Thousands of tennis fans joined the Wimbledon queue on Wednesday hoping to get their hands on tickets to watch Jodie Burrage, Katie Boulter and Jan Choinski in action after a soggy Tuesday put many people off.
Some 69 matches were cancelled at the All England Club on Tuesday due to torrential downpours all day. Matches scheduled on Centre Court and Court One - the two courts with roofs - were the only ones able to go ahead.
On Wednesday, stewards helping to manage the Wimbledon queue, said the brighter weather had brought a bigger crowd.
The #Wimbledon Grounds are set to be at capacity today.
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 5, 2023
If you join the Queue now, you are likely to be waiting several hours for entry. pic.twitter.com/zTdgoSRDDX
Monday was the busiest day at Wimbledon since 2015 with 42,815 people passing through the gates of the All England Club - 11,500 of which had been in the queue.
Michelle Dite, Operations Manager at Wimbledon, said there were 6,000 people in line by 7am on Monday. On Tuesday at 10am, she said: “We haven’t got to that number yet.” A total of 38,441 people came onto site on Tuesday.
But by 8.30am on Wednesday, officials said there were 8,000 people in the queue - meaning it could be another record-breaking day at SW19.
Spectators who had visited Wimbledon in previous years said the queue on Monday was the “worst” they had seen with many complaining of long delays to get onto site.
Organisers said extra checks – put in place over over concerns about protests – and high demand were to blame for the slow queue.
Michelle Dite, Operations Manager at Wimbledon, said: “We had 11,500 people through the queue yesterday. We had the highest attendance on day one of the championships since 2015. Lots of reasons why the demand was so high - ballot uptake was incredible, hospitality was sold out. Everyone wants to come on day one.
@ViewFromTheQ We arrived at 8:15 and just received our queue cards now. 8914 pic.twitter.com/kAZkQGpuLq
— colleen edwards (@colledwards) July 5, 2023
“We pride ourselves on being an accessible event - so the only way you can really get a ticket is through the queue. Alongside that, you are aware of the environment around us. We did go to 100 per cent bag checks for the safety and security of everyone who came through our gates. That took a bit more time. It caused more delays than anticipated.”
She said additional measures - including more staff and keeping queuers more informed - had been put in place from as early as Monday night.
“We have gone back to the plan. We are confident having reflected on a number of processes. We are sorry that a lot of people were in that queue for a long time.”
Tennis fans Farah and Mohamed El Kazzaz, from Surrey, said they have been “lucky” with the weather at Wimbledon.
Mr El Kazzaz, 52, told the PA news agency: “We were lucky today – we thought the weather would be good.
“We would have come anyway.”
The couple arrived at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in south-west London just before 5am and are around 1,400 in the queue, which they have been told should get them tickets for Court Two.
Mrs El Kazzaz, 49, said: “It’s been really nice.
“The weather helps, I think, that it’s not raining. The sun’s coming out.”
On Wednesday, seven Brits will attempt to further their competition with Burrage, 24, facing Russian Daria Kasatkina on Centre Court.
Boulter, 27, will continue her match against Australian Daria Saville after play was rained off on Tuesday.
Arthur Fery, Heather Watson, George Loffhagen, Sonay Kartal and Choinski are also set to play.
