The Wimbledon Tennis Championships
Wimbledon is a lovely residential area in Southwest London, but for two weeks every
summer this quiet neighborhood becomes the focus of tennis fans all over the world. While
I never really followed tennis before I moved to Wimbledon, I figured I should at least go
once while I am living here. Now I’m hooked! If you haven’t experienced the
Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) in Wimbledon, I highly
recommend it. It is held the last week of June and the first week of July (with a break on the
middle Sunday), which is commonly known as “the fortnight.”
So, how do you get tickets? It’s a bit complicated, but there are a few different options. To
apply for reserved seats in one of the big “show courts” (Centre Court, and Courts 1, 2 , &
3), the AELTC has a somewhat convoluted lottery system that requires 3 envelopes (type
DL only), 3 stamps, and a lot of patience. Between August and December of the previous
year, you mail them a self-addressed stamped envelope. They will send it back with an
application form, which you must fill out (in black ink) with your name, address, and
telephone number (in fact, the information you already provided on the self-addressed
envelope) and then mail it back to them in a third envelope. Then you wait.
If you are lucky, they will contact you early the next year to let you know which tickets they
have allocated to you and how much they cost. Note that they don’t ask you on the
application form how many tickets you want, what date you would like to attend, or which
court you would prefer. That is all done by lottery, and they normally give you a pair of
tickets.
And if you don’t win the lottery? Then there’s “The Queue” – a daily line for tickets that is
such a part of the Wimbledon experience that the AELTC publishes a small booklet each
year explaining how it works. Each day of the tournament, they sell up to 1,500 reserved
seats in the show courts to the first people in line that morning. Some people camp
overnight in Wimbledon Park so they can be at the front of The Queue for those coveted
Centre Court tickets.
If you are not one of the first 1,500 people in line, don’t despair! You still have the option of
purchasing a “Grounds Pass” for £25. This is what I usually do, as it allows you to watch
any of the tennis matches on the 15 or so other courts that do not have reserved seating.
You can also sit on “Henman Hill” and watch the action in Centre Court on the big screen,
and there is a section of general admission seating in No. 3 Court that many people don’t
know about. Even if you aren’t into tennis, the grounds of the AELTC are beautiful, the
atmosphere is fantastic, and there is often some good people-watching and celebrityspotting to be had.
Ticketmaster also sells some tickets during the Championships, but once again you have to
be very lucky to snag them when they go on sale each morning.
Some tips:
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Once you have a grounds pass, there is another chance to get reserved seats in one of
the show courts. If ticket holders leave early, their tickets are scanned and resold in a
little kiosk near the top of the hill starting around 4 pm. The tickets are only £5-10 and
the money goes to charity. Win-win!
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Check the schedule to see when Andy Murray is playing, and go some other day. The
Queue is ridiculously long when Andy has a match, but I have always breezed right
through in the early afternoon if Andy isn’t playing. One summer I showed up at noon
on a day he wasn’t playing and not only was there no one in line, but I ended up with a
third-row seat in No. 1 Court to see Roger Federer and the Williams sisters play!
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The Wimbledon web site updates the status of the Queue regularly, so check before you
go to make sure you have a chance of getting in:
http://www.wimbledon.com/index.html
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Be prepared for all kinds of weather. A hat is essential. Sunglasses, an umbrella,
sunscreen, a light jacket, and something to sit on (if you sit on the lawn on Henman Hill)
could also come in handy.
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Download the Wimbledon app on your smartphone to keep track of who is playing on
which court. It also has bios of all the players and lots of other useful information.
While you are there, be sure to have some strawberries and cream and a Pimms to get the
full Wimbledon experience!