An amazing day at Wimbledon
KEITH DOCHERTY WONPVIOTICKETS TO CENTRE COURTK TO WATCH THE MEN'S FINAL
When Keith Docherty won tickets to watch the men’s final at Wimbledon, he never imagined just how fabulous a day he and his wife would have. “It’s not technically a money-can’t-buy prize,” says Keith, “if you were rich enough! But it was certainly a prize that our money wouldn’t buy! All the added extras that the promoters provided for us made the whole experience magical.”
You see, not only did Keith and his wife get to watch the two best men’s tennis players in the world (Federer and Nadal) battle it out on Centre Court, they were also treated like VIPs for a whole weekend!
Staying in luxury and dining in style
Robinson’s/Britvic, the competition organisers organised a flight from Edinburgh to Heathrow on the Saturday morning, where they were driven to the Cumberland hotel, just off Oxford Street. After a couple of drinks with the promoters and a chat about the plan for the next day, they were given £100 expenses to eat out in Gary Rhodes’ beautiful Claridge’s restaurant. My mouth was watering as Keith told me about the perfectly-cooked steak and delicious deserts; “It was probably the best meal I have ever had,” says Keith.
Why being at Wimbledon is fantastic − but surreal!
On Sunday morning, Keith and his wife were driven from their hotel door to Wimbledon in plenty of time to wander around the grounds and take in the atmosphere. As you’ll no doubt remember, it was a beautiful day, and they were glad of their complimentary lunch and champagne!
We have all seen Centre Court on TV so often that it feels like an extension of the living room. So it was no surprise that Keith found it familiar while he was there. “That’s what makes it such a surreal experience,” says Keith. “It was on the one hand so familiar, but then without a roof (the new one won’t be built until 2009) it seemed like a completely different place!”
The men’s final was a fantastic match wasn’t it? And Keith can now say he was there the day that Federer beat Bjorn Borg’s record of five straight titles! They had perfect seats, sitting six seats along from Piers Brosnan and two rows back from Sir Paul McCartney − they felt like millionaires.
The day didn’t end here. Keith really wanted to see Jamie Murray in action, and after some late afternoon tea, went back to Centre Court to catch the young Brit and his partner Jelena Jankovic win the mixed doubles final.
A prize Keith will remember for the rest of his life.
When I asked Keith to sum-up his prize, he told me “It was a fantastic day at Wimbledon that we will remember for the rest of our lives.” And all from a simple prize draw. He spotted the competition in Simply Prizes magazine, entered and forgot about it.
You can imagine how thrilled when he got a phone call (followed up by a prize wining letter) to say he’s won. “Without SP magazine, we would have been watching another Wimbledon on TV − thank you,”[pull out this quote too] says Keith. He assumed there would be five or six other winners at least, but no; he has won the only first prize of the competition; a VIP trip to the Wimbledon Men’s final − tickets to this are like gold dust!
It just goes to show that you can win fantastic prizes with just a simple, easy to enter prize draw. And that promoters, like Robinson’s, can give you the opportunity to experience things you would never normally get to do. That is the pure magic of comping!
This story originally appeared in:
Simply Prizes & Winner's Friend
Winner’s Friend magazine has now joined up with sister title Simply Prizes to bring you the best competition magazine in the UK, with over 200 new competitions every month. You’ll find prize draws, tie breakers, creative competitions and more in every issue, with the chance to win cars, cash, holidays and much more.
Back to Top