British star into Wimbledon final used to work 'brutal' job at All England Club
Henry Patten is into a final at Wimbledon just a few years after working a job at the All England Club he describes as "brutal".
Henry Patten said it is “surreal” reaching a Wimbledon final after starting his SW19 career compiling the courtside stats when Andy Murray won his second title.
The Colchester-born left-hander went to university in the USA and Durham before turning pro.
And now the Ipswich Town fan, 28, and his Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara will play on Centre Court for the first time on Saturday against Aussie No.15 seeds Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell in the men’s doubles final.
But Patten revealed he is much more familiar with the outside courts in his circuitous route to the top.
“I worked here in the summers while I was at college,” he recalled. “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 court team and I was always on the outside. In the first year I was absolutely buzzing because you're right next to the tennis.
“And then about four days in you just break down. It's brutal. Maybe that's why I wasn't I wasn't promoted! But it was a good experience. I did it in 2016 and 2017.
“When I'm playing I can usually see them, especially on the outside courts, in an IBM T shirt sitting in front of a computer just tapping buttons and inputting all of the data.”
Patten attended the University of North Carolina Asheville from 2015 to 2019 and then did a post-grad year in Durham. He reached world No.462 in singles before concentrating on doubles and has won 12 Challenger doubles titles - including a record 10 in 2022 with Julian Cash.
Patten teamed up with veteran Heliovaara in April and have won 28 of their 32 matches together including ATP titles in Marrakech and Lyon.
“Every single year I would watch Wimbledon and it's surreal for me given a very traditional pathway to the professional game,” he said. “It's surreal to even be playing. I feel very privileged to be able to be a part of the final here.”
