The Wimbledon Championships (and how to be part of it in 2024)

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Anyone for tennis? We’ve loved our three days at the Wimbledon Championships this year. We’ve watched players competing in several tournaments including Qualifying, Doubles, Wheelchair, and Junior tennis. We started at the Qualifying Championship in Roehampton and ended up watching the Wheelchair Semi-Finals on Court No 1. There is so much more to the Wimbledon Championship than the Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ main draw.

We basked in the sunshine enjoying seeing the grass courts in mint condition and we sheltered in pouring rain under inside-out umbrellas challenged by the windy conditions on Henman Hill! Such is the life of a tennis fan in a British summer.

Read on to find out how to apply for tickets in 2024. You too could attend the Wimbledon Championships next year (and sit inside a stadium with a roof.)

My Fan Slam

We’re a sports-mad family that has had the unbelievable privilege of enjoying tennis through the world of professional tennis players and their coaches who have stayed with our family, whilst competing at the Australian Open between 2009 and 2020.

Through these wonderful connections, we’ve cheered on players, who have become friends around the globe. We love sports travel and I’ve had the pleasure of watching tennis at Roland Garros, Thailand Open, Malaysian Open, US Open, and at the British tournaments in Eastbourne, Nottingham, and Birmingham as well as here at Wimbledon.

I have enjoyed the last four Grand Slams, US Open 2022, Australian Open 2023, Roland Garros 2023, and Wimbledon 2023. A massive thank you to those concerned for helping me with this and for some incredible behind-the-scenes invitations over the years.

For the record, as tennis fans, we also purchased tickets for the Aussie Open, Roland Garros, and Wimbledon this year.

Why is Wimbledon so special?

Whilst every Grand Slam is notable, what I love most about Wimbledon is seeing grass-court tennis. Move over elegant Roland Garros, here comes the distinguished Wimbledon championships.

The grass courts always look fabulous at the start of the tournaments. This is the fastest surface and there are plenty of thrills and spills. Players have to quickly adapt to grass court matches after the clay court season with very little transition time and minimal opportunity to play on grass. There are just not as many grass courts around the world, so practice is often limited to a handful of warm-up tournaments.

As a result Wimbledon always has an air of calm unpredictability about it. That’s before we even mention the possible threat from the Just Stop Oil protestors throwing orange confetti around the courts to a disbelieving crowd.

Where Tradition is respected

Wimbledon was established in 1877.  It is the oldest tennis tournament in the world. It is viewed by many as the most prestigious of the Grand Slams and is steeped in tradition. Some might argue Wimbledon is rather stuffy and old-fashioned. For others, the adherence to tradition is exactly what makes it so great!

In Pursuit of Greatness

Whilst a day at Wimbledon is a big Bucket List tick for us tennis fans, for me one of the great joys of attending Wimbledon is seeing how much every win (or loss) means to the players.

Where Grace is observed

For those of us brought up in the UK, we would call Wimbledon posh!

Wimbledon is not a Grand Slam for the masses, spectator numbers are limited. You will not find the party-like ‘Happy Slam‘ atmosphere that you get at Melbourne Park.

The crowd at Wimbledon is rather refined also. I didn’t witness one Mexican crowd wave, nor was I bobbing up and down in my seat for people returning from the beer run for their mates.

Etiquette on clapping is respected, only when a player wins a point, not when the opposition fluffs it.

Where actions are honourable

Public disdain is shown with a gentle boo unless players throw their racquet around when they will hear loud boos to be reminded of the need for grace!

The only over-the-top patriotic attire I saw was a couple of ladies with tennis court fascinator hats. It’s not at all like the Aus Open which has become more like a fancy dress outing, supporting your favourite players and your country. Here at Wimbledon, only a few waved small hand-held flags.

I always feel I’m in a much more serene world at Wimbledon!

Where the grounds are like a horticultural show

If you love gardens and horticultural achievements you will love a wander around the Wimbledon Championships. The courts are mown to absolute pin-stripped perfection. Grounds Staff do an amazing job, and there is not a leaf out of place.

The colourful and impeccable garden beds would not be out of place at Chelsea Flower Show. Do take a wander and check out the Centenary Garden, Tea Lawn, Walled Garden and of course The Hill.

White dress code

Then there’s the all-white dress code which makes everyone look terribly smart. There was also the new ladies-coloured knicker rule in place showing a touch of modernity and how Wimbledon does move with the times, just google it if you are wondering what I’m talking about!

Royalty

There is also the mega excitement of possibly watching a tennis match alongside royalty. This year Kate Princess of Wales, Patron of The All England Club graced the Royal Box three times. The Men’s final saw Prince George and Princess Charlotte cheering on Alcaraz when they joined the Prince and Princess of Wales, along with Spain’s King Felipe VI to watch the Men’s Final.

Wimbledon is a star-studded event frequented by the rich and famous from movie stars to athletes. Billie Jean King and Roger Federer, King of the Courts were among many past champions spotted.

Where preparation is perfected

Whilst fans might be chuffed to bits to be at Wimbey (only my darling American friends call it this) every player has a story to tell, on their path to greatness. It is a great honour to play at Wimbledon. We should not forget, win or lose partaking in the Wimbledon Championship will likely be amongst each player’s all-time top life achievements.

As a number one tennis fan, Wimbledon 2023, will go down as one of my favourites too.

Won’t you come for a wander with me?

How to obtain Tickets for Wimbledon

The Wimbledon Championships remains one of the hardest Grand Slams to obtain tickets for. Back in my working days, I had several incredible Wimbledon tennis days through work. Corporate invitations come with lunch with Champagne, afternoon tea with strawberries and cream, and the best seats on Centre Court.

Public Ballot

Most people obtain their entry via Public Ballot. The ballot was first launched in 1924 and gives everyone an equal opportunity to secure tickets for The Championships. You need to be organised for this, and I always seem to miss the ballot application which opens in mid-September.

Newmarket Holidays

We obtained our Finals tickets via Newmarket Holidays who have been officially appointed by The Wimbledon Championships for the sale of No. 1 Court tickets. Our package came with a fairly average night in the Thistle Hotel Kensington but it was centrally located and our room was comfortable and overlooking Hyde Park. What this did give us though were two tickets to No 1 Court and great seats in row E.

Make sure you check carefully the dates as we booked for the second Friday, thinking we were attending the first week! We were happy with our two Ladies Doubles Semi Final matches but at one point we weren’t sure whether we’d get to see any main draw matches at this time.

The Queue

Another option is the opportunity for last-minute on-the-day tickets. Some people camp overnight in The Queue, for a coveted ticket to enter the All England Lawn Tennis Club. This offers up to 500 seats on each show court and ground pass tickets.

They say The Queue is as much about the experience of being in the queue as it is, the big hooray of getting tickets to enter. BYO your own tent if you are a serious contender!

Qualifying Tournament

For one of the best-kept secrets in tennis consider The Qualifying Tournament. In this knock-out tournament, players play and win three consecutive matches to earn one of the 16 Championships’ places in each of the gentlemen’s and ladies’ draws. Thanasi Kokkinakis and two-time quarter-finalist David Goffin, Australian Open Winner Sophia Kenin all played in Qualies this year. Held at Roehampton entry costs £15. You can read why you should not miss Grand Slam Qualifying tournaments here.

Where to view

Centre Court

Centre court has the best seats at Wimbledon and is tennis gold if you manage to secure them. Best start either befriending royalty, those who can offer you a corporate ticket, debenture holders and members of the All England Tennis Club. Or try your luck with the Public Ballot (see below)

Court No 1

Court No 1, the second biggest show court at Wimbledon in the first week is often THE place to be. I’m never going to say no to a Centre Court ticket but I’d have been very happy to be watching some of the biggest and best duals on offer on Court No 1 in week one.

We enjoyed watching the Semi-Finals for Ladies’ Doubles and Ladies’ Wheelchair on the second Friday. It was a rainy day so we benefitted from seeing play with the roof closed. We found the seats were incredibly close together so if you can pick a seat try not to seat in the corners of the stadium.

The Hill

This grassy area behind Court No. 1 is a popular area to watch tennis on big screens, Henman Hill or Murray Mound, with a Pimms in hand, is a popular hangout to watch Centre Court action on the big screens.

The best seat in the house for the London screenings of the Wimbledon Finals, if you can’t get courtside, has to be on Henman Hill/Murray Mound.

The die-hard fans were on Henman Hill this week watching Alcaraz in the rain for his semi-finals when we were there!

Getting to the Wimbledon Championships

Just be aware Wimbledon is a bit of a hike from Public Transport. The nearest tube stations are Southfields (District Line) and Wimbledon (District Line and Main Line).  You can take a shared taxi from the Tube station. Pedal taxi bikes covered in pink fluro fake fur wait hopefully for passengers on the road up to Wimbledon.

You can get all the details of arriving by Public Transport here.

If you plan to arrive by car you need to pre-book your car parking space. There is no car parking on site, but you do get closer than arriving by the Tube. Local houses displayed signs for car parking for £30 per day to use their driveways.

2023 Wimbledon winners

The unpredictability of grass makes it exciting. We love seeing which Qualifiers go deep into the main draw, this year all eyes were on 16-year-old, Mirra Andreeva who made it all the way to the fourth round. 2023 saw two new names on the Men’s and Women’s Champions board. Ukraine had their first Wimbledon champion in the Mixed doubles. The United Kingdon had new British Champions in both the Junior boys and Doubles. The astonishing Diede de Groot picked up her eleventh consecutive major singles title, winning the Ladies Singles Wheelchair Tennis title.

All the championship results are found here

I hope you have enjoyed a wander around Wimbledon with me. Players play in ten different tournaments within the Wimbledon Championships. It’s a highlight of our British summertime, we are glued to the television and it’s brilliant when we can attend in person.

Attending Wimbledon 2024

The Wimbledon Championships 2024 will take place from July 1 – 14 2024 and the Wimbledon Public Ballot will open in mid-September. You can make sure you’re one of the first to hear about tickets for next year’s Championships by signing up to MyWimbledon here.

Hope to see you there next July!

Read more

If you have enjoyed this post you might enjoy my other tennis posts:

Anyone for tennis series:

At Nottingham, Roland Garros, Thailand Open

Wimbledon With Love from Wimbledon

Australian Open: Why you will love the Australian Open Qualifying Tournament, Keeping cool at the Australian Open, Pimp my Dog, pimp the Car, Bye from the Australian Open

Roland Garros: How to enjoy ace days at Roland Garros

US Open: See here