The Wimbledon Queuing Experience

When I first floated the idea of doing an article on the Wimbledon queuing experience to the www.andyroddick.com editor, Ron Crose, we came across a tiny stumbling block - Ron did not know what queuing is. Suffice to say, I couldn’t let this one go. Britain is known for it’s ability to queue orderly, and wait its turn in line. Thus I thought it necessary to clarify exactly what queuing is before I embark on writing the Experience.

So for those of you who don’t know, here is the definition from www.dictionary.com:
queued, queu�ing, queues
To get in line: queue up at the box office.

Word History: When the British stand in queues (as they have been doing at least since 1837, when this meaning of the word is first recorded in English), they may not realize they form a tail. The French word queue from which the English word is borrowed is a descendant of Latin c da, meaning “tail.”

There is a certain sense of achievement to be found in waiting your turn in line and at the end of it, to feel you have rightly earned what is now yours. Be it the best seat next to the window on the bus, the morning newspaper, or your Centre Court front row seat at Wimbledon. In my opinion this is what makes queuing so enjoyable and worthwhile. When you are sat on what you believe to be a punctured airbed (little do you know your twin sister has in fact simply not screwed the cap on) while the rain pours down outside your freezing cold tent you do wonder if you are slightly potty (British term for “mad”).

Mind you if you think this is slightly beyond the call of duty, try sitting by the side of the road, perched on a makeshift stool, an umbrella over your head (protecting you from the driving rain) a piece of soggy pizza in your free hand, leaning over your sister’s shoulder to watch England’s lion hearts battle on against Croatia in Euro 2004. As you cheer the goals at the top of your lungs, passers by look at you pityingly and shake their heads before moving swiftly on. At least you were keeping dry inside the tent in the previous scenario.

Is it worth it? Absolutely! These are worse case scenarios (of course you’re in an even worse fix if you are without a tent). Another year (or even another hour due to Britain’s ever changing weather!) you can be queuing in glorious sunshine, having photos taken with banners and your new friends having a fantastic time! And of course the end product is always the same. At the end of your hours spent on the pavement outside Wimbledon you get your choice of show court tickets and very often are on one of the front two or three rows, right next to your idols. Success!

Queuing at Wimbledon is definitely something all tennis fans should try. Indeed, some try it every year. I spoke with one of the All England Club’s Honorary Stewards who remarked that “you get a lot of regular queuers (a person who queues) who more or less treat it as a holiday”. Such is the experience that many people just can’t get enough of it and turn out every year together with tent (and trusty umbrella!) and other camping gear.

However, don’t labour under the misconception that one must queue overnight. That is only the case should you wish to purchase a show court ticket (and occasionally even these can be obtained if you join the queue very early on the morning of play). Camping on a pavement is not for everyone so should you just want ground admission to watch play on the outside courts, you can queue on the morning of the tennis. It is normally advisable to get in the queue at about 6.30am - 7.00am to ensure that you are inside the grounds in time for the start of play. Thus you get to spend approximately three to four hours in the queue, and have a wonderful time!

In the morning newspapers are brought round to you. This is occasionally a little on the early side. When we were queuing out this year we had one young man singing “Wake up it’s a beautiful morning, wake up and buy the Daily Telegraph” to us at 5.20 am. Needless to say he wasn’t the most popular of paper boys that morning. With the paper you also get lots of freebies, amongst them this year were tennis ball key rings, a free mini radio and free rain capes (always handy at SW19!) Aside from newspapers a great deal of free food is handed out. This is always appreciated and wolfed down immediately. Unique means are used in distribution. This year we had dancing bananas dishing out a banana and a Good Morning hug to everyone who walked past them on the way to the Portaloos. Lot’s of fun! Free taster drinks are also handed out to wash down your free food.

What more could you ask for? Well how about a life size bobblehead Tim Henman walking up and down the queue shaking hands? How about The Toast of Wimbledon keeping everyone entertained? Or do you fancy doing an interview for the endless television and radio stations that patrol the queues? Surely you’re convinced by now that this is the way to begin your tennis filled day!

Queuing overnight certainly provides a good banter amongst the fans. You meet up with friends old and new, some people have barbecues, there is lots of chat and music. Occasionally a little rowdy when some of the younger fans (usually Australians) get a little hyper and keep the party going all night! (You know who you are!) However I spoke with a young Andy fan called Katrina who thought that queuing is “good fun, especially spending the night cos you meet loads of people who know all about tennis”. Indeed it is a fantastic atmosphere, everyone is mixing and they all have the same passion - tennis - in common.

There’s always plenty to talk about and everyone has an opinion on who they think will win. When I was asking people, the most popular contenders for this year’s Championships were of course our very own Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, and without a doubt Britain’s Tiger Tim Henman, what else do you expect in a queue full of Brits! In the queue, you meet people who have just begun queuing this year, and people who have been queuing for twenty years. I spoke with one lady called Mable from Northern Ireland who was queuing for the first time and who had just purchased her ticket to see Mark Philippoussis (she was popular seeing as he was playing a certain British number one later on that day!). She had “very much” enjoyed her experience, due to the “excitement” of “knowing that you’re going to get your centre court ticket”. In contrast I spoke with a lady called Pam who has been queuing for twenty years who naturally had come to see Tim, her best experience of queuing was “just the atmosphere”, enough said.

I hope with this article I have managed to whet your appetite for the queues at Wimbledon, or at least successfully explained what it is. Andy certainly likes the queuing aspect of Wimbledon. In his post match interview after his third round encounter with Taylor Dent, he had this to say about going to visit the queue a couple of years ago:

“I think it was at night when people were queuing. I just kind of wanted to do the whole atmosphere of it. They were a lot more intoxicated than I expected. I guess that made it easier to fit�.I just kind of wanted to feel what was going on. People have the little barbecues. It was cool. It was a good experience.”