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Original poster

Wimbledon first timer, do's and don'ts please 🎾

76 replies

leesmum · 26/06/2023 08:56

Hi I've been incredibly lucky to get Centre Court tickets for the 2nd week of Wimbledon, I've never been before and not likely to again, has anyone got any helpful advice for the day? I want to make the most of what should be a fabulous day 🎾🍓🍾
Thank you.

OP posts:
Worryaboutwork · 27/06/2023 08:59

leesmum · 27/06/2023 06:35

Thank you @SportsAndExerciseMedicineDoc very helpful.
@Worryaboutwork we're so looking forward to it too, I entered the public ballot for the first time and didn't expect to get Centre Court in the second week! I have a while cotton dress, it's from M&S and I have navy blue accessories 😃

I'm sure we'll have a fabulous time, for those of you wanting to go get yourself signed up for the public ballot in October/November, you might just get lucky 🤞🏼

Oh that's lovely!! 😍 I'm yet to decide what to wear. Going to go shopping at the weekend xx

CremeDiplomat · 27/06/2023 11:13

Don't shout Come on Tim! Have a lovely time x

Original poster
leesmum · 27/06/2023 20:40

@CremeDiplomat 😂thank you

@Worryaboutwork there's lots of lovely summer things in the shops now, have you an idea what you might want?

OP posts:
Eyesopenwideawake · 27/06/2023 20:41

Don't get pissed on corporate entertainment at lunch and be filmed sleeping your way through Andre Agassi! 😬

Original poster
leesmum · 27/06/2023 20:50

Eyesopenwideawake · 27/06/2023 20:41

Don't get pissed on corporate entertainment at lunch and be filmed sleeping your way through Andre Agassi! 😬

Nice one 😂 how bad was you??

OP posts:
AvonCallingBarksdale · 27/06/2023 21:30

I’ve never been and would love to go. So do you enter the ballot and then if successful you go on to buy tickets?? If you’re not successful in the ballot does that mean there’s no way to buy tickets other than if you’ve got corporate ones? When’s the ballot?
Really envious! Enjoy 😊

Soapyspuds · 27/06/2023 22:13

Suncream if even if moderate sunshine because it is a long day.

Bring your own food and drink.

Soapyspuds · 27/06/2023 22:13

Do not bring a penguin. They are not really intersted in tennis and will get bored.

Eyesopenwideawake · 27/06/2023 22:15

leesmum · 27/06/2023 20:50

Nice one 😂 how bad was you??

Show quote history

It was the early '90's I think. Kleinwort Benson sent a limo to pick us up, champagne on arrival, red wine with lunch, dessert wine after...

Sat down to watch Agassi finish a match and then Navratilova start another and promptly fell asleep on my hosts shoulder. Missed the whole afternoon but BBC Wimbledon didn't...thankfully they didn't pick up the snoring.

Greengreented · 27/06/2023 22:19

I’m so jealous OP! I missed out on the ballot this year, I was successful for centre court on my very first try in 2017. I hope you have a wonderful time. My main tip is definitely to take suncream and sunglasses, if it’s nice weather you’ll be out in the sun a lot even if your seat is shaded at times. And obviously you have to have a Pimms or 700 😂🍹 ☀️☀️🕶️🕶️

Svalberg · 27/06/2023 22:59

If you're going from Sutton,you can get a train to Wimbledon, there's an M&S (if you need to buy food) if you go left once climbing up from the rail platform then go downstairs in the Centre Court shopping centre. If you then come out & cross the road to the bus stop outside the big white building, catch a 93 bus up to Parkside, get off at Calonne Road then if you walk down Somerset Rd, you end up at the tennis club and don't have to walk up any hills! There are some quite short but steep hills around the tennis!

Alternatively, you could get the tube from Wimbledon rail station to Southfields and walk, again downhill

Original poster
leesmum · 28/06/2023 09:20

@AvonCallingBarksdale yes you enter later on in the year, you could get nothing or centre court on the Final, it really is just a gamble really but you have about 5 days to accept or decline tickets and pay for them, I'll definitely have another go this year but don't think I'll get as lucky 😃

@Eyesopenwideawake 🤣 I'll try not to make the same mistake

@Svalberg thanks so much that's really useful x

Thanks to everyone else who's replied, I knew I'd get the best advice from Mumsnetters 😍

OP posts:
sadderthensad · 28/06/2023 09:31

If you have an HSBC card you can get a voucher for free strawberries and cream. I think taking an Amex card gets you a free programme?

Wear layers as you may be in full sun or you may be cold under the roof.

The best time to wander round the outside courts is when the main courts are in play and the thousands and thousands of visitors are all in their seats. If you go wandering at the end of a match it's rammed ( same apples to going to the bars etc)

Original poster
leesmum · 29/06/2023 20:21

@StampOnTheGround you're there next Wednesday aren't you? Please check in on here and let us know all about your day 😎

OP posts:
StampOnTheGround · 30/06/2023 06:57

leesmum · 29/06/2023 20:21

@StampOnTheGround you're there next Wednesday aren't you? Please check in on here and let us know all about your day 😎

Yes I am! I will do 😊

muddlingthrou · 30/06/2023 07:18

Lcb123 · 26/06/2023 10:13

i always find the food and drink there really poor quality and overpriced, you can take in whatever food you want and a certain amount of alcohol (check this, can’t remember). Get there early so you can look around, maybe watch the other small courts etc. wear comfy shoes!

Second this! Take in a really nice picnic for yourself and a bottle of wine (just make sure it's in a non-hard sided box).

Take a hat, sunglasses and sun cream in case your seat catches the sun.

I've been watching Break Point on Netflix to get me up to speed with all the current players.

Have fun! It's one of my favourite days out ever (I'm going middle Saturday 😊)

thing47 · 03/07/2023 15:42

Hi all, just to add DD is there today and has messaged to say that security has been massively beefed up so anyone going should allow loads and loads of extra time.

Hope you all have wonderful days!

Original poster
leesmum · 03/07/2023 18:04

@thing47 thanks for the heads-up, I hope your DD has had a fabulous day 😊

OP posts:
ChessieFL · 04/07/2023 06:47

Hi all! I was there yesterday. It was a brilliant day! We had no issues with security but we got there really early so were third in the queues so straight in when gates opened, they just had a quick look in our bags and sent us on our way. I gather we were lucky though!

Strawberries and cream is £2.50 so that’s good value (considering where you are). Pimms though was £12.20! It’s quite a big beaker but even so. You can get £1 of that back if you return your reusable cup. Fish and chips was about £12 I think.

Definitely recommend taking your own food and drink in as it saves queuing to buy stuff - there’s so much going on you won’t want to waste any time! I would say just carefully check the guidance of what you can and can’t take in with you - you can’t take opaque water bottles for example. If they are going to be strict with security you don’t want your picnic confiscated!

Head to the practice courts throughout the day - we spotted Carlos Alcaraz there as well as Caroline Garcia, Liam Broady, Felix AA and Leylah Fernandez. If you’re lucky you’ll get the players walking right past you and can grab a photo.

There’s a Barclays fanzone by the practice courts, worth checking that out as at one point they had Barbora Krejcikova there for photos etc (and we didn’t need to have a barclaycard for that).

Also try and get on one of the outside courts if you can, completely different experience being so close to the
players/match - No 1 court was great too but we were quite far back so nice to have the contrast between the courts.

Head to the top of Henman Hill and then to the left is the media bit - if you’re lucky you might spot people there. We spotted Tim Henman, Anne Keothavong and ISA Guha earlier in the day then Clare Balding later on.

We made the mistake of leaving at the same time as hundreds of others when play finished on court 1 - this meant a massive queue for the tube but it was all very well managed and didn’t actually take as long as I thought to get on a tube. Maybe try and time it a bit better than us though!

It was a fantastic although very tiring day!

StampOnTheGround · 04/07/2023 09:38

ChessieFL · 04/07/2023 06:47

Hi all! I was there yesterday. It was a brilliant day! We had no issues with security but we got there really early so were third in the queues so straight in when gates opened, they just had a quick look in our bags and sent us on our way. I gather we were lucky though!

Strawberries and cream is £2.50 so that’s good value (considering where you are). Pimms though was £12.20! It’s quite a big beaker but even so. You can get £1 of that back if you return your reusable cup. Fish and chips was about £12 I think.

Definitely recommend taking your own food and drink in as it saves queuing to buy stuff - there’s so much going on you won’t want to waste any time! I would say just carefully check the guidance of what you can and can’t take in with you - you can’t take opaque water bottles for example. If they are going to be strict with security you don’t want your picnic confiscated!

Head to the practice courts throughout the day - we spotted Carlos Alcaraz there as well as Caroline Garcia, Liam Broady, Felix AA and Leylah Fernandez. If you’re lucky you’ll get the players walking right past you and can grab a photo.

There’s a Barclays fanzone by the practice courts, worth checking that out as at one point they had Barbora Krejcikova there for photos etc (and we didn’t need to have a barclaycard for that).

Also try and get on one of the outside courts if you can, completely different experience being so close to the
players/match - No 1 court was great too but we were quite far back so nice to have the contrast between the courts.

Head to the top of Henman Hill and then to the left is the media bit - if you’re lucky you might spot people there. We spotted Tim Henman, Anne Keothavong and ISA Guha earlier in the day then Clare Balding later on.

We made the mistake of leaving at the same time as hundreds of others when play finished on court 1 - this meant a massive queue for the tube but it was all very well managed and didn’t actually take as long as I thought to get on a tube. Maybe try and time it a bit better than us though!

It was a fantastic although very tiring day!

Sounds great! 1 question, did you see how much a pitcher of pimms was? I remember it being about £26 but I think that was 2019 so who knows now 😂

ChessieFL · 04/07/2023 11:55

Sorry, I don’t know about the pitchers. One beaker was enough for me!

FeigningConcern · 04/07/2023 15:20

ChessieFL · 04/07/2023 06:47

Hi all! I was there yesterday. It was a brilliant day! We had no issues with security but we got there really early so were third in the queues so straight in when gates opened, they just had a quick look in our bags and sent us on our way. I gather we were lucky though!

Strawberries and cream is £2.50 so that’s good value (considering where you are). Pimms though was £12.20! It’s quite a big beaker but even so. You can get £1 of that back if you return your reusable cup. Fish and chips was about £12 I think.

Definitely recommend taking your own food and drink in as it saves queuing to buy stuff - there’s so much going on you won’t want to waste any time! I would say just carefully check the guidance of what you can and can’t take in with you - you can’t take opaque water bottles for example. If they are going to be strict with security you don’t want your picnic confiscated!

Head to the practice courts throughout the day - we spotted Carlos Alcaraz there as well as Caroline Garcia, Liam Broady, Felix AA and Leylah Fernandez. If you’re lucky you’ll get the players walking right past you and can grab a photo.

There’s a Barclays fanzone by the practice courts, worth checking that out as at one point they had Barbora Krejcikova there for photos etc (and we didn’t need to have a barclaycard for that).

Also try and get on one of the outside courts if you can, completely different experience being so close to the
players/match - No 1 court was great too but we were quite far back so nice to have the contrast between the courts.

Head to the top of Henman Hill and then to the left is the media bit - if you’re lucky you might spot people there. We spotted Tim Henman, Anne Keothavong and ISA Guha earlier in the day then Clare Balding later on.

We made the mistake of leaving at the same time as hundreds of others when play finished on court 1 - this meant a massive queue for the tube but it was all very well managed and didn’t actually take as long as I thought to get on a tube. Maybe try and time it a bit better than us though!

It was a fantastic although very tiring day!

We are going this weekend. Am panicking about reports in the press about suncream being confiscated. I am very fair skinned and will definitely burn if not able to reapply and in the sun all day!

Any idea what sunscreen they were confiscating? Maybe the spray ones in metal cans?

I only use cream sunscreens so maybe they are ok? Wondering whether it’s the size of the bottle that’s an issue and whether I should decant in something smaller?

ChessieFL · 04/07/2023 15:23

I didn’t see any suncream being confiscated so I don’t know. But I know that opaque water bottles are banned but clear ones are fine. So maybe the issue is bottles where they can’t see the contents. I wonder therefore if it would be ok if you decant it into one of those clear travel bottles? I don’t know though, just a guess.

BCSurvivor · 04/07/2023 15:27

Ooohhh, I'm glad I've read this, I'll decant my sun cream, going on Sunday x

FeigningConcern · 04/07/2023 15:31

ChessieFL · 04/07/2023 15:23

I didn’t see any suncream being confiscated so I don’t know. But I know that opaque water bottles are banned but clear ones are fine. So maybe the issue is bottles where they can’t see the contents. I wonder therefore if it would be ok if you decant it into one of those clear travel bottles? I don’t know though, just a guess.

Yes that's what I was wondering. I have some almost see through travel bottles I could use. But then wasn't sure if that was worse as the contents aren't labelled and could then be anything!!

The water bottles is weird as it still says on their website that opaque bottles are ok if empty and under 500ml. I think I'm just going to take a couple of the clear single use ones to be safe (I don't have any clear reusable ones).

I wish they'd issue some clear guidelines then we'd know where we were and could follow them!