I worked as a stat man at Wimbledon when Andy Murray won in 2016… now I’m one victory from Australian Open glory
HENRY PATTEN has come a long way on his journey to the Australian Open final.
Patten, 28, and his partner Harri Heliovaara will take on Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in the Men's Doubles Final on Saturday at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
But the Colchester star had to work his way up to become the World's No14.
When Andy Murray won Wimbledon in 2016, the tennis ace was at SW19 that fortnight collecting stats on the outside courts in a bladder-testing role.
Talking about his previous jobs, Patten said: “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.
“And then about four days in you just break down. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t promoted…”
And Patten enjoyed a glorious return to Wimbledon in July as he and Heliovaara won the Men's Doubles.
The Australian Open pair defeated Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson in the final at SW19.