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Clare Balding, standing in SW19 in the pelting rain, welcomed us to Five Live's "great summer of sport". She, and the first day's play at the All England Club, were caught up in one of the "heavy showers" that John Kettley had promised a few minutes earlier. That promise was duly kept.

Five Live's coverage of Wimbledon each afternoon is charming: passionate about the game, but a little more carefree and able to laugh at itself than the network's monitoring of football. Simon Mayo strikes the right note, and sometimes quite casually conjures up the very spirit of the place. On that first, soggy afternoon, for example, he noted the appearance of Wimbledon constants: the rain, and John McEnroe "looking wry and knowing, as he does".

There was much talk of age in relation to talent and ambition thanks to Martina Navratilova's return to the women's singles tournament. Balding's interview with Navratilova, after hers was the first name to appear on the 2004 winner's board, was a sparky affair. You got the feeling that Balding was in the good-on-you camp, but she had to raise the obvious questions about what the 47-year-old's first-round victory says about the women's game. It might mean nothing about the game, Navratilova snapped. "Maybe I'm that good," she added bluntly.

Though some wished she would leave their memories of her great years uncomplicated by playing at this level again, Navratilova had her staunch supporters. "Give us fortysomethings a break," one emailed. "I had my first tennis lesson yesterday and managed to get around the court without sticks."

I'm surprised Radio 2 hadn't got this correspondent signed up as a contributor to this week's Vox Pop , which was on the rise of the middle-aged music buyer. These programmes, part essay on the state of music, part lively discussion show, are welcome: partisan and smart, accessible but unpredictable. David Hepworth presided over this consideration of the "50-quid man", the middle-aged man who regularly splashes out on a few CDs, or "the guy who can't be bothered to download and wants to own stuff".

I liked the genuine vox pop dimension to the show too, especially the sneaky peeks into what music people were buying. "Oh dear, this is really embarrassing," one 50-quid man said, caught in the queue at HMV, "I've got Dido's latest album and a Rod Stewart CD." Juxtaposed against this were the calm, clear voices of 50-quid's children, who wouldn't dream of partaking in such transactions. Asked how much she spends on music each month, one young woman takes a break from illegal downloading to tell it how it is. "Nothing," she says flatly, before turning back for another click of the mouse.