Lifting the Covers

The sight of Alan Mills, walkie-talkie in hand, peeping out from the side of Centre Court as the first drops of rain start to fall, is all-too-familiar to tennis fans. In the 22 years that Alan Mills refereed at Wimbledon, he became as synonymous with the tournament as strawberries and cream. Now retired as tournament referee, he looks back over a career that started as a professional player (he twice reached the last 16 at Wimbledon himself) and went on to encompass the top job in tennis.



In turns amusing, surprising and highly revelatory of the closed world of professional tennis, this is the fascinating story of the man who, for many, is the enduring public face of the world's most popular tennis tournament.