MUZZ BE JOKING
I worked as Wimbledon stat man when Andy Murray won in 2016… now I’m one win from SW19 glory
British star has had a variety of other jobs outside of tennis
WHEN Andy Murray won Wimbledon in 2016, Henry Patten was at SW19 that fortnight, collecting stats on the outside courts in a bladder-testing role.
Eight years on, the Essex giant has the chance to be a statistical footnote by winning a Grand Slam title on grass.
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Patten, 28, and Finnish mate Harri Heliovaara – who only came together in Morocco in April – face Australians Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson after the women’s singles final.
Only two British men since the Second World War – Jonathan Marray (2012) and Neal Skupski (2023) – have won the men’s doubles Championship on Wimbledon’s Centre Court.
Talking about his previous jobs, Patten explained: “I worked here in the summers while I was at college.
“I worked for IBM doing the courtside stats. During college I was never intending to play professional tennis.
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“You’re either put in the outside courts team or if you’re good and switched on then you get put on the show courts team – and I was always on the outside.
“When I’m playing, especially on the outside courts, you can spot someone in an IBM T-shirt sitting in front of a computer, just tapping buttons and inputting all of the data.
“Oh, it’s brutal. I don't know if they’ve changed it now but it was like two hours on 40 minutes off. I did it for two years.
“In the first year I was absolutely buzzing because you’re right next to the tennis, it’s amazing.
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“And then about four days in you just break down. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t promoted…”
The unseeded and unlikely pairing of Patten and Heliovaara, 35, almost never made it to the Slam after the Helsinki hitter suffered a tear in his shoulder at the French Open.
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But he managed to recover in time for July and they have knocked out the No4 and No5 seeds and then the defending champion Skupski in the semi-finals.
Colchester-born Patten added: “I had summer internships in the States working in wealth management.
“Harri’s also had quite an unconventional journey here so I think that’s quite nice – we relish that.
'I FEEL VERY PRIVILEGED'
“Lots of the guys are purely tennis and I have a lot of respect for those guys.
“But I think for both of us, it’s nice that we have other things going on in our lives.
“It’s surreal to even be playing a final to be honest. I feel very privileged.
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“I’m very appreciative of this, Harri took a little bit of a gamble to play with me given the gap in the rankings and gap in experience as well.
“He thought I was a good player but it meant he had to drop down a little bit. It’s nice to see that investment can pay off.”
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