Quiet Please… Comms in Play on Centre Court
- Sean Singleton
- Jun 27
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 30
By Aman Ahmed

Global tennis is smashing it at the moment (deliberate pun intended!)
The French Open final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner served one of the greatest sporting duels of the decade (and the highest ever UK TV audience), the US Open has reimagined the Mixed Doubles Championship with a blockbuster lineup of star-studded teams, and The Queen’s Club has just hosted a women’s event for the first time in 50 years.
As all eyes now turn to the oldest tournament in tennis that starts next week, when Wimbledon is once again looking to raise that bar of sporting greatness.
The tantalising campaign for this year’s edition, ‘There Is Only One Wimbledon’, captures the essence and intensity of The Championships – not just the challenge of opponents, but the weight of history, legacy, and expectation.
In similar spirit I want to share a less reported perspective to the tournament, shaped by the privilege I had last year being part of The All England Lawn Tennis Club’s comms operation during an eight-month placement on the Championships Development Programme.
So let me bring you straight into the Lion’s den, literally. For The Championships, the Comms team vacate their desks in the Museum Building where the rest of the Marketing and Commercial department reside, and transfer to the Millennium Building.
Directly opposite the media bullpen, the three story building houses over 500 journalists during
The Championships creating a revolving door of global media and placed us right at the epicentre of media from SW19.
That little room oversaw and delivered all proactive and reactive communications for The Championships and truly became a command centre of activity. Every element of Wimbledon was divvied up between our small team (that had doubled to eight for the tournament). Barely a topic was not covered – from the world-famous Queue, to the weather, to almost every possible piece of information about the Wimbledon strawberries!
Every day was breathless. Constantly creating, reacting and researching – all while fielding a relentless stream of media requests and supporting on their executions and broadcasts.
Flexibility was mandatory, plans were regularly shifted at short notice, and managing timings was crucial to ensure that the meticulous timings of the tournament were not affected by media on content opportunities overrunning.
And the results? We facilitated over 150 interviews across The Championships 2024, involving major outlets and high-profile AELTC spokespeople. All of that whilst navigating high-stakes and
complex live-event issues.
Call it lucky or unlucky, it’s up to you, but my Championships saw once-in-a-lifetime flurry of global news stories - the first July General Election since 1945, the first public appearance of HRH The Princess of Wales following her cancer treatment announcement, and the emotional retirement of a tennis legend.
The latter two required absolute perfection in planning – from airtight briefings to military-grade embargoes – and flawless execution on the ground. All worth it though when one of them delivers arguably one of the most iconic British sporting photos of recent years as Sir Andy Murray left the Wimbledon stage for the final time.
The main thing I took from the experience, apart from the pride of being trusted with the opportunity, was the sheer speed of it all. Like a Rafael Nadal forehand that’s just flown past you.
Working a live sporting event like The Championships, is a lot like a game of elite tennis.
It requires precision, fitness and concentration but ultimately, it’s a constant game of to and fro, back and forth. An ever-changing exercise of weighing up and pivoting as you go from point to point.
But what a game, what a tournament and what an experience it was.
And the perfect experience to prepare me for my new fast-paced role working at Premier Sport working with some of the most exciting brands in sport and culture like EA SPORTS, Six Nations, Sky Sports, SEGA and Target Darts.
Aman Ahmed, Account Executive, Premier Sport
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