Patience and passion: The enduring tradition of Wimbledon's Queue
LONDON -- It's been said that the British love to queue so much, they'll join a queue and then ask what it's for.
But "The Queue," as it has come to be known, is now so synonymous with British culture, should you ever find yourself in the United Kingdom at the start of the summer and mention those two words, the vast majority of Brits will know you could only be talking about one thing -- Wimbledon.
"Everyone has got a common objective when they come to the queue to get into Wimbledon," James Mendelssohn, Chief Steward of Wimbledon, told ABC News during a visit on the middle Sunday of the tournament. "The guests just want to watch tennis. Even at times when you want to bang your umbrella over somebody's head, actually, we're all trying to do the same thing so it's all about working together to achieve that goal."
Wimbledon stands out from the other tennis Grand Slams as the only one where fans can be guaranteed a ticket on a show court by queuing because the tournament sells 500 tickets each day for Centre Court, No. 1 Court, and No. 2 Court to those who are willing to brave the elements and test the limits of their patience, all in the pursuit of seeing history being made.
"So these guys in the queue over here," said Mendelssohn, as he pointed to the front position of the queue where a group of four men sat listening to the radio while playing chess in front of their bright red tent, "They have been here a couple of days already, they know the system, they'll camp out. Tomorrow morning they'll be going onto the grounds and they will have a prime Centre Court seat. No corporate hospitality, they haven't been lucky in getting their tickets through the ballot, they haven't got it from their tennis club. They are true tennis fans and now they are guaranteed a ticket as long as they can endure. I think that is fantastic."
The Queue begins in Wimbledon Park, a short walk from Southfields Station and around the corner from Wimbledon's grounds where thousands of people arrive by London's famed underground network first thing in the morning. Managed by experienced stewards available 24 hours a day throughout the entire two-week tournament, the queue is mostly maintained with a light touch that reflects the event's orderly and courteous nature.
"We have a number of stewards here, we have what we call day stewards who tend to be younger people -- often students who work very hard and are well trained -- and they do a great job," said Mendelssohn. "We also have a number of honorary stewards who are volunteers and we have a number of them who've worked here year after year. They really understand the system, they really understand how the lines work and how to make run efficiently."
Perhaps what is most surprising about "The Queue" at Wimbledon is that it isn't just a line of people waiting to buy tickets, it feels like more of a social event, a celebration of tennis.
"There is a real family spirit and it's just very fun," Mendelssohn continued. "These volunteers are giving up two weeks of their summer to be here. Who would give up two weeks of prime time to come here if you didn't love it? Who would come wait for hours to see world-class tennis if you didn't love it?"
While not everybody will get tickets to the main events on Centre Court or Court One, the thousands who line up everyday will still gain access to grounds pass tickets, meaning they will have access to all of the other courts at Wimbledon, including No.3 Court, Court 12, and Court 18, as well as The Hill which has a massive jumbotron airing all of the action from the show courts.
Perhaps it is the camaraderie and shared love of tennis create a such a uniquely British atmosphere, but the mood -- rain or shine -- is almost always at a fever pitch and people seem genuinely happy to be at Wimbledon and part of the action.
"There are very few people who ever come here and step out of line," said Mendelssohn. "The queue almost polices itself because most people here know the system, they don't want anyone to abuse the system and we're lucky. Very occasionally we have a small problem, perhaps somebody's had a beer or two too many, so we do have security as well but it's very much a light touch with a quiet word and normally we solve the problem."
There is one problem, Mendelssohn confesses, that he and his team of over 200 stewards have absolutely no control over -- the British weather.
"It is just a fact that everyone is happier when the sun is shining," he said. "Ideally, the weather would be sunny but not too hot, though we have to be prepared for everything. We have had our stewards here in wellies and waterproofs and umbrellas and they work around the clock. We are here to make sure the guests have a great time and to keep up everyone's spirits is much easier when it's not raining. It can be challenging."
Mendelssohn and his team are constantly looking at ways to improve the experience for those in the queue to make it a more pleasant and pleasing experience than it already is and several changes have already been introduced for the 2024 iteration of Wimbledon.
Nothing has changed as far as what happens upon arrival and every fan is issued a queue card with a number on it, denoting their position in the Queue. However, what has changed is a significant new feature called Queue Village, a dedicated area where fans can relax, enjoy food and refreshments, engage in activities and watch live tennis on the big screen, all while serving as a comfortable waiting area, one that Wimbledon has found particularly useful once the grounds reach capacity.
Not knowing how many people will show up to wait in the queue at Wimbledon also presents its own set of challenges but Mendelssohn and his experienced team are prepared for that too.
"We have a lot of data," Mendelssohn told ABC News confidently. "We record the number of people in the queue every half hour, we always know the latest number, we keep records of the weather and so on. I know how many people are here right now, I know how many people were here yesterday, I know how many were here this day last year, and I know what the weather was like on this day last year. So that does help us to predict."
Wimbledon could easily do away with the queue and move to an online ballot that they have for the rest of the tickets but the fact that anybody from the general public can guarantee themselves access to Centre Court if they are willing to wait long enough is something that Mendelssohn think should, and will be, preserved.
"Wimbledon's planning and the use of data is outstanding yet they love tradition and history," he said. "That's why we've still got the queue because there are arguments for saying you shouldn't have a queue because is it actually practical? But actually, it's really important and if you ask most people about Wimbledon, what do they talk about? The Queue."
Ultimately, for Mendelssohn, the word that sticks out most about the queue -- when thinking about his team of stewards working around the clock and the people coming to wait for hours, or sometimes days, to watch their favorite players -- is resiliency.
"I think it's resilience," he said. "It's physical resilience because people are walking 25,000, 30,000 steps a day, resilience to the weather, resilience to persevere. What could be more British than that?"
