Barker, Sue

Sue Barker first walked through those famous SW19 gates aged 13 in 1969, to play in the National Schools event. She knelt down and picked some blades of grass, wrapped them up in a tissue and took them home. Her own bit of Wimbledon. What Sue didn’t know then, was that every year for the next half century, she would be back in some capacity. As a junior, aged 15, as a semi-finalist and Grand-Slam winner ranked No 3 in the world, and as a broadcaster leading the BBC coverage for 30 years. And now she returns as a storyteller. Wimbledon has a magic that draws people in, players and fans. It respects tradition, but embraces the future and stays relevant. Sue goes in search of what sets this place apart. She talks to the greats of tennis, her former mentors, contemporaries on the circuit, friends and colleagues, and they tell their stories of their own triumphs and disasters.