Wimbledon aficionados would have heard of or even experienced The Queue at Wimbledon. It is a unique experience that is associated with the SW19 alone and unless you have yourself been a part of it or have had a mate describe the experience in great detail, it’s something that’s a mystery to most.
Most Grand Slam tournaments, and in fact tennis competitions around the world, would have fans queuing up outside the arena before the start of the day’s play but The Queue at Wimbledon takes it to another level.
Why is that? Well, the simple answer to that is the infinitely more demand to watch tennis at SW19 than there is anywhere else in the world for starters.
Secondly, also because it’s possible to do it.
Having watched all four Grand Slam competitions, The Queue at Wimbledon can easily be termed as an event of its own. An event that has been a feature of the tournament for decades and one that is covered in great detail by the press.
As a tennis fan, one of the first things one thinks of when one thinks Wimbledon is the inimitable strawberry-and-cream combination but The Queue is as much Wimbledon as that delicacy.
The Queue is a part of the Wimbledon experience.
There are currently more people in #TheQueue than Grounds capacity for today. We advise those intending to queue not to travel to #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/mYqnD2hxRK
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 4, 2017
In 2017, there were more than 5000 fans who queued up outside the Wimbledon on the first Monday of the competition. Interestingly, according to reports, the first person to stand in the queue in 2017 arrived almost 40 hours before the start of the day’s play.
Yep. You read that right. Almost two days.
And fans need to get their own camping gear to be able to wait outside the arena that well in advance. Camping is allowed but there are rules that need to be followed – it’s the Brit way after all.
Around 6 am on the day of the matches, the stewards are assigned with the task of waking the fans up and getting them to fold up their tents. Those in front enough of The Queue are allocated wrist bands, and those who finally make it to the arena can exchange that to get Wimbledon tickets for the day’s play.
There are a few of those lucky ones who make it, while others go home empty-handed. And before you ask us, the number of tennis fans in this queue can go into 1000s.
There’s also a Twitter Handle that goes by the name of @ViewFromTheQ, and you can get all the useful information about the Queue by following it:
@the_meggo had a great time at @Wimbledon and it was all made better with the updates and advice from @ViewFromTheQ. ‘Till next time. pic.twitter.com/wxj9iJWpMw
— Tim Rinaker (@TimmyJ103) July 18, 2017
Some of the rules associated with The Queue?
No barbecues allowed, only two people per tent, and after 10 pm, the games and music needs to be switched off. And there are others as well which, we think, you would be better off reading when you are in The Queue.
After all, you will need to do something to spend all those hours, isn’t it?
On a side note, buying the Australian Open tickets, French Open tickets and US Open tickets is slightly more straightforward and can be understood by clicking on those respective links.
Be the first to comment