A Norfolk artist has served up a new champion of tennis at Wimbledon.

Sculptor Mark Reed’s Serving Ace Meeting Tree captures a serving player in human and tree form.

The 12ft bronze piece, commissioned by the All England Lawn Tennis Club, now stands at the entrance to Number 1 Court.

Watton & Swaffham Times: Mark Reed's bronze and steel tree at WimbledonMark Reed's bronze and steel tree at Wimbledon (Image: AELTC/Chloe Knott)

"I was invited to the championships to watch the game live, and I immediately knew I wanted to try to capture some of the power of the serve," said Mr Reed.

"The form of tree that seemed perfect to express this was the windswept tree that has such directional movement in it.”

Mr Reed took 6,000 hours to design, cast and complete the tree in his studio on the family farm at Ashill, near Swaffham.

Watton & Swaffham Times: Mark Reed in his studioMark Reed in his studio (Image: Brittany Woodman)

Watton & Swaffham Times: A bird and caterpillar play tennis in the tree A bird and caterpillar play tennis in the tree (Image: AELTC/Chloe Knott)

Watton & Swaffham Times: Orinoco emerges from the base of the treeOrinoco emerges from the base of the tree (Image: AELTC/Chloe Knott)

Watton & Swaffham Times: Mark Reed's Tree Sculpture at Wimbledon Mark Reed's Tree Sculpture at Wimbledon (Image: AELTC/Chloe Knott)

Its 1,900 steel leaves shade the bench below, while as the spectator circles the sculpture masculine and feminine body forms emerge and fade from tree to figure and back again.

Sharper-eyed observers might also spot a bird and caterpillar playing a game of tennis in its boughs, overseen by a watchful owl umpire and a squirrel ballboy, along with an engraved leaf to commemorate the Coronation of King Charles III.

Watton & Swaffham Times: The tree stands at one of the main entrances to Wimbledon's famous courtsThe tree stands at one of the main entrances to Wimbledon's famous courts (Image: PA)

Mr Reed could also not resist including one of Wimbledon's more famous inhabitants in the form of one of the Wombles which live on its common, recycling things that the everyday folks leave behind.

Orinoco peers out from the roots with his raquet at the base of the trunk.

Mr Reed's previous works include the Tree of Life at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn and the Wave with Fish installation which was on show at Norwich cathedral in 2021.

He also once made a bronze door for former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and undertook a 2,500-mile road trip to deliver a work to a customer in Greece.