After always asking the pupils to write articles following tennis events I thought it was time to write my own after the whirlwind of the past two weeks.

Last year I spent the first week of Wimbledon as a training partner for the pros and enjoyed the experience enough that I was keen to do so again this year. The role is such that the All England Club don't help out in anyway to provide accreditaiton into the ground or accommodation or even food vouchers. They can't guarantee that I'll be practicing with anybody but if I was near the practice courts and somebody needed a hitter then I had a chance! When I do the get the chance my job is to not miss a ball essentially and usually try and mirror how their next opponent plays.

On Day 1 after a practice with Francesca Schiavone I was asked to get onto court with another Grand Slam Champion in Garbine Muguruza. A nerve racking start to the week as I recall her complaining over the level of hitter last year before going out second round. Lucky enough for me they were happy with the level and I managed to exchange numbers with Conchita Martinez to sort out the next practice. 

We ended up practicing everyday bar Day 3 when Novak Djokovic got in first (couldn't turn that hit down!). Quite a surreal moment when Andre Agassi is feeding you balls while you practice with one of the other greatest players ever. Luckily for me I was only covering half a court with Mario Ancic in the other. It turned out to be the most enjoyable hit of them all as I was generally more out of my comfort zone with the females who are hitting it much flatter and lower over the net and expect you to match it! Having the chance to be a 'fly on the wall' as Andre was feeding back to Novak was exactly the reason I wanted to volunteer during the Championships. These invaluable experiences can only be positive for my coaching and our players at the School. 

Overall the players I was lucky enough to practice with over the course of the Championships: Schiavone, Muguruza, Mladenovic, Monfils, Djokovic, Nishikori, Hingis, Garcia, Bacsinszky, Puig.

After five days of practicing up to five hours a day in the heat and the amount of players around reducing I decided to focus my attention onto the players who I was hitting with daily- Garbine and Timea Bacsinszky. They had started inviting me into the courts to watch their matches so I was more than happy to do that over sweating it out on the grass. Timea was hands down the nicest player I got the chance to practice with. She was always happy to talk after sessions from the ups and downs of her career to describing the bakery she wants to open one day in Switzerland. She was nice enough to hand me a spare ticket into her players box on centre court on middle Saturday and there was no hesitation who I'd bring in. One of the players I coach (James Sclater) was in the grounds so it made sense to try and inspire him so I can hopefully be sat there watching him one day instead!

With Timea losing I was down to Team Garbine but fully ready to head up to Nottingham to support Team Millfield at National Schools. Before Garbine's fourth round against the world number 1 Kerber the Millfield team were kind enough to let me know I could stay until she lost...I don't think anybody actually thought I would still be there five days later on Ladies Finals day. As Garbine progressed through the tournament the superstitions became more and more serious- instead of championship courts we would practice on court 11 in Aorangi like we had done every other day. The red t-shirt representing team Spain from Week 1 was a necessity in every match (luckily I had spares!), the day before the final one of the team made a comment about my beard yet I was under strict orders from Garbine to leave it until after the final....much to my annoyance.

The night before the final was one of my favourite moments as Conchita and I were analysing Venus Williams' matches throughout the tournament in preparation. I enjoyed performance analysis at University and encourage its use at the school but analysing a multiple Grand Slam winner such as Venus with Conchita for Garbine was beyond belief. 

The day of the final was like a film, walking into the ground with the team and everybody wishing her luck from their houses, from their cars or walking past. Coming into the ground and the amount of cameras had doubled. People from the practice area were even wishing me luck.....I wasn't about to do anything! Venus starts the match with an ace while Garbine double faults her first point on serve and we all assumed experience would prevail. After Garbine managed to save those set points she ran away with it, I'm usually ridiculed for being a nervous watcher but even I was comfortable watching the whitewash of the second set. And then before I knew it there I was celebrating like I'd just won Wimbledon. After the match I managed to sneak into the members enclosure with the team which was soon followed by my phone going off with friends wondering why I didn't get a hug live on television, poor from me, but I'll take the high five.

How do you celebrate a Wimbledon title? I was hoping for a huge night on the town but settled for a top Spanish restaurant and a few glasses of wine with the team. As I switched to G&T's Garbine was back on water and I realised why she was a Wimlbledon champion and I wasn't! 

Mathew James

Articles:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wales-40577195/mathew-james-is-wales-big-hit-at-wimbledon

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/young-british-coach-is-big-hit-with-wimbledon-stars-s86gqqffk

http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2017-07-17/how-a-school-tennis-coach-helped-garbine-muguruza-to-a-wimbledon-win/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn6w1fpchgM