Hundreds of tennis fans lucky enough to beat a health and safety clampdown on the Wimbledon queue today secured a seat on Centre Court for ‘Magic Monday’.
World number two Andy Murray, Mens’ champion Roger Federer and former Ladies’ winner Maria Sharapova were all playing on Centre Court on the first day of the tournament.
More than 2,000 tennis fans camped outside the gates of the All England Club in a desperate scramble to secure Centre Court seats with only 1,500 being made available for the three show courts.
Officials said that despite a new ruling from Merton Council that banned spectators from gathering until 8am yesterday, the number of tents far exceeded those of previous years.
The scramble for tickets has, over the years, begun more then 72 hours before the gates open, but some fans complained they had to stay on pavements instead of pitching their tents in Wimbledon Park.
Pam Barnes, 49, from Liverpool, said she got to the park on Saturday afternoon, but was turned away.
She said today: “We were on the pavement outside until this morning, but it feels brilliant to be first in the queue.
“I’m here with my daughter who is in the tent next door. She told me to pitch mine as number one, so that she can show a photo to her children and say “look, nana was number one”.
She added: “We were number seven a couple of years ago so this feels like a real achievement.”
John Riggs, 56, from Harrogate, and his family said they made a make-shift shelter on the pavement on Saturday night, before being allowed into the park.
Mr Riggs said: “We are numbers nine to 14 in the queue. My wife Annie and I first camped out for tickets in 1978. I have never seen so many people queue for a first Sunday. By lunchtime there were about a thousand people.”
One of the oldest tennis fans in line last night was 82-year-old Cathy Sanford, from Santa Barbara, California.
The former tennis coach, who was number six in the queue said: “I’ve been coming for the last 20 years. I had a few years off here and there, but I have always tried to make it.
“There is an air about Wimbledon that you just don’t get at the other grand slams, and I just keep coming back for it.
“I suppose I am old, but you can’t let the grass grow under your feet. I want to see Federer win.”
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Wimbledon sells approximately 500 tickets for each of Centre Court, Court One and Court Two to the general public every day, plus several thousand Ground Admission tickets which give access to outside courts.
Lara Johnson, 22, of Croydon, who was at the back of the queue this morning said: “I don’t think I will get a ticket to see Andy. But with a ground pass I will sit proudly on Murray Mount and cheer him on. I am so excited to be getting into Wimbledon.”
