Wimbledon queue: What time you should arrive as fans turned away on day one
Thousands of fans flocked to Wimbledon on day one in the hope to obtain tickets to the Grand Slam via their iconic queuing system.
Wimbledon remains one of the very few major sporting events where you can buy tickets on the day of play, and that includes to the Grand Slam’s showcourts, Centre Court and Court One.
However, there is often major demand and fans often queue and camp overnight to try and get a glimpse of the best players in the world of tennis.
As ever, there was huge demand on day one of the event, with Wimbledon officials urging fans not to travel to the event in the morning as the queue number hit 10,000.
Sally Bolton, the AELTC Chief Executive, urged fans not to travel around 08:30am, two and a half away before play began on day one of the event.
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Bolton said: “The queue is really busy this morning. We were at 10,000 by about 8.30am, so we are advising people if they haven’t already set off to travel not to travel because the queue is effectively full.
“I think back to that period post-COVID where we were somewhat nervous that the queue might die and ironically the queue has become increasingly popular over that period of time. The way people travel and engage with things has also changed.
“So for those of you that have queued you will know that the time you used to have to arrive was the first tube into Southfields,” she said.
Bolton said different modes of travel are one of the main reasons for the mass queues these days, with fans flocking to Wimbledon via Lime Bike.
“Now with the availability of Lime and other available branded bikes people can get to the queue much more easily from slightly further away rather than waiting for the first tube.
“So undoubtedly the dynamics of the queue have changed and are constantly changing and we are having to adapt the way that we operate.”
Demand will likely be a little bit less as the tournament grows, with players wanting to see the first day of action, but thousands will still flock to the Grand Slam.
Day one featured defending champion Jannik Sinner, Aryna Sabalenka, and Novak Djokovic all in action on Centre Court. On Court One, the blockbuster first round match between Marin Cilic and Daniil Medvedev will take place, as well as Magda Linette vs this year’s Roland Garros champion Mirra Andreeva.
Tomorrow, meanwhile, looks just as star-studded with Jack Draper vs Taylor Fritz and the singles return of Serena Williams, who received a wildcard at 44 years of age.
With that in mind, it does not look like the queues will get any shorter in the coming days.