I have been a tennis fan for a long time. My enthusiasm goes back to the days of my being a subscriber to Sport Magazine. That publication introduced me to a lot of sports that weren’t at the top of everyone’s in North Central Kansas’ list of favorite sporting activities. There wasn’t a tennis court to be found in Lucas or Esbon, Kan., the places where I hung out in my formative years.

Sport introduced me to tennis greats such as Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Vic Seixas Tony Trabert, Rod Laver and Pancho Gonzales. One of the biggest tennis events back in those days was the Davis Cup, usually a battle between the United States and Australia. They still have the Davis Cup, but not much importance seems to be attached to its playing--at least not like there was in the 1950s.

I was personally introduced to the sport, as a player, by my sister and brother-in-law, who had access to courts in their home town and had four racquets. They were pretty good and had enough patience to work with an unskilled youngster. It was a sport I enjoyed until I could no longer find an opponent who didn’t complain about having to chase the ball frequently. It wasn’t that I was that good. My opponents were usually pretty bad.

Even though I haven’t held a racquet in hand for the purpose of playing in more than 50 years, I have continued to follow the sport and enjoy the efforts of others. I especially have enjoyed the accounts of Wimbledon which, by the way, just wrapped up another year this past weekend.

There was a bit of controversy this year as Russian born Elena Rybukina, playing for Kazakhstan, won the women’s singles championship. The controversy came after her win and Russia claimed her as one of its own. You see, Russians were not allowed to play in this year’s event due to the UK’s reaction to the invasion of Ukraine. Rybukina has not claimed her Russian heritage, pointing out that she was representing Kazakhstan (I had to look up the spelling).

There was a bit of controversy on the men’s side as well. It didn’t come from the champion, Novak Djokavic, who won his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title. However, runner-up Nick Kyrgios caused a bit of a stir when he wore a red cap on the court. Tradition-bound Wimbledon, you see, insists its participants wear only white garb.

There is a lot of tradition associated with Wimbledon, and if I had a bucket list, spending a day watching a Wimbledon match would be on it. The Brits do tradition better than anyone else and it would be fun to be there to take it all in.

What are some of the most noteworthy traditions associated with the annual event?

From what I’ve read, the one that tops almost everyone’s list is strawberries and cream. It would more than likely top my list. One of my favorite things to do at an event is to check out the concession stand. Here’s how one person described this tradition. “The berries are some of the freshest you can eat, picked and delivered each morning of the tournament. The tasty treat comes in a serving of 10 berries and will set you back 2.5 pounds, a price that hasn’t changed since 2010. For those lactose intolerant folks, a plant-based cream is also available. If you are wondering how many strawberries Wimbledon goes through each year, the answer is a staggering 38 tons.”

For those who imbibe, another tradition is Pimm’s Cup. It is a gin-based liqueur that serves as the base for the Pimm’s Cup. Lemonade, fruit (orange and strawberries), cucumber and mint complete the drink.

We mentioned the white dress (required). Wimbledon rules state that any color, including off-white and cream) must be limited to a single trim that doesn’t exceed one centimeter. It is reported that the rule, which dates back to the late 1800s was believed to minimize visible sweat marks and offer some relief from the hot sun. One documentary that I recently watched said some women players have been sent back to the dressing room to change, because colored undergarments were visible through the white tennis outer garments. Because of this several female athletes reportedly competed braless, because they didn’t have noncolored bras in their wardrobes. In 2013, Roger Federer was required to change his shoes, because they had orange soles. I’ve heard that Serena Williams complained to tournament officials because she couldn’t wear her usual colorful outfits, but she wore white nonetheless.

There is a minimum of advertising on the grounds. One of my pet peeves is watching a basketball game where there is an electronic scroll across the base of the scorers’ table touting a variety of products. Baseball is also a villain in this regard. Advertisements are seen constantly behind the batter as one watches a game in progress. There are ads permitted at Wimbledon, but they are pretty discreet and not really objectionable. As I said, the Brits do tradition quite well.

There is a Royal Box and those who delight in following the exploits of Queen Elizabeth and her family can see who is attending on any given day of Wimbledon. This year Kate Middleton, Prince William and their son, George, attended on at least two occasions. Many Royals watchers wondered why Prince George was wearing a suit and tie in the heat of the day. They even wondered more when he made gestures to his parents that he was uncomfortable. I don’t know the answer as to why he was garbed thusly, but we’re talking tradition here. I understand Kate Middleton is quite a talented tennis player in her own right. There are 74 seats in the Royal Box and sitting there isn’t restricted to only Royals. Celebrities often can be seen in the box and in earlier years when things were going better for him, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had seats in the box. I think it has been a while since the Queen has been at Wimbledon. She is a huge sports fan, but I imagine the event could be quite taxing for a 96-year-old person. I know it would be for one of my age.

Rufus the Hawk, is a noted personality at Wimbledon. Rufus is a year-around employee of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, and his job is to keep the pigeons away. Reportedly, he is quite good at his job and pigeons, which once were prolific at the venue, are a rare sight these days.

The Wimbledon Queue is another tradition. A limited number of tickets are made available each day of the event. Long lines of hopefuls gather in the slim chance they will be able to purchase a ticket. I have never liked participating in long lines, and it took a long time to recover from the anger I experienced in standing in a long, long line to enroll for a college semester, only to have fraternity and sorority types cut in front of me because one of their pledges had been holding a spot for them. It really doesn’t matter now, there are more important things to think about these days. Anyway, the Wimbledon Queue doesn’t appear to be a tradition that I would celebrate.

The event is called “lawn tennis” because the playing surface is grass. At the start, all four tennis Grand Slam events (Australian, French and U. S. Opens and Wimbledon were played on grass, but none of the others do so today. The French Open is played on clay, while the Australian and U. S. Opens are played on hard courts.

One of the greatest moments at Wimbledon came in 2013 when Andy Murray of Scotland became the first British man to win Wimbledon since 1936. It was a streak similar to the one the Boston Red Sox broke in 2004. The last Red Sox World Series championship had been in 1918. Murray just winning in 2012, finishing in second place. But in 2013 with a lot of pressure from his fellow Brits, Murray did win, beating Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4. He came back to win a second Wimbledon in 2016, beating Milos Raonic. But Murray became quite popular in the UK, and was knighted by the Queen to become Sir Andrew Barron Murray OBE.

Something I was reading recently told me that King Henry VIII was a tennis buff. From depictions of Henry’s girth in his later life, makes the thought of him on the courts a bit laughable. But Henry played at the Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court Palace, which was built for Cardinal Wolsey in 1528. This court is still home to an active tennis club and what I read is the venue for “real tennis.” The game played at Wimbledon, and in other sites is known as lawn tennis. There are similarities in “real” and “lawn” tennis rules, but there are also some variants. One major difference is the balls. The “real” tennis ball is cork centered and doesn’t carry as well as the ones used in lawn tennis. Another difference is that all serves are made from the same end of the court in real tennis, with players trading sides after each set of serves.

I have a hunch King Henry would have been a big consumer of Strawberries and Cream.