Wimbledon

Trip Start May 25, 2009
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Trip End Jul 07, 2009


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Monday, June 22, 2009

To cap off our time in London, Vicki and I decided to attend the first day of Wimbledon.  We looked online and saw that 6000 grounds tickets are issued everyday on a first-come-first serve basis.  Grounds admission does not get you into Center Court or courts 1 and 2, but allows you to see all the others (3-14).  So, we knew from the start we weren't likely to see the Williams sister or Roger Federer, but we thought we could still catch some ranked players on the outside courts as they worked their way through the brackets.  

 So, we arrived at Wimbledon "several hours early" as suggested on the Wimbledon website. I thought for sure we'd be fine because 6000 is A LOT of tickets, and I had no idea where they could even hold that many people to wait in line. When we approached Wimbledon park via Underground, I saw where.  Wimbledon Park has a huge open field, which, from the Underground, looked like it was hosting a music festival queue
queue
 .  There were people EVERYWHERE!  Apparently that's where you can hold 6000 people.  Yet, despite the huge groups, Wimbledon has "queueing" (their phrase for "waiting in line") down to an art.  We stood/sat in large lines and received a "queueing" ticket for entry.  My queue number was 7446, so Vicki and I were slightly worried that we were not going to get in.  However, we were surrounded by Brits, and we thought they wouldn't wait in line if they didn't have a chance of getting a ticket.  Vicki and I put our jackets on the ground and got comfortable.  Fortunately, we brought snacks and I went and grabbed us a crossword puzzle book to pass the time.

Around noon, we were told that our row would soon be moving, and sure enough we did!  You have to file past all the other people still waiting in line so you get a mixture of jealous and hopeful stares.  For the next hour, we winded our way through Wimbledon Park, metal detectors, and finally were able to purchase our passes.  All and all we waited around 4 hours, but it really went rather quickly, and again, I'm amazed at how well-organized the whole thing was.  

Once inside, we headed to the game board and planned out which matches we would watch.  We aimed to see all the ranked players we could, although in many cases, they were not playing another ranked player, so the games we one-sided First sighting
First sighting
 .  We did see several ranked players, including Jame Blake (go USA - except he lost), Azarenka, and Robredo (see pictures).  On courts 4-14, spectators can get extremely close to the court.  Literally, we were sitting right beside it.  For Court 3, spectators have to wait in line for seats to open up.  If you get up to get food, go to the bathroom, or anything else, you loose your seat.  Again, there are Honor Stewards watching and the whole thing runs very smoothly.  In addition to being close to the playing court, the players walk among the crowds on their way to the locker room, games, etc.  Several times we heard "player approaching," as the guards escorted him/her around the grounds.  It was crazy!  I never expected to be so close.

Strawberries and cream and Pimms is what all the cool people eat and drink at Wimbledon.  A Pimms was over $10 a glass, and since I wasn't sure I would like it, I opted out of that experience.  However, I did get some strawberries and cream (I paid almost $5 for it) and it was delicious!  The overall atmosphere was so great and the amount of good tennis you can see in one day is just amazing!  Totally worth the 4 hour wait! :) 
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