arrived at 6am and got a queue number in the 9000's! they do have sufficient room on the grounds for several tens of thousands of visitors, but this was not early enough to actually catch the start of play. from this particular spot, it was a 6 hour wait. the good news is that they don't aim to empty your wallet, as grounds entry was £25 per person. I think that's as high as it gets for the tournament, and even the court seats (for the few that can get them) are not exorbitant.
the queue is laid out on a giant green space about a 10 minute walk from the courts. for the number of people stuck in this area for so many hours, it's very civilized and orderly in a way only the British can manage. there were ample food kiosks and restrooms, so as long as you have enough water, sunscreen, a blanket to sit on and some sunshine, it's not really that bad.
the Wimbledon website lays out some fairly strict rules about what you can or cannot bring into the grounds (e.g. bag size, transparent liquid containers only), but they actually weren't that particular about enforcing things to the letter. probably the main reason I'd try to go a bit more minimal is just the amount of room you have (or don't) when all you've got is a grounds pass. but more on that later.
these aren't tents from the night before, but rather were set up that Saturday morning for Manic Monday entrance. that's right, there's fans nutty enough to go a full 48 hours for the 500 or so assigned court seats they give out daily. and you really have to stick it out, anyone who leaves their tent for a significant amount of time loses their spot.
with the grounds pass, the only courts you're able to really get close to are the outside ones with doubles and juniors. any men's or women's singles matches just had way too many people jostling around them to be worth the effort. this is also the only area where you've got more than a foot of personal space. everywhere else, you're literally rubbing elbows with fellow fans.
a cool flyover, the significance of which is a mystery to me. when I look up July 6, all I get is National Fried Chicken day so I have to assume that's what it was for (a worthy event to be sure).
Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Danielle Collins take on Sam Stosur and Zhang Shuai. nice to see her back on court after that gruesome knee injury from a couple years back.
after all these years on tour, Sam's still got the famous pipes. I still ate my ice cream after, but with much more guilt than anticipated.
Henman hill in all its sardine can-like glory. it was particularly packed on this day due to the double afternoon feature of Rafa and Roger. the amount of garbage beneath this crowd is every bit as bad as you can imagine. I am truly amazed that they restore the grounds to pristine condition every day.
also they only gave Roger half the screen due to some Brit action happening on another court, and poor Rafa didn't get shown at all because Andy's doubles match was on. there were more than a few drunk Spanish fans that started angry chants to change the channel, but to no avail.
the renowned strawberries and cream experience. to be honest I've had sweeter ones from other places in the world, but these are definitely among the most aesthetically pleasing.
the civility of the queue outside is a stark contrast to the zoo you find past the gates. I've been to 2 Masters and 2 Major events, and none of the previous ones were ever close to this frenetic. I'm a little sad to say that it breaks the sipping tea and crumpets image that I (for some reason) held. well, I guess you can still do that if you really want, but that will cost an ungodly number of pounds to to gain access to the more exclusive areas.
