There is a sense of anticipation in Wimbledon. Scaffolding and viewing screens are being erected, and shopfronts are beginning their annual tennis-themed transformation: grass, balls, racquets, flowers. “It’s a bit like the Chelsea Flower Show,” says Adrian Mills, chairman of the Wimbledon Village Business Association and 22-year Wimbledon resident. “We’ve got 65 shops decorating their windows. The Tennis Window Competition has been running for 13 years — and it’s actually more competitive than what goes on down the road.”
The tennis championships, which this year takes place between June 29 and July 12, brings more than 500,000 people to SW19 every year. “The whole area completely transforms. There’s this electricity in the air,” says Alicia Drabble-Castellano, who moved to Wimbledon Park in 2008. “The queues, the flowers, the buzz in the cafés, people renting out rooms, tennis whites everywhere. It’s hectic at times, of course, but also magical.”
