I like sports that end on time. Sports that you know when they will finish when you start watching them. Athletics will be near to or close to a world record time. The 100m is not going to be three hours long. Marathons are not going to be 20 minutes. Football is 90 minutes. You can plan around sports with a deadline, you know what you need to do and how long you need to do it.

Tennis on the other hand can last 60 minutes, it can last three days. That’s a commitment I can’t make when I’m sitting down to watch TV. I want to know when I’m going to be finished.

So, when I was lucky enough to get Centre Court tickets for Wimbledon I was wondering whether I would enjoy it or not. I thought I would enjoy it, I don’t mind watching a big of tennis. A bit. I didn’t know what it would be like to watch a game that might never end…

Before the games though, what was the experience of Wimbledon like?

First, getting there: this was straightforward. A busy, but not packed underground to Southfield station, a short walk to the grounds, a short queue to get in (though remember a photo ID for security if you’re the ticketholder) and then we were in the grounds. All very straightforward.

Second, what to do first? Mrs TwinBikeRun is a Wimbledon veteran who enters the ballot each year and queues early in the morning in the years she doesn’t get a ticket through the ballot. She said we should go to Courts 18 or 12 as they have high stands which allow you to see not just the court itself but other courts around the ground. We arrived at 11:20 and Court 18 was already full but Court 12 had spaces and we picked two seats right at the top, which was a good choice. It was 31 degrees and, at the top of the stand, there was a slight breeze. It was still tough in the direct sun but the breeze made a small but very happy difference.

Third, what’s going on? No idea for the first few games. It was a woman’s match with a British player, Heather Watson, in action. It’s was a decent game but I spent most of the time watching the grounds and other games and people.

Fourth, why were you not in Centre Court: it turns out it doesn’t start until later in the day (1:30pm) but the rest of the games start at 11am. We used the time to watch the first game and then get something to eat before going to centre court.

Fifth, what was the food like? Decent. We went to a large food hall below Centre Court for lunch of a wrap (basic, expensive but good quality) and we had a pizza later (much better than expected, crispy and decent dough) and mac & cheese (awful, pasta in a weak cheese juice, not sauce). There are queues, but everything was a queue and we never had to wait too long. 10 minutes at most.

Sixth, and drink? Water, lots of water. They had an Evian stand where you could buy a bottle for £5 and then get unlimited refills but there are also lots of water taps where you can water for free. We had two 750ml bottles at all times and must have drank 4 – 5 litres through the day to survive the heat.

Seventh, and Centre Court: fantastic, though we were lucky to be on the western side so had the benefit of shade from the roof. Even so, I used a small fan to cool myself. Though others there were more ingenious: one man had a cap with a fan and solar panel built into the rim, while another had a panel fan which they attached to the seat in front of them.

And, finally, how was the tennis? We saw the number 3 seed knocked out by an unseeded French tennis player and Novak Djovick suffer a slight scare as he fought to overcome an unseeded American. Both games lasted nearly seven hours. And I have to admit, I was never bored, but I was also not completely caught up in it either. My mind would wander. I’d try and spot famous people in the royal box (An Australian day it seem with Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchette and Rebel Wilson all in attendance), I’d watch what Cliff Richard was doing and tried to spot other British starts in Trevor McDonald, Alexander Armstrong, Justin Rose and Andy Murray’s mum, Judy.

It was easy to leave and get back into Centre Court. We had a break for dinner (the pizza and mac & cheese) and what was noticeable was that as the day went on, the crowd changed as ticket holders left and were replaced by fans who bought tickets that were resold. The atmosphere was certainly rowdier and louder as the day went on, but maybe that’s a result of people drinking or the fact Djovick is more well known and has his own fans out in support.

Overall, definitely an enjoyable day, and a great experience but, as the match didn’t finish until 1040, it was nearly 12 hours of tennis, whichI think may be enough tennis to last me the rest of my life…

Oh, and for getting home, it was a walk back to Southfield where the organisers ensure everyone remains on the pavement (“Get off the road, the council doesn’t let us use the road!”) and they control the number of people crossing roads to ensure that the station is able to cope with numbers. We only have five minute wait before getting on a train.