Tennis fans queue overnight to get Wimbledon tickets

Excited tennis fans are set to queue overnight to get their hands on tickets for the opening day of Wimbledon, as the tournament returns to normal service after two years affected by the pandemic.

Hundreds of people are camping outside the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in south-west London after travelling from all over the world to attend the tournament which starts on Monday.

Novak Djokovic will begin his defence of the men’s singles title on Centre Court on the championship’s opening day, followed by crowd-pleasing appearances from British players Emma Raducanu and Andy Murray.

The tournament was cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and was held at only 50% capacity in its first week in 2021, and required visitors to be fully vaccinated or to have tested negative 48 hours before attending.

Californian Brett Pham was first in line for an on-the-day ticket for the 2022 tournament after joining the queue at around 11pm on Friday.

He told the PA news agency that he is most excited to see Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams play but added: “I want Nadal to win but I think Djokovic is going to win.”

Second in the queue was Doug Verbena, also from California, who hopes Nadal will win the men’s title this year: “I like that he’s such a good sportsman. You know, he’s a humble guy.

“I mean, he’s what sports should be, he’s not so obsessed with himself and he treats people like people.”

Meanwhile Danilo, from Naples, Italy, arrived on Saturday in the hope of securing tickets for the tournament.

The die-hard tennis fan sports a large Roger Federer tattoo on his left calf but, as Federer is not playing this year due to a knee injury, Danilo is supporting Italian hopefuls Matteo Berrettini and Fabio Fognini.

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