A DOG’S LIFE FOR MYSTERY WOOFER

The groundsman had decided to shut off Centre Court overnight to protect it from the storms which had been forecast, but there was a curious mystique built up around who exactly gets to close the roof.

The All England Club did confirm it is a button rather than a switch or a lever that sets the £75 million machinery in motion, but who gets to press it? “The Button Pusher,” they replied darkly.

The official source implied he was a figure rather like Top Gear’s The Stig, but another well-placed member of staff conjured up an image of a Wallace and Gromit-style arrangement.

Gromit sits in a booth somewhere with his paw out of the window. When he feels the first spots of rain he leans across to press the bright red ‘Roof-o-matic’ button.

The reasons for such secrecy were apparently because Wimbledon did not want to make a huge media circus of the event – even the club’s own official photographer was told the whereabouts of the button is classified.