A few must-dos on the opening day of the Championships, with a twist:

Walk the queue. On the road leading up to the grounds, there’s a clear hierarchy. Those without tickets queue on the right, while those with tickets keep going and make the 10-minute walk past the line of people and on up to the club gates.

The way is lined with makeshift food and t-shirt booths set up in the driveways of houses, supplemented by free samples being offered by various companies.

Fans ponder whether to buy a newspaper offering free binoculars or a newspaper offering a free poncho – not an easy choice on a day like Monday.

The Tropicana people hand out orange tennis balls that look ridiculously edible from a few feet away, while a guy supplying Robinson’s orange drink “guarantees it’ll be the highlight of your day.” “Hope not,” says one passerby. “Oh, the tennis is a washout,” comes the reply. Robinson's is the 'official still soft drink of the Championships.' Let's hope that's not the official slogan.

But the most forlorn are those handing out samples for the official sun-screen of the Championships. The raindrops fall mockingly around them, and pedestrians ignore their outstretched hands. “Protect yourself from the sun-rays,” says one, and gives a self-deprecating giggle.

Check out Centre Court. A must-do this year even for seasoned visitors. The overhanging roof is gone, stripped from the court like a curtain pulled down from a window, flooding the place with sunlight. Some of the hush and hallowed feel of the place is gone, leaving it looking like any other stadium. That’s reinforced by the addition of the video screens which have been installed for Hawk-Eye.

Everyone is struck by the difference, and not quite sure how to react. Does it look bigger or smaller? Opinions differ. To me it feels smaller - it doesn’t quote loom over you the way it used to, and now you see how few seats it really has compared to larger stadiums like Arthur Ashe.

Is it better or worse? Again, there’s a split. There’s extra sunshine, but also extra wind.

At heart, the key difference is just that – it’s different. As a court, it still works fine. It just doesn’t quite feel like Centre Court.

Watch the first match start on Centre Court. The honour of playing it usually belongs to the men’s champion, which these days means it belongs to Roger Federer. Aside from the interest in seeing how Federer would play in his first match since his biting loss to Rafael Nadal in the French Open final, there was some idle curiosity about the latest version of the controversial Jacket. (Perosnally, I don't mind the jacket, but the crest is a little much. Why not get the thing from Burberry like everyone else?)

It wasn’t radically different from last year’s – white instead of cream with a different crest on the pocket, and a V-neck sweater to go underneath. But with Federer and his opponent Teimuraz Gabasvili also wearing long pants because of the chilly weather, it was as if there had been some mix-up and a match from 1936 had accidentially been scheduled on the court.

The BBC did a great send-up of it in its nightly highlights, showing both players on old, grainy black and white film and managing to look entirely authentic. It helped that they didn’t show the oversized matching handbag.

Stand in Court 2. Court 2 is the last bastion of the standing-room section that once existed on all the show courts. For now, anyway, because it’s unlikely to survive in the plans for a new Court 2 to be built next year. The standing room section gives those with grounds passes access to watch matches on Court 2, and tends to be the boisterous and enthusiastic corner of the stands.

Today’s lineup was worth the aching feet. Martina Hingis and Serena Williams were both on the lineup, and Hingis certainly provided a contest to remember, facing two match points in the second set against Britain’s Naomi Cavaday before turning things around. She was oddly passive for much of the match, allowing Cavaday to jerk her around and dictate points with her forehand. But when her back was to the wall, Hingis responded, saving the second match point with a skilful volley and playing creative, controlled tennis to take the next nine games.

It’s been 10 years since Hingis won Wimbledon.

Next on the graveyard, Lourdez Dominguez Lino served for the first set against Serena but didn't get a look in from that point on – Serena broke back, took the set and won the second 6-0. Prodded afterwards, she said her hamstring has been giving her some problems.

Sit on Henman Hill. There have been some capricious suggestions that Henman Hill should be renamed Murray Mountain, but Murray will have had a pretty eventful SW19 career if he ends up providing the number of tea-time thrillers Henman has supplied over the years. This latest effort stretched well into dinner time, though Centre Court was only two-thirds full (rain had sent a lot of people home) and Henman Hill was soggy and relatively deserted.

On court, though, it was the same old story. Henman won the first set against Carlos Moya, lost the next two, somehow squeezed out the fourth and went down 4-2 in the fifth before surging back to reach match point four times. He missed all four chances and the match went to 5-5 in the fifth. Then, just for good measure, the contest was dramatically suspended for darkness.

It’s Henman’s 12th five-setter at Wimbledon. [Later: The final score was 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 13-11, punctuated by a Henman second serve ace on break point at 11-11 and a Moya double fault on the last point.]

Gawk at players. The traditional places are the practice courts and the doors where the top players get picked up by their cars when leaving the club, but one can spot the mystical pros anywhere on the grounds or the village.

Sometimes, it's easier than at others – Justin Gimelstob sitting two chairs down from me on Monday afternoon, blowing bubble gum and waiting for an interview. Gimelstob says he was interviewed as a possible candidate for the reality show that Mark Philippoussis ended up as the star of – a dating show which involves Philippoussis exploring the merits of dating 40-somethings versus 20-somethings. That raises questions about the status of Gimelstob’s love life I haven’t had time to investigate yet. [Later: Yes, he and Corina Moraiu are no longer together.]

Having stayed over between the French and Wimbledon, he didn’t see Philippoussis’ debut but now knows what the show is about. “They didn’t tell us the concept,” he said. “They just told us it was a Bachelor-type show.”

Now that he knows the concept, would he still want to be on the show? “No.”

It’s the most definite answer you’ll hear to any question asked this fortnight.