Forget Manic Monday and Super Sunday: welcome to Wild Wednesday. Because of the sort of weather which Tube announcers quaintly always describe as “inclement”, the entirety of Wimbledon’s Tuesday outdoor play was a washout. This means there are a lot of matches to catch up on. A lot. Eighty-seven matches to be played, in fact, before curfew at 11pm. And I have been tasked with watching them all. It occurs to me that I could do with Rishi Sunak’s helicopter. The day’s forecast, however, is for bright skies with some cloud and, all importantly, no rain.
At 10.30am, a half-hour before the day’s play begins: rain. It does not stop until 1.30pm, apart from a brief interlude, then the canopies of umbrellas go back up. It’s at this point I think: you know what, probably not gonna end up watching 87 matches today. But at circa 1.45pm, we’re off and I head to Centre Court to watch Russian Daria Kasatkina take on the home hope, the British No 2, Jodie Burrage – who is in form having reached the final of the Birmingham Open a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, Kasatkina is also in form – and is the world No 10. Kasatkina takes the first set 6-0. This is known as being bagelled.
