They say everyone remembers their first Wimbledon, but mine was so far back that it’s a bit of a blur. It was 1982, the year that Jimmy Connors beat John McEnroe, and I had tickets to Centre Court. But what made it special for me was the opening week: it was my first Wimbledon as a line judge, and since then I’ve officiated there in all but two of the tournaments. So when I heard on Wednesday that the tournament is replacing us line judges with electronic line calling, I was gutted. It hurt even more because I only found out when it was announced in the news and my phone started pinging with people asking me how I felt.

I used to play a lot of tennis when I was younger, and when you play junior tournaments you end up umpiring each other’s games. It was at a tournament at Wembley, sponsored by Benson & Hedges, where I saw an advert from the........

© The Guardian