Wimbledon have told fans to stop coming down to the queue on opening day after enormous numbers of hopefuls descended in the hope of grabbing a ticket.
The famous Wimbledon queue was visibly heaving and it has been confirmed that 10,000 people were there by 8.30am. Some will have queued overnight but the early-morning rush is understood to have been partially caused by the rise in accessibility of e-bikes: it used to be the case that anyone on the first District Line tube of the day into Southfields station would be virtually guaranteed a ground pass ticket, but Lime bikes and the like have made it possible for people to arrive in the early hours of the morning.
Many of those queuing overnight will have been planning on grabbing a No1 Court ticket to watch Emma Raducanu – but those hopes were dashed by the British No1’s late-night withdrawal on Sunday.
Daily Mail Sport asked All England Club chief executive Sally Bolton about the matter at her pre-Championships briefing, and she replied: ‘The queue is really busy this morning. We were at 10,000 by about 8.30am so we are advising people, if they haven’t already set off to travel, not to travel, because the queue is effectively full.
Wimbledon have told fans to STOP queueing for tickets after 10,000 turned up on Day One
‘I think back to that period post-Covid where we were somewhat nervous that the queue might die, and ironically the queue has become increasingly popular over that period of time.
‘But also the way people travel and engage with things has also changed, so for those of you that have queued, you will know that the time you used to have to arrive was the first tube into Southfields, but now with the availability of lime and other available branded bikes, people can get to the queue much more easily from slightly further away rather than waiting for the first tube.
‘So undoubtedly the dynamics of the queue have changed and are constantly changing, and we are having to adapt the way that we operate it, but we are absolutely committed to what the queue stands for, which is accessibility.’
