More than 5,000 tennis fanatics have been queuing overnight for tickets for the first day of Wimbledon today and have emerged bleary-eyed from their hundreds of tents in SW19.
Thousands have slept outside The All England Tennis Club overnight having pitched up more than 24 hours ago hoping to spend the day at the world’s famous championships.
Wimbledon, which began in 1877, is considered the most important sporting event of the British summer along with the first Test Match at Lord’s each year.
And many claim that queuing for tickets is ‘as much a part of the Wimbledon experience as the tennis itself’.
Novak Djokovic gets the honour of opening play on Centre Court at Wimbledon as the defending men’s champion with British star Johanna Konta starting her campaign tomorrow. Andy and Jamie Murray are both playing in the doubles, and will play on Wednesday.
This year Wimbledon’s No 1 court has a new roof so play can continue in the rain – but with the weather set fair forecasters are already predicting it may not be used this year.
A snoozing tennis fan gets some rest in a sea of tents with two weeks of Wimbledon starting in south-West London today
Camper Jan Bookwell, aged 80, from Virginia Water, is among 5,000 people hoping to get a day one ticket this morning
Campers have been in SW19 for more than 24 hours with many saying that queuing outside the All England Club is part of the true Wimbledon experience
Friends share takeaway pizzas delivered to the campsite having been there since Sunday morning queuing for tickets
Campers from Bristol and Cheshire with a cardboard cut out of Rafael Nadal in a tuxedo will be hoping to see Novak Djokovic
Since Sunday there have been a jungle of tents outside the famous south-west London venue – but epitomising the Britishness of the pursuit all the tents are in neat single-file rows.
Andy Murray will play in the doubles on Wednesday after recovering from a hip injury some feared would end his career
Tennis fans are forbidden from playing loud music, the ‘excessive consumption’ of alcohol and any other anti-social behaviour if they want to avoid being kicked out before they even get in.
There were fears of trouble after Extinction Rebellion protesters pitched up over the weekend.
But concerns they would disrupt the Wimbledon Championships were unfounded as activists took part in a light-hearted demonstration.
Around 30 activists arrived at the gates of the All England Club today to give advice to tennis fans waiting in the queue.
Dressed as a giant tennis ball, a pink squid and a bottle, the protesters handed out leaflets as well as gave fans lessons on how single-use plastics damage the ocean.
The activists also carried tennis rackets and a net with plastic bottles tied to it, as one demonstrator dressed as a yellow ball jumped over the obstacle.
In 1924, Wimbledon introduced a public ballot to apply for tickets, but this has always been oversubscribed.
The first round of the ballot opened in September and the last people to find out if they have been successful are informed as late as July.
But a limited number of tickets are released on each day of the competition, which is why so many fans have today flocked to the Wimbledon lawn.
Andy Murray’s return to Wimbledon could see him go head to head with his older brother Jamie as the siblings both vie for the men’s doubles title.
Yesterday’s draw means the brothers could meet in the third round of the doubles competition which begins on Wednesday.
Those camping out in a bid to land prime seats are only allowed tents holding a maximum of two people while barbecues, fires and smoking are all banned
Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy dropped out on the eve of last year’s singles tournament because of a hip injury.
He has since made a massive comeback from the brink of retirement by winning the doubles title at Queens.
The 32-year-old will play alongside Frenchman Pierre Hugues-Herbert against Romanian Marius Copil and France’s Ugo Humbert in the opening round.
Should the duo win their first two matches there is a good chance they will meet Jamie Murray, 33, and his partner Neal Skupski in the third stage.
Earlier this week Jamie, 33 said he was hoping to avoid the ‘weird’ scenario of drawing his younger brother in the first round.
‘That would be weird. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen. That’s awkward,’ Jamie said.
‘We last played each other in Montreal in 2015…It was really weird to face your brother, especially because normally when he played doubles we played together.
‘It was just something we had to go through that day. I hope it doesn’t happen again but knowing Sod’s law, we’ll end up playing at Wimbledon,’ he added.
Jamie, won two mixed-doubles titles at Wimbledon in 2007 and 2017 but says winning the men’s doubles remains his biggest goal.
Fears of climate chaos at Wimbledon are a damp squid! Extinction Rebellion campaigners dressed as sea creatures lecture tennis fans on environment but anticipated disruption to queues fails to happen
By Chris Dyer
Fears Extinction Rebellion protesters would disrupt the Wimbledon Championships appeared to be unfounded as activists took part in a light-hearted demonstration.
Around 30 activists arrived at the gates of the All England Club today to give advice to tennis fans waiting in the queue.
Dressed as a giant tennis ball, a pink squid and a bottle, the protesters handed out leaflets as well as gave fans lessons on how single-use plastics damage the ocean.
The activists also carried tennis rackets and a net with plastic bottles tied to it, as one demonstrator dressed as a yellow ball jumped over the obstacle.
Attached to the net was a sign that read, ‘if the bath tub was overflowing, you would turn off the tap before reaching for the mop’.
The demonstration was to coincide with the build up to the tournament as fans camped in the ticket queue ahead of the first day of Wimbledon.
Yet the peaceful campsite ambience was this afternoon interrupted by a group of Extinction Rebellion eco-activists
The climate change group successfully blockaded several parts of London earlier this year, including Parliament Square, Oxford Circus and Waterloo Bridge.
Before the Wimbledon protest Extinction Rebellion activists said their campaign was against the excessive use of single-use plastics rather than the event itself.
The main focus of their latest campaign are drinks companies Evian and Robinsons, whom they claim are adding to the climate crisis.
Evian has vowed to become a circular company by 2025 and is using this year’s tournament to launch its new 100 per cent recycled water bottle.
Extinction Rebellion said: ‘Our message is simple. No more plastic bottles. No more single-use plastics – it’s naive to think we can recycle our way out of this problem.’
It added: ‘[Evian and Robinsons] are adding to the unacceptable proliferation of single-use plastic waste that threatens biodiversity in our oceans and contributes to climate chaos.’
‘The Ineos plastic manufacturing plant in Grangemouth uses the same amount of electricity as Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen combined just to keep it running, plus huge quantities of fossil fuels, which are used to manufacture nearly all plastics.
‘Recycling isn’t enough. If we want the Earth and its seas to remain habitable, we need to radically reduce the amount of plastic we use – and particularly single-use plastics.’
The group waved banners and chanted as they charged through the field at the Wimbledon Championships
There has been growing public anxiety about the mountains of plastic waste making its way to the ocean – triggered in part by Sir David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II which aired last year.
There are a number of initiatives at Wimbledon this year to reduce plastic, including extra recycling bins and ‘eco champions’ on the ground to encourage visitors to recycle.
Extinction Rebellion branded the products of both companies ‘unnecessary’.
A spokesman for the group said: ‘The action will be peaceful – in line with everything Extinction Rebellion does.
‘It is targeting sponsors such as Evian and Robinsons and it is not intended to disrupt the tennis or interfere with fans but it will be very visible – we are fans of tennis, it’s just single-use plastic and bottled water that we object to.’
Backing the demonstration, celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who co-hosted the recent BBC documentary War On Plastic, said: ‘Plastic production has doubled since the year 2000, and it’s accelerating.
‘If this trend continues, then by 2050, plastic production will be responsible for 15% of global carbon emissions.