WIMBLEDON THRILLS AGAIN

FAST FORWARDING TO 7 JULY for the first colour-TV win: John Newcombe, last amateur champion at Wimbledon, defeats Bungert in the Men's Final

M O N D A Y,  3  J U L Y

I wanted to have my hair loose for once, but it was too windy so I put it into bunches. Wore my Liberty’s dress and flip flops, fetched Pa from the office and we drove up to Wimbledon. Had a fab picnic lunch in the car-park.

Chump and me separated from Ma and Pa when we’d bought our cushions. This time our seats were in the top row - absolutely weedy compared to Saturday. We couldn’t even see the players’ faces! Still, we were lucky to be in the Centre Court at all.

First saw Newcome/Fletcher. Jolly good match, but Newcome won easily (the only seed left!). But it was almost embarrassing because once again we simply couldn’t stop talking and laughing and this ghastly mother and her daughter next to us kept giving us revolting looks. It was this fantastic match between Pilic (Spinach) and Cooper. We wanted Spinach; the mother and daughter wanted Cooper. Every time Pilic did a good shot we’d go “good,” and every time Cooper did a good shot, they'd go “good,” until it became as much a battle between us and them as between Pilic and Cooper. We were killing ourselves. 

“At the end of the first set Ma suddenly appeared - the seats next to them were now empty!”

So we all sat together, in the fourth row from the front, for the rest of the afternoon!! Chump and me even more pleased at seeing John Cooper close up - fantastic snazz. Spinach is too. In the end I wanted Cooper to win, it was a close thing all the time but old Spinach was always just ahead, especially at the end. Spinach is a hilarious character, looking up at the sky and praying out loud, his hands raised, in Czechoslovakian. Cooper was pretty calm but twice went “oh God” (he has a gorgeous voice). The whole audience wanted him to win, especially the female half. He's a fantastic player, only 20, he'll probably win Wimbledon one day. When it ended, Spinach jumped over the net for joy.

We left at the end of the first set as it got chilly. Home at 9.30.

I can’t get over how lucky I’ve been with Wimbledon this year.

Nikki Pilić, 27,  from Yugoslavia (now Croatia)