Fans camp out in Wimbledon ticket queue over ‘mini-festival' weekend
Retired nurse Vicki Broad, 57, arrived on Friday morning, making her the first in line for Monday's play – three days before the tournament got under way.
Ms Broad, from Swansea, told PA news agency: 'We've been fifth and sixth previously but we've never been to the front of the before.
'We got here on Friday and thought, 'Where is everyone?'
'We didn't even notice we were at the front until someone came and sat down behind us.
'It's a lovely thing to achieve but it's been exhausting.'
With temperatures reaching the 30Cs over the weekend, she added: 'The sun has been tough but we're in the shade now.'
She was hoping to see world number three Carlos Alcaraz, but also planned to cheer on Mimi Xu, the British wildcard taking on Emma Raducanu on Court 1.
'She's from Swansea, so we have to show our support,' Ms Broad added.
Nearby, dozens of Alcaraz fans from Spain and the US were camping out in matching red-and-yellow bucket hats ready to cheer on the defending men's champion.
Maria Iniesta, 47, a physician from Madrid, queued with her husband, sister and three children aged 13, 16 and 18.
Now living in Houston, the family had travelled nearly 5,000 miles for a chance of securing Centre Court tickets.
'We've been queuing since Saturday,' she told PA.
'We've had air mattresses, sleeping bags – everything.
'For us the weather is fine because we're from Spain but we live in Houston.
'It's been funny to watch the British people sweating – it's been easy for us.'
The Wimbledon queue has become a tradition unlike any other in sport, with hundreds lining up to buy on-the-day tickets to the tournament's show courts, as well as grounds passes.
The park resembled a mini-festival by Sunday afternoon, with rows of tents, folding chairs and portable fans scattered across the grass.
One fan revealed that he told his boss he had a dental emergency so he could queue over the weekend.
The man, who did not want to be named, told PA: 'I had to take drastic action – anything for a chance to see Alcaraz.
'Boss is none the wiser but I just need to make sure I don't get caught on the fan-cam.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
17 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka perform TikTok dance routine on Wimbledon's Centre Court as top seeds show there are no hard feelings after fall-out from French Open final
There was no sign of any lingering tension between Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka as the two top seeds danced together on Wimbledon 's Centre Court in a light-hearted TikTok routine ahead of this year's Championships. Three weeks after Gauff beat Sabalenka in the French Open final, the pair took to the hallowed grass on Friday for a relaxed practice session that ended with them grooving to C+C Music Factory's Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now). Sabalenka, the No 1 seed in the women's singles at SW19, posted the clip to Instagram, writing: 'TikTok dances always had a way of bringing people together.' Gauff, who is seeded second, also shared a video of the pair lip-syncing outside Centre Court, captioning it: 'OK guys, we're back. Did you miss us? Cause we missed you.' She added a message to fans to confirm the hatchet had been buried, stating: 'The olive branch was extended and accepted! We're good so you guys should be too.' Their playful display comes after a frostier exchange following the Roland Garros final on June 7, when Sabalenka was criticised for saying Gauff won 'not because she played incredible; just because I made all of those mistakes from… easy balls.' Gauff responded at the time by saying she didn't feel the remarks were fair, noting: 'The way Aryna was playing the last few weeks, she was the favourite to win… I think I got the hardest matchup just if you go off stats alone.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Aryna Sabalenka (@arynasabalenka) Sabalenka later admitted her post-match comments were 'unprofessional' and revealed she had reached out to apologise privately. 'I absolutely regret what I said back then. We all make mistakes. I'm just a human being who's still learning in life,' she said. 'I think we all have those days when we lose control. The difference with me is the world is watching.' Any doubt over the state of their relationship appears to have been erased, with the TikTok videos showing smiles, laughter and synchronised dance moves from two of the biggest stars in women's tennis. Sabalenka opened her Wimbledon campaign with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Canada's Carson Branstine on Court 1 on Monday. Gauff will begin her tournament on Tuesday on Centre Court against Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska. Due to their seedings, the earliest Gauff and Sabalenka can face each other at Wimbledon is in the final on July 12 — and Sabalenka has hinted that if she wins, she is ready to celebrate in style. 'If I win the title, of course I'm going to do the dance,' she told Mail Sport last week. 'But it would be more like a TikTok dance — the first one, we're going to create a new tradition!' Sabalenka, who has a tiger tattoo on her left forearm as a reminder to 'fight like a tiger', admitted she has had to learn to manage her fiery on-court persona, saying: 'When I first came on tour, everyone was teaching me to be quiet, not show your emotions… But I found it is much easier when I let those negative emotions go — scream at my team, let it out.' She added: 'Sometimes I go too much in these negative emotions, which is also not right. So we have to balance it.' The Belarusian star has unfinished business at Wimbledon, having reached the semi-finals in 2021 and 2023. She withdraw from last year's tournament due to an shoulder injury, having also missed the 2022 Championships because of the ban on Russian and Belarusian players following the invasion of Ukraine. 'Now I'm here at Wimbledon I feel like I'm a different person. I'm super excited to compete — you appreciate that opportunity much more when it has been taken away,' she said.
The Herald Scotland
21 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Phil Giles ‘wouldn't be massively surprised' if Bryan Mbeumo stays at Brentford
Giles, speaking on Monday afternoon at the unveiling of new head coach Keith Andrews, said the London club would be 'open' to a deal which was 'right for us financially', but insisted Mbeumo staying put was 'not off the table'. 'In terms of expectations, I don't actually know where that will end up,' Giles said. 'I think we made our point clear that Bryan had such a great season and if he earned a massive move now, which is right for us financially, then we would be open for that, but if he's here next season I wouldn't be massively surprised, it would be welcomed, we would be delighted. Keith Andrews has taken the Brentford helm (Maja Smiejkowska/PA) 'It would save me a massive headache, frankly, and that's not off the table, so let's see how it goes.' Brentford scored a club-record 66 Premier League goals last season en route to an impressive 10th-place finish, with Mbeumo's 20-goal haul a big factor. 'With Bryan, he had 20 Premier League goals last season so we expected lots of interest and there has been lots of interest,' Giles added. 'He has his own views for the next part of his career and where he will end up, which is fair, because it's his career and those conversations have been going on for the last couple of weeks.' If Mbeumo does leave, he would add to a growing list of summer departures from Brentford, with manager Thomas Frank joining Tottenham, goalkeeper Mark Flekken heading to Bayer Leverkusen and midfielder Christian Norgaard 'more likely than not', in Giles' words, to leave.
Daily Mail
26 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
The biggest brat in tennis breaks down in tears during humiliating first round defeat at Wimbledon as she fails to win a SINGLE game
Controversial tennis star Yulia Putintseva could not hold back the tears after she was brutally knocked out of Wimbledon in the first round. The Russian-born star, who switched allegiances to earn Kazakh funding, failed to win a single game against World No12 Amanda Anisimova on the very first day of the competition. Putintseva, who has a poor reputation within the sport, was ruthlessly beaten 6-0 6-0 in a match that only lasted for 45 minutes. With the double-bagel looming ahead of what turned out to be the final game of the match, the 30-year-old could be seen crying into her towel. Her embarrassment was then compounded as the impressive Anisimova roared through the 12th game of the match in just four minutes to complete a rare feat. Putintseva then took no time at all to dash off the court, while her American opponent has booked herself a date with Renata Zarazua in round two, which will be played on Wednesday. The statistics from the demolition do not read well for the disputatious star - who beat former World No1 Iga Swiatek on the way to the fourth round at Wimbledon last year - as she won just 21 points in comparison to Anisimova's 51. She also only hit one winner throughout the contest. The humiliating defeat comes just one week after Putintseva was embroiled in a heated row with Maria Sakkari following their third-round match at the Bad Homburg Open in Germany. Having shaken hands at the net after winning 7-5, 7-6, Sakkari vented her fury at Putintseca after the Kazakh refused to look her in the eye during their exchange. Sakkari was heard telling her opponent 'nobody likes you'. But the hot-headed Kazakhstani then upped the stakes as she appeared to tell Sakkari to 'go f***' herself and to leave her alone, gesturing for her to move away. Much of the spat wasn't audible because of the music being pumped out around Centre Court, but a riposte from Putintseva led Sakkari to follow her to her bench. Sakkari eventually walked away but returned again just seconds later, appearing to say, 'F****** hell, I'm what?' She then clearly told Putintseva: 'Nobody likes you!' The Greek instructed Putintseva to look into her opponent's eyes when shaking their hand after a match before the umpire stepped in, saying: 'Ladies, please.' Putintseva delivered a sarcastic sweeping bow in Sakkari's direction, saying 'thank you very much', and the argument continued even as she made her way off the court. Maria Sakkari and Yulia Putintseva got heated during their handshake in Bad Homburg 😳 Watch the full clip here and read more from @Tennis below 👇 — Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) June 22, 2025 She appeared to have taken exception to Putintseva's handshake over the top of the net It's not the first ugly moment that the Kazakh has been involved in - far from it - as last year she was widely criticised by pundits during a defeat to Jasmine Paolini at the US Open. Two balls were thrown towards Putintseva ahead of a serve during the battle, but footage showed her ignoring both of them while just staring at the ballgirl unmoved. That left the youngster in an awkward position before Putintseva caught the third ball and resumed the match when she was down 4-2 in the second set. Putintseva was loudly booed and twice apologised for her 'terrible behaviour', insisting she was 'p***ed' at herself rather than the ball girl. 'It's kind of scary the way the world can judge someone from just a three-second video, that someone posts from one side, without seeing the rest on what was really happening,' she wrote on social media. 'I was just playing tennis and lost a tough game, which was very close (in my opinion) to turn that match around. 'After the game (as you can see on a pic) I got very much disappointed and was almost crying, that I didn't do better. 'At this time the girl was giving me the ball, which I didn't even notice or so, because I was deep in my thoughts… 'I was not trying to humiliate her (or anyone) by not taking this ball that she was giving to me. 'I didn't do anything disrespectful to anyone at this particular moment. I do apologise, if this girl thinks that it was something towards her. (And btw her name is Kate, very nice girl, which understood that it was nothing towards her). 'I can't say that I am perfect all my career. I am getting angry on court, p***ed, saying stupid stuff and curse like no tomorrow sometimes. Guilty for that. But I did never put myself "on top" of someone. That's just not me at all.'
