precious few direct trains to Wimbledon. Instead, the connecting services would take me to exotic places like Woking and Surbiton. And, I think, Narnia and quite possibly the Lost City of Atlantis.

So, as I look back on the last two weeks of the whole Wimbledon experience, I think the enduring image will be the commute to and from the grounds. That's rather tragic, isn't it? It could have been the magic of being at the centre of such a global event...or rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous...it might, just might, have been the tennis. But the commute? Some might read that and argue that I didn't deserve a shiny piece of laminate that entitled me to by-pass the queues and saunter in through the gates each morning.

But - and here's the thing - everything went well. Really well. My role during Wimbledon fortnight was to ensure the internal coverage was just right for IBM.

And IBM made sure that was an easy job.

Now in its 21st year, the IBM/AELTC (mixed doubles?) match is well established. The service provided is without equal and has been faultless this year. The IBM SEER smartphone app has taken the world by storm - the first augmented reality application that actually delivers real-time results.

I will write one final post in a few days, to include some of the more unusual statistics for this year (ie number of strawberries eaten and amount of Pimms quaffed), but for now, some thanks where thanks are due.

Firstly, to gypsum. Yet again, the quality of his prose is matched only by the quality of his photos (he's getting quite good at this photo malarky, isn't he?). And please remember - this blog and all the work he puts into it, is in addition to the work he gets paid to do - and which in itself sees him busy until midnight most nights.

I have to also thank 2-D, Noodle, Murdoc and Russel for keeping me sane on long journeys in over-crowded and over-heated trains. Thanks also to SJ, Chris and Jo, for understanding that working at (and commuting to) Wimbledon leads to a disjointed family life, at least for a couple of weeks.

Finally, thanks have to be given to the IBM Team who have done what they do so well...yet again.

And in doing so, made my first Championship a stroll in the park.

Photos from No.1 Court...

2010-07-04T18:47:00.019+01:00

... not exactly hot off the press, but as I said in my earlier post, things have been pretty hectic. We have just finished doing the main photos for the official site, and there is now a lull which I am going to try and fill with posting some of the photos I took yesterday. I may well get interrupted...

It was a fantastic experience photographing the match between Kristyna Pliskova and Yulia Putintseva. As I took up my position in the photographers' pit I wondered briefly why all the other snappers were wearing hats. Five minutes later I felt like I had been on slow roast for several hours, and then I understood the importance of a hat! Nevertheless I survived, even during the scrum that was the cup shoot. Great fun to do.

I will post more photos from yesterday either later tonight, or tomorrow. Now though, a Thai meal beckons, celebration for the team reaching the end of another momentous tournament!

It has arrived...

2010-07-04T13:59:00.002+01:00

... the last day of the Wimbledon Championships 2010. We got in extra early this morning and took a few shots around the grounds, after which we sat down to the last full English breakfast of the tournament. Very nice.

Typically it will be a busy day. I have photos to post from the final of the Girl's Singles that I was lucky enough to shoot on No.1 Court yesterday. I also have photos to prep and post of Kournikova and Hingis playing on Court 18 yesterday evening. And some from the grounds today. Inevitably a number of them will have to be done tomorrow as I don't think there will be the time spare today.

Right, I will be back with another post later but now I have to prepare photos from the Gentleman's Singles that are pouring in over the wireless feed...

The penultimate day...

2010-07-03T15:26:00.000+01:00

... and it looks like a sunny one. We have had extraordinary luck with the weather this year, and that means we should finish on schedule, and be out of here by lunch time on Monday.

Today all eyes will be on Centre Court for the Ladies' final, and I have a feeling that Serena will add another trophy to her collection. I am going to see if I can get on court to shoot that match (highly unlikely), and failing that, get on to No.1 to shoot the Juniors match. Would be nice to do, even though No.1 is a less satisfying court from a photographer's perspective. The backgrounds are far more messy than on Centre, and the crowd will be decidely thinner I am sure. Nevertheless, always nice to sit in the pit and get some shots on one of the two prime courts here.

Yesterday I did a swift recce of the hill whilst the Nadal/Murray match was in full swing. The hill was very busy indeed, and below there are a few shots of some of the people on it. There are also some photos of elsewhere on the grounds, and a couple of random tennis picutres that I forgot to add to a post the other day.

I am betting that the girl with the Rafa flag, and the woman with the impossibly mirrored glasses will be in several of the papers today as the photographers were all shooting them as if their lives depended on it. It would have been rude not to join in!

This weekend is usually the point where I feel briefly happy to be heading home soon. I say briefly as come Monday morning I will be sad that it is all over for another year, and I will go back to far more mundane and humdrum projects. So, I had better get back out there and make the most of it while I can!

A few more photos...

2010-07-02T12:09:00.012+01:00

... to illustrate what's been happening around here. There's a big tennis tournament on, I don't know if you have noticed ;)

Work is hectic again today, a couple of Gentlemen's Singles semi-finals dominating the Order of Play, and consequently the flood of images that are coming in wirelessly for me and Rob to sift and process. This is leaving me short on time to craft a more interesting post. So here are a few photos to peruse whilst I think of something worth reading!

The water ones are up in Aorangi Park, the rest should be self-explanatory I hope... oh, the last two are from behind the large screen at the foot of Henman Hill.

More later, that's a promise I intend to keep. Probably!

IBM - What's the point?

2010-07-02T11:47:00.010+01:00

The Isner -v- Mahut match was a multi-record breaking event. The statistics are impressive: The longest tennis match ever played (665 minutes); the longest set ever played; the most games in a set; the most games in a match; the most aces served in a match.

Now, these statistics - while impressive - are relatively easy to record. All that is needed is an ability to count and a clock (and perhaps, as the third day began in something of a Groundhog Day-manner, a calendar).

But while the record-breaking statistics were bandied around the globe, there were many, many deeper levels of data being recorded and subsequently turned into meaningful information.

For example, Monsieur Mahut achieved 284 out of 328 winning points on his first serve. That's 87%. His opponent just 292 out of 361... a mere 81%. However, Isner got 59% of winners on his second serve, compared to Mahut's 55%.

And what about the percentage of serves that went to the right-hand edge of the court that were aces? And what percent of second serves were aimed at left-of-centre? These statistics are significantly harder to track - and virtually impossible with just a Mark One human eyeball.

That's where the IBM data entry team come into play. Teams of specialists log every type of shot that each player makes, to provide live information on each player, as it happens. Where a player serves, where they return, and how the point is then played out - it all gets recorded and the information processed. And all of it instantly.

Watching the game are a team of highly trained data entry experts. One stands over the keyboard operators and - literally - calls the shots. And because a detailed knowledge of particular types of shots is needed, each of the data entry specialists are picked from some of the best sports colleges from around the country.

They may look fresh-faced and innocent, but these students know more about tennis than most of the commentators and pundits (and ex-players) that we see every evening, discussing the tournament's events of that day.

The information they record then travels down 35 miles of cabling into 'The Bunker', where the IBM systems then process all the data.

Not only is this information then made available - instantly - for television broadcasters, but it is also recorded by the IBM Project Office. All the statistics, together with video footage of the entire match, are then put on DVDs and by the time the match is over and the players have completed post-match interviews, they are presented with the DVD, for them to watch and assess their performance and use in future training sessions with their coaches.

And as for the marathon Isner -v- Mahut match? Well, the data entry team clocked up 5,789 keystrokes - a mammoth achievement.

And, in itself, another world-record result from IBM.

3 days and counting

2010-07-01T21:20:00.005+01:00

As promised, tomorrow I will share more on how IBM collates all the data and turns it into meaningful information...but for now, just a couple of new photos before closing down...

What a difference a week makes...with matches played out - and players knocked out - few side courts get any visitors now.

Is it just me that thinks the map of the AELTC grounds looks a bit like a tennis racquet?

It's not a look just anyone can successfully carry off.

A rare sighting of gypsum...in his natural habitat, displaying classic gypsum behaviour.

Yesterday...

2010-07-01T09:30:00.001+01:00

... was Wednesday. I am saying that to remind myself that today is Thursday. I was so tired it was as if I had run full tilt into a wall made up of two parts fatigue to one part stupidity, cemented together by bad food and even worse coffee. Nevertheless I ploughed through the day, working with Rob to prepare over a hundred photos for the site. The day went well in that respect. When we got back to the house at about 10pm last night I carried right on with preparing more photos. It felt like a bit of a twisted recursive loop, hence my losing track of what day it is. I nearly had to sing Happy Birthday this morning, just to remember my own name.

Anyway, I digress. Things start to get a little easier from today. Fewer matches that are of interest to the web site. That is not to say all matches aren't valid potential content, it's just that less emphasis seems to be placed on the lower end of the draw, the doubles, Juniors etc. The two Ladies' Singles semi-finals will dominate the coverage today, and no doubt most of the photographers will be covering them, so the early part of the afternoon will be a frenetic flurry of selecting, resizing, balancing and saving. There is a party tonight for the media teams here, held in the Café Pergola, something that we have been invited to every year. And every year we have failed to make it, usually thanks to the fact that we are still working when the party is in full swing. I have no doubt it will be the same this year. Besides, I haven't got suitably smart attire with me. Hohum.

Gav's post, "Did you know...", was an interesting one. I didn't know at least half of the facts on it. Here are a couple more tidbits of information on the one element without which the game of tennis would be like taking it in turns to swat an imaginary fly with a large swatter. Not to mention pointless. Literally.

The earliest tennis balls were made of leather that was wrapped around a core of wool or fur, solid lumps that were hand-stitched, so no two bounced in the same way. The modern balls have evolved into hollow ones because it increases the playability and improves the consistency of bounce. Their quality is rigorously controlled, and the pressurised air that fills them contributes greatly to the bounce factor - they have to be able to reach a rebound height of between 53 and 58 inches when dropped from 100 inches on to concrete. Thanks to this modern technology the game is much faster than it used to be, and according to the official Championships web site there has been talk (by the ITF) of introducing larger balls to slow the game down and make it more interesting, as many players can win games on their serve alone.

Balls are swapped out for new ones every seven games, then every nine, and this is because all that hitting makes them fluff up and lose pressure, changing the bounce and hence the game. Since 1937 they have been kept in a courtside refrigerator at a constant temperature until they are required. Alledgedly, if you were of a mind to, you could fit 290 million balls inside Centre Court when the roof is shut (Is that with the seats in or out?). I reckon you could probably squeeze at least one extra one in there. What a useless statistic eh. And if you do have a desire to test that out then if I were you I'd seek help, immediately. You should also bear in mind that if you did it with used balls then it would cost you around £483 million pounds, and take roughly 5,800 tournaments to amass enough balls (if you were able to buy them all as a job lot). That's a lot of queueing, and patently ridiculous!

I am starting to ramble, so I will stop, and instead post some more photos from around the grounds...

I have more images to upload, and I will try to do that later today. I can't promise it though.

Did you know...

2010-06-30T16:14:00.007+01:00

Wimbledon is the largest single annual sporting catering operation in Europe managed by around 1,800 staff. In 2009 they served: 12,000 Kilos of Salmon, 28,000 Kilos of English Strawberries, 30,000 Portions of Fish and Chips and 20,000 Bottles of Champagne.
Winners on every match since 1877 are held in the Wimbledon Information System; match results until 1990, and from then on, an increasing number of stats help commentators, players and others analyse every aspect of the game.
On average, 42000 balls are used and 650 matches are played at the tournament.
Approx 300 ball boys/girls each year. Ball Girls were first employed in 1977.
Yellow balls were introduced in 1986 for better visibility for the TV cameras.
Ball boys and girls train for 8 hours a week for 4 months prior to the champs.
2010 prize money is £1M for singles champions, out of a total of £13.75M prize money in 2010.
Dunlop Slazenger has provided tennis balls for the Wimbledon Championship since 1902.
The famous Wimbledon turf is a mixture of 70% perennial rye grass and 30% Barcrown creeping red fescue. It is cut to a height of exactly eight millimetres.
The phrase 'love' in tennis is an Anglocised version of "l'ouef" it means "the egg" in French, referring to the shape of the zero.
2009 Fastest serve speeds were: Men: Andy Roddick (USA) 143 mph (228.8 kph); Women: Venus Williams (USA) 124 mph (198.4 kph).
The roof over centre court weighs 3000 tonnes.
Around half a million spectators visit the All England Club during the Wimbledon Championships. At least 60,000 of these travel from overseas.
IBM uses mobile phone apps to demonstrate the concept of ‘smart’ by enhancing the experience for visitors to Wimbledon. In 2009, IBM's smart apps won five marketing awards.

Another hectic day...

2010-06-29T20:05:00.013+01:00

... some of it spent preparing photos from the photographers around the grounds. This year we have a revised set up, with a few of the photographers sending their photos wirelessly straight back to us. This has meant we can have photos from a match ready for the writers in a couple of minutes. Literally. It's a great improvement over the system we have used in previous years which would involve me and Rob sifting through maybe fifteen hundred images in a day to source the hundred or so that would be published to the site. It's as instant as you can get, short of the photographers publishing the images direct from the cameras.

I took more photos yesterday, another blisteringly hot day. I felt very tired, yet buoyed by the opportunity to get out in the open and capture more of the goings on around the grounds. I ended up overlooking Court 18 again, taking a few snaps of a doubles match. I also spent a few minutes at the foot of the hill to check out some of the characters in front of the giant screen. Here are some of the shots (the last three are taken through a gap in the shuttered screens that run alongside many of the courts here)...

Rain threatened to spoil today, but thankfully it held off after the initial cloud burst (before we left our rented house for work). Photos from the pros were fewer and further between during the day, so I was able to stretch my legs and find some more things to point my lenses at. I will process them tonight and post them tomorrow.

On a side note, my colleague Wibmbledon Blogger has been off ill today. I for one wish him a speedy recovery, as this blog is far more compelling with his input!

Testing times

2010-06-29T09:12:00.001+01:00

Every live theatre production has weeks of rehearsals and practice runs, with a full dress rehearsal ahead of the opening night – and so does Wimbledon.

With the world’s press and millions of fans watching and commenting on every point played, IBM can’t afford to put a step wrong.

Testing usually starts each spring, followed by weeks of training for the people who will be gathering match data and statistics during the tournament, and then everything ramps up into full production for the Wimbledon fortnight.

But this year, the Icelandic volcano blew the spring testing schedule to pieces. One of the major suppliers was unable to fly over from Florida to do the testing in April. Not only could they not do the testing, they weren't able to bring with them several servers which are used for testing and then left here for the summer tournament. But this April, the volcano erupted and the UK’s airports were closed because of the ash clouds, and the schedule went out of the window. Fingers were crossed for several days - with updates every six hours - but then it became obvious that the team weren't going to make it, so large amounts of testing had to be done remotely.

The systems are critical to IBM and Wimbledon as they cover data entry, the recording of all scores and statistics, and the scoring system that accepts the data and sends it out to the official website and to the world’s broadcasters, including the BBC.

There are hundreds of machines here at the tournament – mostly laptops, but there are still about 100 desktops that are used for various things, such as the Internet kiosks around the grounds, and all of these have to be placed in the right location and configured properly. The kit gets refreshed every year, so it’s quite a task to get it right.

Despite the obstacles along the way, the system was put through its paces in the run up to qualifying week, and then a full dress rehearsal went ahead as usual.

And guess what..? All the IBM kit was in the right place, at the right time, and all working just as it should.

Hawk-Eye(s)

2010-06-28T11:49:00.000+01:00

Say the words "Hawk" and "Wimbledon" together, and most people will think of Hawkeye, the high-speed multi-camera technology which tracks the trajectory of a moving ball.

But there is another type - Rufus, the Harris Hawk that is brought in to patrol the grounds and see off any would-be squatters (mainly pigeons, though I'm pretty sure I wouldn't argue with him if he wanted me to move on as well).

Deja views - early morning images from the second Monday.

2010-06-28T11:47:00.006+01:00

Despite having the middle Sunday to catch up on much needed sleep, it's never enough for those working at the Championships.

A brave soul runs through his "Slow down - don't run" routine moments before the gates open at 10.30am.

"So...this idea of us setting up a department store together...what should we call it?"

The second week begins...

2010-06-28T09:28:00.009+01:00

... and it is a warm and bright start. I wanted to post some of the photos that I took on Saturday, but am worried they are a bit similar to the ones I stuck up last night. Mind you, there was and is a good chance that they are similar, after all, the subject and vantage points hadn't changed since the last set. Nevertheless, I took them, so I might as well post them! I am hoping to get more time to write this week than I did last week...

Sunday, a day...

2010-06-28T01:05:00.000+01:00

... of rest. It's been a long week. Everyone in the team is tired. I had scant chance to post yesterday as the flow of photos to prepare for the writers to add to their articles was a steady one, and the 'free' time I was generously afforded me by my colleague Rob was spent taking more photos...

On Friday I took a walk to the Broadcast Centre roof, the long way round, out from the entrance to the Press Building, along past Court 14, then between 18 and 19, up the steps through hordes of thirsty fans waiting to refill their water bottles from a tap that sits almost hidden by bright green ivy. The spillage runs down the sloped walkway, petering out after twenty feet or so, wetting the sole of every passing shoe. I wondered how long before those dark footsteps would be evaporated by the beating sun. The hill was crammed with fans, floppy hats, umbrellas, and towels employed to prevent dessication in the heat. The camera equipment was heavy, and getting heavier by the minute.

Up top, walking alongside the queue for the Ticket Resale point I was struck by the number of people in it, their dedication rendering them willing to move a few steps and sit back down, move a few more, sit back down, just to get a seat on Centre or No.1. Then I am walking the rail above Court 18, not bothering to seek a vantage point there as it is very busy. Instead I passed through the gate that stands between fans and people working at the event, and onto the roof where I plotted up at the end of the Court, almost in line with the middle.

I took a fair few photos of the match between Jarmila Groth, an Australian player, and Kerber from Germany. The Australian contingent in the stands (which from what I could tell numbered 4) were very vocal in their support, and it rose to a peak when she won the match. Here are some of the images I captured...

Hot, Dogs and Early Birds

2010-06-26T22:56:00.003+01:00

Another hot day...

Two hot dogs first thing - which put a smile on my face, especially as the puppets appeared to stay in character long after the cameras had stopped turning.

A quick roam around the grounds revealed the security guards were warming up long before any tennis players.

And two early birds, sharing the solitude - and the suncream.

New balls please... and lots of them

2010-06-25T17:30:00.004+01:00

You didn't know there was going to be a quiz, did you? No, nor did I.

But when I was on Number 1 Court today, a little under an hour before the first match was due to start, I saw these three fellows. I watched them as they took a basket of balls and then began laying them out across the court. They studiously laid them out, first one half, then the other. And no sooner had they laid them out, than they started to collect them all up again.

I asked three security guards and two members of the public what they thought was going on. The replies I had included 2 x "Don't know", 1 x "Don't care", 1 x "It's performance art" and 1 x "It's to do with satellites overhead".

So...now it's your turn. Add a comment to this post and let us know what you think is going on. Don't be shy - there are no 'wrong' answers (well, ok, yes there are, but that's not the point). Have a think and post your ideas/guess as a comment.

I'll reveal the answer in a day or two. There is no prize - just my admiration. And money can't buy that (again, not strictly true).

And gypsum? You're not allowed to comment on this one, because I think you know :o)

She came...

2010-06-25T12:05:00.017+01:00

... she saw, she concurred. Well, I am speculating that she might have done if I'd had the chance to discuss liking the game with her. By 'she' I mean the Queen, who as my fellow blogger pointed out, hadn't been here since 1977. I have heard that she isn't a great fan of tennis, and so sits in the 'oh if one must' camp, a bit like me. Nevertheless, yesterday she graced the lawns with her regal presence, and to me it seemed, wore a rather fixed grin (I would use the word rictus but it sounds a little too Teutonic). But then, what do I know, I was up on the Broadcast Centre roof with a hundred million other people, straining to get any sort of decent view. After a brief exchange of differing opinions with a large Dutch TV cameraman who seemed to feel that he owned the roof and the entire view from it I managed to get a couple of nice hat shots. Honestly, sometimes I am dismayed at my own stupidity. I had a view of the walkway that runs past the building, and could see there was plenty of space to go down and stand right next to where she would walk. But no, I stayed on the roof, and blew any chance of anything more than hat shots. Hohum. Nice hat though. Millinery at its finest, if you like that sort of thing.

I was still buzzing from the day before, the madness of the match to end all matches, and I wasn't overly bothered about getting great shots of royalty. It was an interesting experience, watching her walking through the thronged masses who lined the perambulatory route. Her Maj was preceded by a TV crew and a single official photographer, and accompanied by club dignitaries and some low-key security. There was almost no fuss at all. An anti climax? Perhaps...

History now, as are the photos that I captured yesterday. I did a swift walk around the grounds again, snapping this and that. Submitted myself to another sharp-elbowed jumble sale melee of paying punters and paid photographers waiting for Isner and Mahut to leave Court 18 once their epic battle had finished. The victor looked suitably chirpy, the vanquished understandably down.

I am hoping to get out there again today and continue to record this year's event, especially as from now on the doubles matches start to ramp up, spreading like a plague of eight-legged tennis bugs across all the courts, and I do not enjoy taking photos of doubles matches. Difficult to frame from the vantage points that I can get to.

Oh, and about that not liking tennis thing... I was pretty good at sport as a kid, but never played tennis, so perhaps that is why I am not a fan of the game. I am, however, a massive fan of the whole Wimbledon Championships experience!

By Royal approval

2010-06-24T13:57:00.006+01:00

So today The Queen is visiting AELTC for the first time since 1977.

The route that she was to take on arriving was neatly lined with security long before the gates were open, so the eager fans who queued extra-early to get into the grounds were all perfectly positioned. The pathways were swept extra clean, without even a single flower petal to be seen to blemish her route.

Soon enough, she arrived and began her regal walk down past the crowds to meet some of the players, before her lunch and on to watch Murray play on Centre Court.

In 1986, The Queen went to Chichester on the day before Good Friday to distribute Maundy money (stick with me...there is a point to this...). The crowds on that day were ten-deep, if not more. I was stood at the back of the crowd, a friend standing on my shoulders to afford at least one of us a decent view. There was palpable excitement rippling through the crowd as the allotted hour approached - a ripple, which turned into a cheer as she arrived. I remember thinking "She must be right in front of me!" so loud was the crowd's jubilant cheering, but no - she was still some way off. The noise grew and grew, cheering and applause in equal measures. As she passed in front of my section of the crowd, the crescendo peaked until the noise-baton was picked up by the next section and so on, down the entire route.

It was, indeed, a jubilant - and noisily-cheering - gathering.

How strange it was, then, to witness her procession through the fans at Wimbledon this morning to a mere comparative murmur of appreciative applause; but instead of clapping, there was a forest of arms held aloft as cameras snapped and whirred to get a myriad of individual photos. So intent on getting 'their' shot of The Queen, that the crowd were unable to clap. It was a little eery in fact, exacerbated by the close proximity of the fans, their cameras just a few feet from Her Majesty.

Still, she looked happy enough.

But in this modern age where cameras are so ubiquitous - be they state-of-the-art pocket masterpieces, or smartphones with the ability to instantly update Twitter and Facebook accounts - have we forgotten to cheer and clap? Maybe we need media devices that have recordings of applause that can play while shutter buttons are pressed.

Is there an app for that?

Scrum...

2010-06-24T09:27:00.011+01:00

... down is pretty much the only way I can describe the orderly chaos on the Broadcast Centre roof yesterday as Mahut and Isner battled their way to exhaustion and yet not to the end of their match. An historic event as far as tennis goes, and one that will continue to be played out today. I wonder, of the two of them, which one will rise the stronger this morning, shrug off the aches of such a marathon match and take the glory.

I went up to take some photos, and really did not consider that the roof would already be rammo, four or five deep up against the railings. I managed to get to within two of the front, and had to shoot the match using gaps between people, taking photos through the glimpse-sized spaces. However, I felt it gave the shots a bit of an edge, made them more interesting to me, the blurry human forms lending a soft framing to the images. One of them I was very pleased with, the American player Isner looking straight up at me as I fired off a burst of frames, the whites of his tennis attire flanked by blurred red and blue of the people in front of me providing an interesting take on the colours in the US flag... It could even be seen as the French flag (I know that the colours on their flag 'read' the other way round), and then his haggard expression would fit perfectly if he is in the end defeated by the Frenchman Mahut. Happenstance, serendipity, right place right time? To some extent yes, but, I could have missed it entirely if I had decided I couldn't be bothered to fight my way to near the front. Or if I had thought it was a pointless exercise trying to get photos in such a scrum... I'm glad I had the presence of mind to go for it.

It was very interesting watching the pro photographers. By this time (at something like 40 games each in the final set) they had long since got the action shots in the bag. The ones courtside were sitting looking around at the thronging crowd, cameras for the most part lying idle on the grass. The ones up where I was were also seemingly bored with the display, often pointing their long lenses at Court 19 where another tensely fought battle was taking place. One of the photographers stood for perhaps half an hour with her back to the match. I can but surmise that they were all just waiting for the money shot, the end of the game, capture the winner and loser in their agony and ecstasy and then take off to recover themselves.

I doubt we will see the like of it again, well, not in the near future. The courtside scoreboard gave up at about 47 games all, with the scoreboard we run on the site not long behind it. Flaws in systems exposed by a one in a million occurrence. The team here worked late to engineer a suitable fix. We will see how far that gets pushed today as the two players recommence battle later.

First though we have to get the Queen out of the way. It looks like being another very interesting and hot day here on the lawns at Wimbledon.

A big question to end a big sporting day

2010-06-23T21:50:00.005+01:00

More to follow, but for now a couple of small pictures and one big question.

Some impressive statistics, to be sure.

Now, the question ...

Where do you think all these statistics come from?

I'll show you the answer before too long.

Normal service will be resumed...shortly(?)

2010-06-23T20:30:00.003+01:00

We've not forgotten all our readers out there, but gypsum and I are kind of wrapped up in the world-record match between Mahut and Isner. A whole bunch of stuff will be heading these pages soon enough...but please be patient...you've waited over ~~500~~ [sorry...make that 600] minutes for the ~~result~~ [nope...sorry...no result, either] of the game, so we hope you can wait a little longer for us, too.

As the song goes...

2010-06-23T10:45:00.013+01:00

... "It started with a kiss...", though I doubt Hot Chocolate had Wimbledon in mind back in 1982 when they wrote those words. Fast forward twenty eight years and I can assure you that Hot Chocolate were the last thing on my mind as I stood looking down onto Court 18 during a swift tour of the grounds whilst on a break. I took a few shots of Querrey and Stakhovsky as they warmed up, and was pleased to capture the kiss of the ball as it whacked into the fabric screen at the end of the court.

It was a scorching day, and time was short, so I didn't have long enough to do a comprehensive sweep of the venue. Instead I did a loop that runs alongside the Broadcast Centre, up the steps by Aorangi Park, through the hordes queueing for used tickets, a few moments to take in the action on Court 18, and then cutting a diagonal across the roof of the Broadcast Centre to sneak a peek at the game on Court 14. The sun blazed down, affording shadows and tricky exposures. Extreme contrasts between light and dark, something that the pro photographers often exploit when they are here. I didn't have the position or chance to do that.

Today may well be even warmer, and no doubt it will be as busy as ever for us down here in the bunker. Teething problems have been ironed out, we have settled into the Wimbledon rhythm, and despite the mind-numbing tiredness I for one am thoroughly enjoying being here. Hopefully I can get out and about later on and improve the photo count on the blog.

Right now though I need to go and find out which photographers have been assigned to which courts... more, later.

Highlight of my day

2010-06-23T09:12:00.004+01:00

I was called over to the IBM Hospitality area at one point yesterday.

Now, this is a somewhat more salubrious area than I have become accustomed to (i.e. The Bunker, where the 'workers' live their semi-subterranean existence throughout the Championships). 'Suite E' as it is called, is where IBM's top clients are wined and dined, in either air-conditioned rooms or out on the veranda with fine views across the courts.

I've never been to the IBM Hospitality area before, so had to ask for directions.

I wandered off to where I thought it would be and, approaching a security guard, I pointed in the direction I thought I should be going and asked an enquiring "Suite E?"

His reply was pure comedy gold: "Yes Darling?"

Nice bush

2010-06-22T18:45:00.001+01:00

Talking of Sue Barker, when she's not roaming around the grounds, you can often find her up on the roof terrace of the Broadcast Centre, which she shares with this entertainly-shaped piece of topiary.

Foot fault

2010-06-22T15:43:00.005+01:00

TV sports presenter Sue Barker, gives her piece to camera just before the gates open on Tuesday morning.

The sky is an unbroken blue, the camera is positioned for the best light, the soundman just in the right place. All is perfect.

But not perfect enough, it would seem.

Night follows day...

2010-06-22T10:30:00.000+01:00

... it's really very simple. An occurrence of almost monotonous regularity. Reliable. Set your watch by it, sort of. Night follows day follows night follows day, probably until the day (or night) that the provider of light, our sun, goes 'nova and our little planet is caught in a final fiery embrace.

During the day the light from the sun affords us a good view of the world. Helps us avoid falling over things, appreciate the beauty of a flower, read a book. Or see a fast moving tennis ball. The night is a lot less helpful in that respect. Sure, moonlight has inspired many a poem and song. It has lent atmosphere to movie scenes and photographs. It's fairly useless though if you want to play a game of tennis. And yet last night the tennis finished later than it has ever done before. The concertina fabric roof on Centre Court allowed play to continue until nearly 11pm.

When the club mooted the idea of adding a roof it was to combat the bad weather, to enable a match to continue if it rained. Yesterday it didn't rain. It wasn't going to rain. The roof was closed because of bad light.

Now, forgive me for being picky, but of course the light was bad. It was night. THE NIGHT.

I was under the impression that the AELTC had said that the roof wouldn't be used in that way. It was to ensure completion of matches that would normally be interrupted by rain, to keep the tournament on schedule. It will be interesting to see what they say about it today, if anything. I just hope that they compensate all their workers who tirelessly toiled far later than usual. I wonder if it was just a desire to keep the tennis going, or whether the kerrching of the cash registers proved far too compelling a siren song to those with the power of veto.

Cynical, me ;)

Oh, and if this post is littered with grammatical errors, or sounds a little jaded for only the morning of the second day here at Wimbledon then please accept my apologies. But, we didn't get back 'home' until well after midnight. And that is of course down to the wrong sort of light. The dark sort. The kind of light that makes you close your stretchy roof, switch the mini suns on, and carry on with the tennis...

And so it begins

2010-06-21T18:03:00.003+01:00

Unlike my colleague and co-blogger gypsum, who has seen the start of the first day of the championships for many years, I've previously only ever been here during 'build week'. The IBM Internet team call it build week, but to be honest all the 'building' has been done - it's more to do with final testing and tweaking and making everything 'just so'. [Having said that, others not in the IBM team really do seem to call it 'build' week as one year I saw bags of (hopefully quick-drying) cement lying around 36 hours before the start].

When I have toured the site during build week in previous years, I have been struck by the almost military planning and organisation that permeates throughout the grounds. Tables to paint, flowers to plant, PA-systems to test, grass to cut and mow (and, believe it or not, mopped - to ensure each individual blade is ram-rod straight). Everyone has a job to do and do it they must; the Championships won't be delayed because any task is incomplete. And every year, all tasks are done and the hive of activity always ensures a perfect start.

This year, however, I am joining gypsum and the rest of the IBM team throughout the Championships and so this morning was my first chance to experience the actual first day. After a fitful night's sleep of waking up every hour, on the hour in a sudden panic of "don't sleep through your alarm!", I finally stopped trying and got up at 4am and began my journey to SW19. The trains were not full and the taxis and buses flowed freely - either because or the ludicrous hour or because the drivers, like IBM, have been doing this for a while and know how to make things flow freely and easily (we are, after all, living in the age that sees the dawning of the 'smarter cabbie').

At 9:30am certain strategic gates were opened to the public and the eager fans were ushered into a 'holding zone' just inside the grounds. They waited patiently, while tennis players got some last-minute practice in, just out of sight behind the green screens. The throng grew and swelled and then at 10:30 the long-awaited PA announcement was made: "Stewards - please open the gates!". Stood on the roof of the Broadcast Centre, I watched waiting for a Pamplona-style stampede up the main avenue. But of course that never happened. Instead, a line of stewards walked slowly up, holding a fine line to corral the fans behind them. Then they simply melted away and the multitude began to flow into the grounds. Some stepped briskly...some even half-jogged. But there was no stampede. As the numbers passed various outer courts, some peeled-off and filtered through the walkways; others continued with purposeful vision - a plan in mind. Within moments, all the walkways were teeming and seats began to fill up. It was like watching a stream of water flow into an intricately designed obstacle course, flowing this way and that, following the course of least resistance...but, ultimately, finding it's way.

It was unstoppable.

It also made me glad I was stood safely on top of a building, out of harms way.

This year...

2010-06-21T07:58:00.000+01:00

... just as before, I am struggling to find a suitable way of kicking off my posts on this blog. I am at the AELTC, in Wimbledon, that much I hope is obvious to you. I am seeking inspiration, reaching out for descriptive prose and instead finding the thorny stem of inspiration’s dead-headed rose…

It’s the twelfth, no thirteenth, (oh, I have lost count) time I have taken a seat in this air-conditioned bunker here in the bowels of the Broadcast Centre. The building is nestled amongst a regimental assembly of lawn-like courts, hallowed turf that will turn from a lush green to scuffed scratchy brown over the next couple of weeks under the constant trampling feet of trophy-winning champions and also-rans as they lunge and volley their way to victory or defeat.

We are nearing the end of what we call ‘build week’, seven days of frenetic activity, dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the ‘t’s on one of the most-trafficked sports event sites on the web. Wimbledon, as I have probably said before, waits for no one, an immovable deadline that looms larger and larger, a luminous-bouncy-ball-spitting racquet-swinging purple and green juggernaut, and we will end up flattened on its windscreen if we aren’t on our toes. But we are ready, and so I can finally spend a little time on this blogging endeavour and try to give you a little insight into what goes on behind the scenes, as well as front of house.

I have been out to take a few photos. Every year I find that I need a couple of days to get my eye in, which might sound like a weak excuse for lame photography, but, it really isn’t. Yesterday I strolled round the grounds, looking, hunting, desperately searching for something to shoot. I have to be honest, having been here so many times (and over the last seven or eight years at least) wielding a couple of cameras and all manner of lenses in ten frames a second of flurrying photographic fury, I‘ve found it more and more difficult to find something new, a different angle… what on earth can I focus on this year I wondered as I walked. When I got back to base I found that I hadn’t found an answer to that question, yet. Sure, I had some reasonable photos, but nothing stood out.

Nevertheless I present to you a few of the shots that I have captured on my brief walkabouts. I promise (that may well be rash of me) that as the tournament progresses, so the photos will get better, more compelling, worth clicking on to take a look at. Well, I hope so at least. And I should point out that some of the photos, nay most, are really voucher shots, records of this and that taken as I try to spin some sort of narrative out of it all. You can’t expect to capture everything perfectly.

For me the personal photography element (as opposed to the work one, more of which later) of my time here really starts in earnest next week, when the grounds are smashed alive with the tennis massive, a bobbing weaving armada of ardent fans riding the strawberries and cream tide of the tradition that is Wimbledon. Certainly, the grounds are alive now with the preparative exertions of an army of incumbents that mow, line, scrub, weed, plant, sweep, paint, and dress this most celebrated of venues. It is humming out there. And banging, crashing, the growl of heavy machinery and the occasional thocks (is that similar to an occasional table) of racqueted balls hit by practicing players all mixed by some mad tennis-obsessed DJ… there was even a brief refrain (over the tannoy) from Sir Cliff earlier, and forgive me if I speak out of turn when I say I hope that is the only bit of him I hear this year… but, for me the photo opportunities move a notch or two once the tournament starts and the grounds are the busiest they are all year. In that respect I can’t wait until Monday…

It may seem odd to mention it now, but once we get to Monday then the count down to the moment we all go home again begins. No, I am not one of those people who go on holiday and then spend all the time moaning about the fact that the day to return home again draws ever nearer. I am here to work, it is no holiday, and yet when it is over I will miss it just as if I had spent ten days on a beach or a fortnight on safari. Each day will be full of highs and lows, topped with a fry up for breakfast, and tailed perhaps with just a smidgen of sadness that that is another day ticked off, one less to go…

So what do the next two weeks have in store for us? What can we look forward to, what do we dread, what will test our resolve and turn long days into longer ones? There can only be one answer, and it is The Championships Wimbledon.
The greatest tennis event in the world.

And that’s from someone who is as big a fan of tennis as he is of gardening* ;)

* That might only make sense to those that know me.

First impressions...

2010-06-20T19:07:00.001+01:00

When tennis fans and visitors start flooding in through the gates tomorrow morning, they will be greeted by large display boards, where a giant tennis ball morphs into the IBM smarter planet 'chubby globe' logo.

This in turns morphs into the 8-bar IBM logo with the tagline "Let's build a smarter plant".

We've all seen the logo and the chubby globe numerous times...but my word, it's striking when on a large digital display board right in front of you.

Certainly hard to miss.

But I guess that's the point.

Crisis? What crisis?

2010-06-18T23:32:00.000+01:00

I turned up today to see how everything is progressing and found the internet team room festooned with England flags. Well, I say the team room...to be more accurate, it was more the immediate area around the Senior Managing Consultant & Web Producer. And when I say 'around', I mean all over. Some say toga. Some say shroud.

Still, it's good to see that the team approach all sporting events with a passion - not just Wimbledon.

Shortly after my arrival, there was a cry of "the website has gone down" from one party. Now, with the Championships just three days away, one might be forgiven for thinking that this announcement would be met with gnashing of teeth and blind panic. Not so the IBM team. Instead, there was a measured response of "who is that directed at?" followed by swift and decisive action. And, 17 seconds later, all was well once more. (In fact, there was no terminal crash, no failure of systems. A fact that the IBM team knew - hence the cool, calm and collected response. It was nice to witness).

That's not to say there aren't things still to finish off - amongst the studied and measured atmosphere in the team room, with heads down and collective minds concentrating at an atomic/pixel level, a spool of cable was brought in and unravelled. Then spliced and cut and unravelled some more. A mound of blue spaghetti grew and grew. To an outsider, this looked somewhat disconcerting. What was wrong? Where was the cable going? Where was it needed? It looked kind of vital - what was broken? But with the exception of the two industrious souls employed in 'fixing' whatever it was... no one batted an eyelid. This is normal. This is ok. This is the team making final tweaks.

So - I can report back that all is on schedule, all is ready, all is fine.

(Except the football result. More flags and bunting are obviously needed).

Quiet please...

2010-06-15T13:51:00.002+01:00

X-ray phones, work-place distractions and sarcastic departure boards. Brilliant.
This year, IBM technology is leaping forward to make the Championships even more exciting.

In 2010, we will see Heathrow's Terminal 5 using Digital Display Panels carry a live data feed directly from the Wimbledon Information System. Passengers will be able to see the latest scores in a visually striking format, which will carry the strapline: Lotus Knows more than you think. It's part of a global campaign to encourage people to re-think what they think about Lotus Notes - and it also has a humorous touch. For instance, if a player has been knocked out around the same time a flight to their home destination is called, passengers will be told that the player ‘could soon be joining them in the departure lounge’.

IBM employees will also be able to use a Lotus Notes widget that will take the same live data feed being used at Terminal 5 and run while people continue with their normal work, but will alert them when something interesting happens on court. Keeping with the real time approach to collaboration alerts the widget's colours will change when, for example, a player has served an ace, or has won a key point in a tie-breaker. Fastest Serve, longest match and events spectators will also be updated on a daily basis.

One of the most intriguing additions to IBM’s portfolio of products and services used at Wimbledon last year was the SEER application – named after a prophet who can see something that others can’t. The award-winning augmented reality application enables mobile phone users to point their handset in a particular direction to find out where the nearest café is, for instance, or how to get back to Court One. It was originally developed to meet the AELTC’s concerns that some guests were getting lost around the massive Wimbledon grounds, but users could also point it towards one of the show courts and get the latest match updates, and see images of the players on court. But this app has now been enhanced, so that if a user points the device towards the show court, they will be able to ‘see through walls’ and view the game – through live video. It has also been extended for use on the iPhone, so that most people with ‘smart’ handsets will be able to download it.

More information on these gadgets and gizmos will be made available during the Championships. [Might be an idea to start following the blog now...]

He'll be back....

2010-02-26T10:02:00.000Z

All being well, Gypsum & Co. will be returning in the summer of 2010 to cover this year's event and bring you another behind-the-scenes view of what goes on at the Wimbledon Championships.

Bookmark this blog now and come back soon for more updates.

And while you wait, click here for a review of last year's blog.

_____________________________________________________________

Please note: All the views expressed throughout this blog are those of the contributors and in no way represent either IBM or AELTC

_____________________________________________________________