Wimbledon!

 Wimbledon. Some consider it the greatest tennis event in the world, and this past week I had the immense privilege of attending like many Brits do every year. Without a doubt, this sporting event blew every American NBA, NFL, or MLB game out of the water. The rich history, passionate players, invested fans, and raw sport that was exposed to myself is something I’ll never forget. I’ll take you through my day.

6:30 a.m.

Meet in the hotel lobby all the way across on the Southeast side of London.  By the time we ate breakfast and organized the troops, a group of 25 of us left to the train station around 7:30. Keep in mind, Wimbledon is all the way across on the Southwest side of London, and already the trains are busy for the Olympics and summer tourist season.

9:00 a.m.

The entrance to the Queue!

We have arrived!! Walking from the train station about 5 minutes in a crowd of people I found the entrance to The Queue. For those of you who do not know, The Queue is a line for people who do not have tickets to the event, but can purchase them the day of. However there’s one catch, most likely there will be a huge line where you have to camp out for days before you are allowed in. Understanding that the matches started at 11:00 a.m. I had little faith that our group would be able to sneak in.

near the end of the Queue

However, to my surprise the line was relatively empty and our group was able to sneak in and purchase tickets to Court 1 for 50 pounds. The ticket allowed us into the Wimbledon grounds for all matches except for the game on Centre Court, the largest arena in the grounds.

9:30 a.m.

Entering into the grounds, I was blown away by the immensity of the event. With around 20 tennis courts, with about 6 of them having arenas ranging from holding hundreds of people to thousands. All around me were individuals from every culture, race, and age just dying to see some of the world’s greatest playing a sport. I walked around with some of my program members and took some pics on the grounds, as you can see below.

An absolutely amazing experience

Because the matches did not start till 11:00, we had some time to check out the grounds and purchase some well-needed souvenirs.

11:00 a.m.

One of the smaller courts!

The matches have started and I begin the day watching girls doubles on a smaller court. The girls I watched were only 16 years old and were, for lack of a better word, fierce. Because Wimbledon isn’t simply a professional tournament, there are amateurs all the way to age 14 playing during the tournament. Being older than a good majority of players here, I found myself in awe of the concentration and determination behind each of these players to hopefully one day play in Centre Court.

11:30 a.m.

Andy Murray!!

All of a sudden, the court next to me was crowded. This seemed unusual considering the fact that most of the early games were simply the juniors. All of the big games started around 1:00 p.m. I, being a curious spectator, ventured over to the court nearby and found Andy Murray, the British player who was vying to become the first British man to win Wimbledon in over 75 years. So, naturally anytime this man takes the court, the British come in floods to cheer him on. Sadly, he did lose this year to Federer in the finals, but rumors said that if Murray would have won, his winnings including new sponsors would be over 100 million pounds…… yes, that is correct. Winning Wimbledon is quite a big deal.

12:30 p.m.

The match I paid for started at 13:00, so I had to make sure I was in my seat early! However, I was quite hungry and decided to grab some classic England fish and chips. After ordering my food I found a sign that disallowed any hot food into the stadium. Contrast to American culture where fans get up and down throughout the game to get more drinks and food, here at Wimbledon, once you sat down before the match, you had to stay for the first three sets, without food. So with 10 minutes left before the match, I scarfed down some delicious fish and chips (fries) and ran in with 3 minutes to spare.

13:00

The Bryan Brothers!!!

The match my ticket bought was for the Mens Doubles Quarterfinals. Both teams, surprisingly, were from USA, one being the more famous Bryan brothers from Stanford. So naturally, being a Pac-12 school our section rooted for them. However, rooting for someone at Wimbledon is like a black tie formal dinner pat on the back. I’m not sure if that’s the best way to describe it, but essentially, the cheering was definitely for one team, but more importantly respectful of both. So often in American sports, we jeer the other team and laud them for the mistakes on and off the field. Here at Wimbledon, it was your talent that was applauded, and disgraces ignored.

The Court One Experience!

We were all there to see a great match and indeed we did. With the game going all 5 sets, with the Bryan brothers eventually winning after a great comeback, I could have not asked for more for my 50 pounds.

16:00

Because the match went all 5 sets, we did not get out of the arena until after 3:00 p.m. Once we left, our group headed over to the lawn where Wimbledon sets up an enormous television at the base of a huge hill for all spectators to watch the games together in the grounds. Our group was able to catch the end of the Serena Williams semi-final match, which she won. (She also won the Women’s singles final and doubles along with her sister.)

The lawn with the huge TV

17:00

After watching Serena, I ventured more around the grounds exploring other matches ranging from players older than 40 to players still in high school. No matter what age though, the crowds gathered and watch passion exude with each swing of the racket.

After walking around, I was able to then sneak my friend back into Court 1 to watch about 30 minutes of a mixed doubles match (one girl, one boy on each team). I’d never seen this before, and I was amazed to see the power from the men, and the finesse from a women come together so easily and fluidly.

17:30

Exhausted from the day’s events, I headed back on the long journey home on the London Tube with two of my best friends on this trip. Trying to navigate the public transportation with Wimbledon fans all around you is a hot, sweaty, memorable adventure. But overall, who can complain. I was just at a premier sporting event that showed me sport doesn’t need to be a commercial entity to be successful. If you have a rich history that fans buy into and love, the competition becomes all that truly matters.

…and the fish and chips of course.

Wimbledon: The Place Where Magic Can Happen