Is the Queue the only way to buy Wimbledon tickets?
No. There are a few more options: four ways to get tickets: ballots, Ticketmaster, hospitality packages and debenture tickets. Read more here: How to get Wimbledon tickets, How to get last minute Wimbledon tickets.
Where is The Queue?
The easiest way to get to Wimbledon is by public transport, taking the District Line and getting off at Southfields station. It’s then a 10-minute walk to reach the Queue, here’s a map.
How much tickets are available for queuers?
– Centre Court: 500 tickets are available every day, for the first nine days, for queuers.
– No.1 Court: 500 tickets are available every day for queuers.
– No.2 Court: 500 tickets are available every day for queuers whilst matches are scheduled on this court.
– Ground Passes: thousands of tickets are available every day at the gate. These allow access to all of the outside courts, including the unreserved seating on Court No.3.
What time to queue?
It depends on how much of a tennis nuts you are, and how patient you are.
– 5 pm the day before: if you want to have a chance to get some Show Court tickets, you’ll have to camp overnight.
– 6 am on the day: if you would like to queue for Ground Passes, you should join the Queue a few hours before the Grounds open at 9.30am.
– 3 pm on the day: you can join the Queue later in the afternoon to gain late entry after 5pm at a cheaper rate
How do I know my place in the Queue?
On your arrival, the Stewards will direct you to the end of the Queue and give you a Queue card, that’s your official place in the Queue. Stewards will ckeck your card a few times before entering the grounds, don’t lose it!
Do I have to stay in the Queue all the time?
No. You can grab some food, have a toilet break… But you could lose your place is the Queue if you leave your place for more than 30 minutes. So, you can’t set up your tent, spend the night at your hotel and come back the morning after.
Can I queue for my friends?
No. Tickets are sold on a strictly one per person queueing basis and are non-transferable.
How is the overnight Queue organized?
The only way to get a Show Court ticket is to camp overnight. Everything is well organized and the Stewards are there to help and guide you. Stewards will wake you up around 6am and you’ll have to pack up your tent and belongings and take them to Left Luggage in order to create space for those joining the Queue on the day.
Around 7.30am the Stewards give wristbands to those towards the front of the Queue who are queueing for Centre, No.1 and No.2 Courts tickets. There are only 500 wristbands for each Show Court. That’s where your place in the Queue is important as the first 500 have priority for Centre Court, but some of the first 500 could choose to buy Court 1 tickets instead, so you could be 600 in the Queue and still be able to buy a Centre Court ticket.
Around 9.30am the Queue moves on and you can finally buy your ticket at the turnstile. The grounds open at 10.30am.
Is it secure to queue at night?
Yes. There are Stewards on both day and night shift to handle all problems. So, don’t worry and enjoy the experience.
Can I bring food and drink?
Yes. You can also order yourself a takeaway to be delivered to the Wimbledon Park Road Gate, grab some food at Wimbledon Park, Wimbledon Village pr Southfields.
What should I wear?
Take clothing suitable for all conditions and don’t forget a hat, sunglasses but also waterproofs.
What is the second Queue?
Once inside the Grounds, you can queue – again – after 3pm in order to purchase returned Centre Court tickets for £10 or Show Court tickets for £5 from the Ticket Resale Kiosk. Money goes to charity.
A few tips for the Queue?
– follow @ViewfromtheQ Twitter account to get updates and informations on the Queue
– don’t lose your Queue card! Stewards will ckeck your card a few times before entering the grounds
– make sure you have enough cash to pay your ticket
– check out the order of play in advance to know which ticket you want to buy
– it might sounds stupid, but if you intend to queue overnight, learn to pack your tent
– it can be cold at night, so bring good camping mat and sleeping bag
– read the Guide to queuing from the Wimbledon website and Diary of Wimbledon queuer from Grandslamgal blog.
– enjoy the Wimbledon experience!
If you have any question, feel free to leave a comment below, I’ll do my best to reply.
The majority of Wimbledon tickets are reserved for the public ballots (read more about Wimbledon ballots here). Don’t worry if you had no luck with the ballot or didn’t take part, you still have a few options left.
The Queue
A limited number of tickets are available daily for Centre Court, No.1 Court and No.2 Court, except for the last four days on Centre Court, when all are sold in advance. In addition, several thousand Grounds Passes are available each day at the turnstiles entitling use of unreserved seating and standing room on Courts No.3-19.
Tickets are sold strictly on the basis of one per person queuing and payment is by CASH ONLY.
Depending on your patience and how big of a tennis fan you are, you can join the queue the evening before the game, the morning or the afternoon.
Read more about the queue in Wimbledon Queue 101, a Diary of a Wimbledon queuer and from the Wimbledon website.
Ticketmaster
Several hundred Centre Court and No.3 Court tickets are up for grabs on Ticketmaster the day before each game. The tickets sell out almost immediately. Sign up to the Wimbledon newsletter to get ticket alerts.
Debenture tickets
If you have loads of money to spend, debenture tickets are another option. Debentures are like shares in a company. In exchange for an investment that goes towards ground maintenance and upkeep (new Wimbledon museum, Centre Court retractable roof..), the holder of the debenture gets a fixed number of specific seats for a fixed period of time. One Centre Court debenture ticket is allocated to each holder for every day of The Championships and No. 1 Court debenture tickets are allocated for the first 10 days of The Championships. The debenture holder can then sell the seats they don’t plan to use.
Learn more about debentures from Wimbledon website and check out prices here.
If you have any question, feel free to leave a comment below, I’ll do my best to reply.
Photo credit: Paula Funnell
There were rumours since January that Novak Djokovic would sign with French brand Lacoste once his contract with Uniqlo over, it is now official: Djokovic is the newest member of the Croc family.
Lacoste has developed for Novak Djokovic an eponymous clothing line to be worn on the court. These outfits have been specially designed to kit out the champion during the Grand Slam’s tournaments as well as dress him for the other tournaments of the season. The Novak Djokovic collection will be available in Lacoste boutiques, starting May 2017.
Let’s have a look at Novak’s outfits for the upcoming tournaments.
It’s more than time to prepare your trip to the greatest tennis tournament, Wimbledon! Wimbledon tickets are the most coveted tickets and of course the most difficult to get.
Prices
First, let’s have a look at the prices for Wimbledon 2017 tickets. From £15 to £190 for the mens finals.
There are four ways to get tickets: the ballots, the Queue, Ticketmaster and the hospitality packages. In fact there are two more (membership and debentures) but I guess if you can afford them you are not reading this article.
Ballots
The majority of Wimbledon tickets are distributed via ballots. Entry into the ballot gives you a place in the draw for tickets, which is done randomly by computer. It does not automatically entitle you to tickets for Wimbledon. You can not choose specific days or courts.
UK ballot
From September 1, 2016, the All England Club Tennis Club is accepting applications for the public ballot from UK residents. To obtain an application form send in a stamped, self-addressed envelope before December 15, 2016 to:
AELTC
P.O. BOX 98
London
SW19 5AE
You will need to complete and return the application form by December 31, 2016 in order to be entered in the ballot. Completed forms must be returned to:
AELTC
P.O. BOX 67611
London
SW19 9DT
Overseas ballot
To enter the non-UK residents ballot, you need to complete this form. You have from December 1, 2016 till December 15, 2016 to submit your application.
British tennis ballot
If you’re a British tennis member, you’ve already received an email asking if you want to opt in for the ballot. You only have to login into your members area, click OPT IN and that’s it you just have to wait for the results.
If you’re not it’s really easy to join, it only costs £25 for adults and you don’t have to be British to join in. Membership gives you discounts and pre-sales on tickets for events including Queen’s and Eastbourne tournaments, and entry into the BTM Wimbledon ballot. Check out all the details here.
The Queue
A limited number of tickets are available daily for Centre Court, No.1 Court and No.2 Court, except for the last four days on Centre Court, when all are sold in advance. In addition, several thousand Grounds Passes are available each day at the turnstiles entitling use of unreserved seating and standing room on Courts No.3-19. All you have to do to get one ticket is queue! Tickets are cash only if you’re queuing.
The Queue is a tradition as integral to the Championships as strawberries and cream, or predominately white clothing.
In 1927 queues started outside the ground at 5 a.m. and more than 2,000 people were turned away. In 1991, when heavy rain caused the game to be delayed to the Middle Sunday for the very first time, the queue stretched for 2.4 km outside the grounds.
Check out Wimbledon’s guide to queuing and Mel’s diary of a Wimbledon queuer.
Ticketmaster
Several hundred Centre Court and No.3 Court tickets are up for grabs on Ticketmaster the day before each game. Sign up to the Wimbledon newsletter to get ticket alerts.
Hospitality packages
Keith Prowse and Sportsworld are Wimbledon’s two official tour operators. They provide hospitality packages, including tickets and London hotel accommodation. Sportsworld offer packages for visitors from the UK, Asia and Australasia. Keith Prowse offer packages for visitors from the UK, Europe, and the Americas.
If you have any question, feel free to leave a comment below, I’ll do my best to reply.
Photo credit: KT (1&3), Wimbledon website (2), Michael Pritchard (4)
Winner at Roland Garros in 1974 and 1975, Borg reached the Wimbledon final in 1976 without dropping a set. He then dispatched Ilie Nastase in straight sets. Borg became the youngest male Wimbledon champion of the modern era at 20 years and 1 month (a record subsequently broken by Boris Becker, who won Wimbledon aged 17 in 1985). It would be the last time Borg played Wimbledon as an underdog.
With his long blonde hair and good looks, Bjorn Borg changed the face of tennis in the early 70s: winning Roland Garros made him a european celebrity, but winning Wimbledon made him a worldwilde celebrity, the first tennis popstar.
Extract from Mr Nastase, the autobiography:
We emerged from the locker rroom that was on the left, just inside the main entrance to the All England Club, turned let, walked up a few steps, through some wooden doors, and passed underneath Kipling’s words about meeting Triumph and Disaster and treating those two impostors just the same (yeah, right). Then, just on the left, before the door that led onto Centre Court, we were told to wait in the famous little anteroom. We sat there, just Bjorn and me and Leo, the little lockerroom attendant who carried all our rackets and bags. Bjorn and I had agreed before we went out which end we would take with our chais, but that was all we had said to each other all morning. In the anteroom, we didn’t exchange a word.
Then we were called onto court. We emerged to a total scrum of photographers. Even I had never seen so many, it felt like a boxing match. We both bowed when we reached the sevice line, and each went to our corners. Borg won the toos and elected to receive. When play started, I began well. So well, in fact, compared to Borg, that I broke him in his first service game, led 3-0, and had three break points for a 4-0 lead.
Sure enough, the Ice Man cometh. Borg woke up. He held serve, broke back, got to 3-3, and broke me again to go 5-4, after which he served out to win the first set. I think that, if I had won that first set, anything could have happened. But, with Borg one set up, he got into his stride, whereas I seemed to lose my momentum. I had served really well all through the tournament, making use of my slightly heavier racket. Now, though, my serves were neutered, and he was benefiting from the slower court and higher bounce to slug great returns at me as I made my way to the net. He also served unbelievably well, and because of the conditions, had more time to choose on which shot he would come up to the net, so he won a lot of points at the net, something he would not normally have done. Although I was fast, Borg was a great athlete as well, so he was able to run to anything.
By the second set, I had lost confidence. I began to swear and shout at my brother and Mitch out of frustration. I tried staying back, I tried going up to the net, but Bjorn had an answer to everything. Before I knew I had lost the set 6-2.
I kept trying to get myself going in the third set. I was slapping my thigh the whole time, but still Borg was better than me. I’m not the sort of player who, at the change of ends, will sit there trying to analyze the game and figure out a way of changing things. I would just change ends faster. When I was winning, on the other hand, I used to take a long time: let the other guy sit there and think about it. But now that I was losing there was no point in sitting there, going crazy. Borg, meawhile, was spending every change of ends putting freezing spray on his stomach muscle to numb the pain. It obviously worked.
It was incredible how, having totally crushed him six months before in the Masters final, the situation had been reversed, and I was now the one who couldn’t play. But that’s the unpredictable side of sport. Maybe if we’d played the next day, the result would have been different, you never know. But I have to say Borg played really well that day.
He broke immediately in that third set and reached 5-4. He was now serving for the title. The crowd went wild and tried to encourage me. I don’t know how, but I managed to break back after saving a match point with a passing shot. I survived until 7-7 (the tie-breaks were at 8-all in those days) when I was broken again. This time, Borg reached match point, served match point, served to my backhand corner, and I returned into the net. It was all over. Borg hurled his racket into the air, as Smith has done four years before. Although I had lost, I spontaneously leapt over the net to hug and congratulate him.
