Wimbledon 2003
Wimbledon in south west London has some great bars, parks and is a generally nice area. But ask anyone and the first thing that'll pop into their head is the world's most famous tennis tournament. If you're in London in late June then its definately worth a look!

Getting tickets to Wimbledon in advance is a long process that begins about 8 months before the tournament. Most tickets are already mysteriously allocated to tennis associations, companies, and rich people, but a few are set aside for us commonfolk. Applications are to be made in writing to the tennis club before December 31st and those with enough foresight to apply are entered into a random draw for tickets that could be for any day of the tournament.

If you're like me, going to Wimbledon will have been sort of an afterthought rather than something that had been in the works for a year. So in an effort to allow some 'real fans' (who couldn't be bothered to apply in advance) tickets are set aside for the second Saturday on a first come, first serve basis. Ground tickets can generally be scooped up if you arrive very early on the morning, but for die hard fans who want court 1, 2, or centre court tickets, Friday night will have to be spent camping in the Wimbledon queue with 2000 of your closest friends.

Having read about stories of the queue on the internet, I was looking forward to the camping experience almost as much as the tennis. I somehow conned two of my housemates into coming with me for the experience. There are two lines, one at ??? and one a short walk from Wimbledon tube station. We chose the latter and were shocked to find a sea of tents already set up when we arrived at 9pm. People we barbequing on the sidewalk (it wasn't allowed in the park), kicking soccer balls, and sitting in circles on the grass drinking beer. Quite a few people had music and it was a lively scene with food stalls popping up all around to serve the gradually enlarging queue. Apparently the ??? line was far less comfortable as it was confined to the sidewalk whereas our line snaked around a large park.

After arrival we were directed to a campsite (a spot on the grass) and given a ticket with a number on it which was supposedly to keep people from jumping the queue. Everyone was in good spirits, I cracked open a cider and sat with a few people from the adjacent campsite and chatted awhile before heading to bed. We were awoken at about 5am and told to pack up our gear quickley as we were to be hearded into a more typical queue to get our tickets. We were in line for about three hours before finally making it into the grounds. We checked our tent and gear outside the tennis club for cheap and headed in to get a spot to watch Mark Philapousis amid a sea of rowdy Aussie supporters in the standing section of court 2 where tickets weren't required.

I couldn't see a thing though and got tired of that pretty quickley. We could hear how he was doing everywhere in the club though due to the cheers and boos of the Aussie fans. We wandered around for awhile and saw some really good players up close. Jennifer Capriati was warming up about two metres away from me, Kim Clijsters was playing in a doubles match we had great seats for, and I got to watch a Canadian doubles team beat a UK team... had to keep my cheering to a minimum though due to an aggressive British fan sitting behind me.

After 5pm during the first week tickets are taken as people leave the grounds. If you rock up after five there's a good chance you'll get in and, in the first week, will probably get a chance to see some very good players on the smaller courts. It amazed me how close to the action you are on the smaller courts. Some don't even have seats and you just stand right next to the court behind a small wall a very short distance from the action.

I have to say though that I did have fun lining up overnight and would do it again. I'd suggest getting there before 8pm though. Though we camped overnight we only managed to get ground tickets. Just missed getting some of the last court 1 tickets by about 20 people. I've put my application in for Wimbledon 2004 so I might get some decent tickets this time without having to pack a tent!

By: Kirsty
July 2003