How to get tickets to Wimbledon

THE 2011 Championships may be in full swing but here's how you could be sucking strawberries and sipping champers court-side.

CentreCourt360

"IF I never win another match I don't care. Whatever I do in my life, wherever I go I'm always going to be a Wimbledon champion."- Goran Ivanisevic

The Croatian couldn’t have summed up the Wimbledon experience any better.

A British summer spent at London’s swinging SW19 - sucking strawberries and sipping champers as the action unfolds - is a British institution.

But like so many people, I always thought getting your hands on Wimbledon tickets are as rare as a Lleyton Hewitt victory.

That was until I actually went there.

“Each day there is around 500 tickets reserved for people who queue,” Eric White of Wimbledon Travel Trade Marketing, says.

“We even have a sticker that says: ‘I queued at Wimbledon’”.

During the first week of the tournament - if you’re lucky enough to be one of those 500 - you can enjoy all-day Centre Court action from just $66. The queue system runs right up until Wednesday, June 29, where you can still purchase Centre Court seats for $138.

No.1 Court tickets are available throughout the entire two weeks and range from $43 to $114.

Like purchasing gig tickets or the latest Apple device, you are advised to camp out the night before for the best chance. A camping area has been created in nearby Wimbledon Park, with lighting and toilet facilities.

If camping and queuing sounds too much like Glastonbury without the music, there is another way to sample the electric atmosphere of Wimbledon.

“You can buy a ground pass to come in, which is £20 ($AU31) and is valid from 10am to 9pm,” Eric says.

The pass enables you to explore Wimbledon and take in games played on the outside courts.

Last year the tournament witnessed its longest game on Court 18, when John Isner defeated Nicolas Mahut after 11 hours and five minutes.

“It doesn’t matter who the players are or where they are ranked, they could find themselves on Court 16 or 13,” Eric says.

“Henman Hill – or as it’s called now – Murray Mount, is one of the focal points during the tournament and we have around four or five thousand people sitting there and watching games on the big screen.”

There is another way to get your hands on the best seats in the house... but you have to be very lucky.

The public ballot for tickets opens from August 1 to December 15 each year. Introduced in 1924, you are requested to apply for an application form by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope (220mm x 110mm) to The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club.

“You hear back in March whether you get them or not,” Eric says.

“People think they’re not going to win but there’s a high chance they will. One woman managed to get a ticket four years in a row.”

The Wimbledon Tour
“Our Blue Badge Tour Guides are hand-picked and are not allowed to bore people with dates,” Eric says as we following in the footsteps of tennis legends around Centre Court.

“They give visitors anecdotes on what happens here, and we have a large array of guides who change regularly – which means it keeps things fresh.”

True to his word, Eric tells me the world-famous tournament was created because a pony-drawn roller broke.

“They didn’t have enough funds to buy a new one so they came up with the idea to hold a championship - charging people to enter – and also to watch it,” he explains.

CentreCourt360

Eric also reveals that winners of the prestigious championship trophy only get to hold the original for around 20 minutes.

“That’s why you see winners on Centre Court hugging the trophy”, he laughs.

“It goes back into the museum and they are handed a miniature trophy.”

After visiting the many courts, we explore the exclusive Players’ Restaurant and Terrace, the Millennium Building and the Press Interview Room.

But the highlight of the tour is the Museum – featuring interactive touch screens, as well as capturing the spirit of tennis.

Here I encounter the “ghost” of tennis bad boy John McEnroe, whose image is projected in to the changing room he once used as he speaks about the game and his legendary opponents.

The museum tour has been programmed into the headset given to me on entry, so I take my time and stop at each interactive window.

I am told about the creation of the game then skip the history lesson to test my reaction speed by pressing the flashing buttons as they appear on the interactive wallchart.

As I come to the huge wall chronicling Wimbledon fashion and the legends who have displayed them, I come across the Goran Ivanisevic quote.

I can’t help but think, from now on, whatever I do or wherever I go – I will always have been to Wimbledon.

The writer was a guest of VisitBritain

DETAILS
The experience: The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club is the home of Wimbledon and can be found in Church Road, Wimbledon.

The closest tube stations are Southfields and Wimbledon.

Dates: The 2011 Wimbledon Championships is from June 20 – July 3.

Tickets: For the latest prices and times, check out the Wimbledon website.

For more ideas on things to see and do in and around London, see VisitBritain

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