London Sports & Outdoors Tips by tvor

Wimbledon Tennis Review

Every year at the end of June and early July sees the lawn tennis championship at Wimbledon, a little town on the outskirts of London. The tournament began in 1877 for gentlemen only and has grown exponentially since then to the world reknowned event we know today. Women were allowed to compete from 1884 and from the turn of the 20th century, participants started to come from outside the U.K. The current facility was opened in 1922 and has been expanded and refurbished.

Wimbledon is extremely popular as a spectator sport. Tickets to the event can be quite expensive but if you arrive at the gates early, you can get a chance at purchasing tickets on each day of the event, some for the outer courts, though centre court tickets may also be available. Early in the tournament, the outer courts will still feature some of the bigger name players as they work their way to the finals. Some of the best known champions have become world wide celebrities, such as John McEnroe, Chris Evert, Bjorn Borg,Boris Becker, Billie-Jean King and Stefi Graff just to name a few.

There is also a museum on the grounds which will interest all fans.

Equipment: Tickets for centre court are drawn like a lottery called "public ballot". You would have to submit your name and a computer randomly draws names for tickets. The main selection takes place in January and there are smaller selection ballots after that. Tickets are mailed out in May. Only the applicant is allowed to use the ticket and if you can't use the ticket, you must return it to the club for resale. You have to apply by the end of the year previous, but the earlier the better, really.

Having said that, there are up to 6000 tickets available on each day for standing room on the various courts, including about 500 for the centre court and No. 1 and 2 courts. These are in the standing enclosures. You generally have to queue very early for ground tickets. Chances are, some people will have been queueing overnight. Payment is cash only and the turnstiles open at 9:30 a.m.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club
Church Road
Wimbledon
London SW19 5AE

Directions: District line west to the Wimbledon stop. There's a shuttle bus that will take you to the club but you can walk south along Wimbledon road as well.

Theme: Other

Website: http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/tickets/index.html