Here we go! Thousands of Wimbledon fans camp overnight for first day of tennis championship as Novak Djokovic prepares for Centre Court clash – but Met Office warns rain could fall on SW19 today and tomorrow
- Fans have joined the queue in Wimbledon Park in a bid to snag on-the-day tickets
Thousands of Wimbledon fans have camped overnight for the first day of the tennis championship as Novak Djokovic prepares for a Centre Court clash.
Over 6,200 non-ticket holders have joined the Wimbledon queue in a bid to get a glimpse of the action today as Serbia’s Djokovic begins his title defence against Argentina’s 67th-ranked Pedro Cachin.
As the sun rose this morning, tennis lovers stationed in Wimbledon Park were already grabbing their queue cards as they try to snag coveted on-the-day tickets to the world renowned tournament.
But the Met Office has reminded fans to pack rain jackets and umbrellas as scattered showers are expected over London during the first week of the championship.
Fans can expect some rain in south-west London today and a ‘much wetter day’ tomorrow. Meteorologists say Thursday and Friday could bring better conditions.
Wimbledon fans have camped overnight for the first day of the tennis championship as Novak Djokovic prepares for a centre court clash
Fans have already joined the notorious Wimbledon queue in a bid to get a glimpse of the action today
Joziane, Kaylee and Avery (pictured left to right) have queued up in Wimbledon Park today in a bid to secure tickets for the first day of the tournament
Tennis fans, with their queue cards in hand, battle to secure ground passes to the tournament
A Wimbledon fan wrapped up in a union jack flag is seen enjoying strawberries at her campsite this morning
Love Island 2017 winner Kem Cetinay opened the first gate for the queue at 7.18am today after a short countdown and yelled ‘Let’s go’ before running through the checkpoint.
Julia Barker, holding a ticket stamped number one, was first in line for the queue.
The 47-year-old – alongside her husband Kicky, 54, and son 23-year-old son Dan – flew over from Dublin on Friday night to stand in the line.
The family have lived in Ireland for over 20 years, but are originally from Latvia, and have been camping since 7.30am on Saturday.
Dan said: ‘We didn’t expect to be first. Then we realised there was nobody here.’
Play begins on most courts today at 11am today, which is when Russia’s Andrey Rublev will play Australia’s Max Purcell on No. 3 Court, and Belarusian player Victoria Azarenka will take on China’s Yuan Yue at Court 15.
Julia Barker, holding a ticket stamped number one, was first in line for the queue
Julia Barker (right), her husband Nicky (left) and their son Dan (centre) flew in from Ireland for the tournament and have been camping since 7.30am on Saturday
No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula goes up against Lauren Davis at No. 2 Court this morning in an all-American matchup.
But the action at No. 1 Court begins at 1pm when Poland’s Iga Świątek faces off against China’s Zhu Lin.
Centre Court is the last arena to get going, at 1.30pm, when Djokovic-Cachin is set to start. Alcaraz is the new big thing in men’s tennis but Djokovic remains the favourite to retain his Wimbledon title this month.
Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams will begin her 24th appearance at Wimbledon after the Djokovic-Cachin. The American tennis star will face off against 2019 semifinalist Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine.
Fans took to social media this morning to document their hours-long journey through the queue, with many showing off their queue cards and free strawberries.
But as they battle to secure ground passes to the beloved tournament, fans may also find themselves fighting a spout of unpleasant weather.
Wimbledon fan Avery (pictured) shows off her union jack flag as she queues for tickets today
Wimbledon campers were all loved up this morning as they prepared to queue for tickets
A tennis lover waves from her camping chair as she prepares to queue for Wimbledon tickets
A tennis fan who camped out overnight in the Wimbledon queue is wrapped up in a blanket on day one of the championships
A tennis fan camping out in Wimbledon Park last night is pictured with his sleeping bag and union jack pillow
The Met Office predicts a persistent spell of rain will move eastwards across Wales and northern and central England today.
Rain lying over the far north of Scotland will linger around this morning and make its way further south, but ‘incredibly slowly’.
Met Office meteorologist Amy Bokota told fans: ‘Then there will just be isolated showers as we start [today] and there will be a little frontal wave that is going to be pushing across, sort of fringing Northern Ireland and going through parts of northern Wales and north England.
‘And that will have a tail that crosses London as well, so whilst London and the Wimbledon area will probably start off with a nice bright start to the day, it will start to become a little cloudier and they’ll expect to see some rain from mid afternoon, and then continuing towards the evening.
She says the front will become ‘patchy through the evening’ but adds that fans will ‘certainly be seeing some rain for a time at Wimbledon’ today.
London will probably see highs of 21C or 22C tomorrow, ‘and then further north probably into the high teens’.
Fans took to social media this morning to document their hours-long journey through the queue, with many showing off their queue cards and free strawberries
The Met Office has reminded fans to pack rain jackets and umbrellas as scattered showers are expected over London during the first week of the championship. Fans can expect some rain in south-west London today and a ‘much wetter day’ tomorrow
Ms Bokota said Wimbledon-goers should ‘definitely pack an umbrella and a coat’ as ‘there is going to be rain through the afternoon period’.
‘I mean it will be quite showery in nature so it might be hit-and-miss but there is a more focused band that will be crossing through the afternoon, so there is a chance they might just see the edge of a lighter shower,’ she added.
Elsewhere today, she said there will be ‘slightly lighter winds but still breezy’ with a few thunderstorms possible.
She added: ‘Probably parts of southern/northern Ireland and North West England, perhaps Yorkshire, might just see a few thunderstorms as well but, again, it should be moving through quite quickly so no major impact expected.’
She said ‘there’s a little bit of uncertainty as we head in towards Tuesday’, with another band of rain likely to move across the south of England.
‘So it does look like a much wetter day for Wimbledon and it could be a bit persistent and heavy at times,’ she said.
A camper comes out of his tent this morning as he prepares to join the Wimbledon queue
Play begins on most courts today at 11am today. Tennis fans are pictured this morning as they queue for coveted on-the-day tickets
Fans camped out overnight as they moved to secure a spot in the queue for tickets
Two Wimbledon campers shared a cup of tea last night as they prepared to spend hours queuing for tournament tickets today
Fans were seen playing tennis last night as they socialised with others preparing to camp out for the queue
Fans arrived to Wimbledon Park last night, with sleeping bags and rucksacks in hand, as they embarked on their overnight journey to queue for tickets
‘Certainly through the morning we’re likely to see some rain at Wimbledon and it’s just how quickly it clears through the afternoon. Tuesday, still holding on to that risk of sunny spells and showers, so staying unsettled and fairly cool – close to average.
‘Kind of much the same really, just sunshine and showers further north, some of those could be more prolonged at times across parts of Scotland.’
By Wednesday, the winds will be ‘steadily lightening as we head through the week’.
She said it is ‘looking at the moment like Thursday is probably the better day of the week and Friday just might be staying dry in the South East as well, so they’ll probably be good days for Wimbledon’.
Meanwhile, rail travellers – including Wimbledon fans – face another week of chaos as six days of industrial action starts today.
The ban on overtime working, called by train drivers’ union Aslef, could cause significant disruption on several lines as some operators rely on overtime working to run a full timetable.
Aslef announced last month that its members will withdraw non-contractual overtime, known as rest-day working, with 16 operators covering most of England from today until Saturday.
It could impact visitors to the first week of the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
It is understood that there have been no negotiations between the union and the rail operators since the action was announced on June 19.
Wimbledon fans camped out last night to queue ahead of the first day of the tennis championships
Tennis fans shared beers and played cards at their Wimbledon Park campsites last night
Two campers were seen playing chess last night as they prepared to join the hours-long queue this morning
Wimbledon fans camping out last night were playing tennis as they prepared to queue for tournament tickets today
The tournament runs until July 19, but missing from the courts this year will be Nick Kyrgios who pulled out of the tournament with a wrist injury.
The Australian, who was last year’s Wimbledon runner-up, announced his decision to withdraw yesterday on Instagram – just hours after confirming he was ready to take on David Goffin in Monday’s opener at the All England Club.
‘I’m really sad to say that I have to withdraw from Wimbledon this year,’ the 28-year-old wrote. ‘I tried my hardest to be ready after my surgery and to be able to step on the Wimbledon courts again.
‘During my comeback, I experienced some pain in my wrist during the week of Mallorca. As a precaution I had it scanned and it came back showing a torn ligament in my wrist.
‘I tried everything to be able to play and I am disappointed to say that I just didn’t have enough time to manage it before Wimbledon.’
Kyrgios had a surgery on his left knee earlier this year and lost in his comeback match after a five-month layoff against China’s Wu Yibing in the Stuttgart Open first round last month. He missed the French Open due to a foot injury he sustained during the theft of his car.
Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from Wimbledon where he surged to the final against Novak Djokovic last year. He is pictured receiving strapping from a trainer ahead of a practice session before Wimbledon on June 28
The athlete has revealed that he had been dreading the idea of coming back to tennis while he was sidelined with a knee injury that kept him out of this year’s Australian Open and saw him play just one match in the months since he had it operated on.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, he admitted that – after a rare nine-month break from the sport and following a refreshing spell back home – he did not like the idea of coming back to tennis.
‘I don’t miss the sport at all, to be fair. I was almost dreading coming back a little bit. But it’s my job,’ Kyrgios said.
‘I wouldn’t watch too much tennis. There’s a couple of players I enjoy watching. Every time ‘Foe [Frances Tiafoe] is playing or Thanasi [Kokkinakis] is playing, or anyone like this, I like watching.’
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