Twice upon a time in the valley of the tears, the auctioneer is bidding for a box of fading years

So, Young Ben and I were down at Queens Park yesterday practising our drop shots and backhand cross-court volleys. We couldn't get near an actual court with all these part-timers who come out of the woodwork for the two Wimbledon weeks. I tried to explain to him that in a couple of weeks they would all be gone again but by that time he was bored listening to me anyway and had gone off chasing a squirrel

I started playing tennis when I lived in Ayr in the 60s. Most of the summer would either be spent playing tennis at The Oval in Prestwick or down at the old open air swimming pool on the sea front

My first Wimbledon memory was Manuel Santana winning in 1966 when the tournament was still for amateurs. By the 70s I was an avid fan. I remember the 1973 tournament when most of the top players did not attend and UK hopes were high for Roger Taylor but he was beaten in the semis by the eventual winner Jan Kodes.

In the 38 years since then we have had only 7 one time winners of the men's singles. See how many you can remember and I will list them at the end

For me the 70s and early 80s was the Heyday for Wimbledon with Borg, Connors and McEnroe.Between 1976-84 six of the eight finals involved two of these three players. My mum was a great tennis fan and I can recall us both watching many of the tussles between these three giants of the game. She was a big McEnroe fan but I was always a Borg man. With this in mind the 1980 final victory for Borg over McEnroe was my own particular favourite and the reversal of fortunes the following year was the favourite of my mum. Notwithstanding the racket I still play with years later is a Dunlop McEnroe Classic which has aged far better than I have.

When we moved to England in the 70s the tennis courts in Crook, County Durham were where my friends and I spent our summers. It was a great place for socialising (and by socialising I mean meeting girls) and games of mixed-doubles were often on the agenda. I remember going out with a girl from school called Liz and suggesting we had a game of tennis. She absolutely murdered me although to be fair I later found out she played at County level. I did get my own back though, I thrashed her at Subbuteo

As far as the Ladies at Wimbledon are concerned I recall having a severe adolescent crush on Evonne Goolagong. She was a sight to behold in the 1971 Final when she beat fellow Aussie Margaret Court. After that she married and had a child and came back and won Wimbledon again in 1980. No woman has won Wimbledon since as a mother. As with the men's tournament the ladies champions are made up of a handful of players. Indeed between 1970 and 1994 there was only a single one time winner. That was Virginia Wade who famously beat Betty 'Oven' in 1977 giving a home victory in the 100th year of Wimbledon and also the Queen's Silver Jubilee Year

My brother says he was a fan of Chris Evert but I always thought that she looked like one of The Stepford Wives and played her tennis in the same manner. At that time the Ladies' game was dominated by Evert, Navratilova and then Graf much as recent years have been by the Williams sisters. Since 2000 either Serena or Venus have won the final nine of the eleven played
and have competed against each other in four of those finals. Even though neither one has played much in the last year I would not bet against this trend being repeated next week

Andy Murray once again carries the hopes of a nation into the second week as he looks to become the first British winner of the Men's Singles since Fred Perry in 1936. If this does not happen he will once again become Scottish and a failure. I do not understand the mentality that has a person who is the fourth best tennis player in the world (behind Federer and Nadal who are both quoted as being best ever and Djokovik who started the season with a 41 game winning streak) and yet is considered a disappointment if he does not win a Grand Slam event. Good luck Andy, I for one am proud of you no matter what

By the way when Young Ben wins Wimbledon he will definitely be Scottish

.....and those one time Men's Singles winners at Wimbledon

1975 Arthur Ashe
1987 Pat Cash
1991 Michael Stich
1992 Andre Agassi
1996 Richard Krajicek
2001 Goran Ivanisevic
2002 Lleyton Hewitt

How many of those did you get without cheating?