The Queue for Day Tickets
The queues for the day tickets have become such a hallmark of Wimbledon that the word has become almost synonymous with the Championship itself; however, competition is becoming fiercer every year, and the tactics used are gradually changing. Here, we will explain the key points based on examples from 2025, and if there are any rule changes for 2026, will update this guide accordingly.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
🎾What is Day Ticket?🎾
Show Courts (Centre, No. 1 and No. 2): 500 tickets each, totalling 1,500. Please note that for Centre Court, day tickets are available for the final four days (the days of the men’s and women’s semi-finals and finals).
Ground Passes: The exact number is not officially announced (as it varies depending on the day’s circumstances), but as a rough guide, it is between 10,000 and 11,000 in total, including those for the Show Courts.
Fortunately, the AELTC, which organises Wimbledon, is keen to ensure that those who have queued for a long time are properly rewarded, and quite good seats are allocated for the day tickets.
🎾General Procedure🎾
- Upon arriving at ‘The Queue’ in Wimbledon Park, adjacent to the venue, follow the staff’s instructions and join the end of the queue.
- You will be given a Queue Card by a member of staff who comes round.
- There is a sign with an alphabet (A to Z, although I’ve never seen any letter beyond K) at the front of the queue; when your turn comes, you will be directed to move to ‘The Grounds’, opposite the venue, in your respective queue.
- Once inside ‘The Grounds’, queue again to purchase your ticket at the Ticket Sales Kiosk, then cross the road to enter the venue.
Let me elaborate on them.
The Queue
It has become such an annual fixture in the UK that when ‘the’ is attached to the word ‘queue,’ it refers specifically to ‘the place where people queue for day tickets at Wimbledon’.
Location and how to get there:
As shown at ① on this map, simply enter ‘the queue, wimbledon’ into Google Maps to find the location.
The nearest station is Southfields on the District Line (marked as ② on this map), but you can also walk from Wimbledon Park (marked as ③).
There are three gates: Wimbledon Park Road Gate, Home Park Road Gate and Revelstoke Road Gate.
Of these, only the main gate on Wimbledon Park Road is open 24 hours a day; the other two are open from 6.30 am to 10 pm.
If you are using a taxi or Uber, please note that during the tournament, general traffic is prohibited on Wimbledon Park Road (where the main gate is located) and the adjacent Church Road. Consequently, if you are using an Uber or minicab, you will need to be dropped off just before the restricted area and walk from there. However, black cabs are permitted to enter.
When to start queueing?：
This varies considerably depending on (1) which day it is, (2) the weather, and (3) whether you’re aiming for a Show Court ticket or a Ground Pass ticketst; however, unless you’re queuing from the night before, the most important tip is: ‘Start queuing before 5 am, when the first train arrives at your nearest station!’
The first day is the most popular. If you’re aiming for a Ground Pass tickets, the first half of the first week is recommended, as some of top-level players will be playing on the non-show courts. Incidentally, on the opening day of 2025, Naomi Osaka appeared on Court 18. Conversely, the least popular days (where you don’t need to queue for as long) are the final four days. This is because singles matches are only played on Centre Court, which is not available for day tickets. If you want to watch singles matches on a show court, bear in mind that on popular days it will be extremely difficult unless you camp out from the day before at the very latest. I will explain in detail in my next blog post when you should start camping out.
Generally speaking, queues are longer when the weather is good and shorter when it rains. Taking 2025 as an example: on the first Friday of the tournament, which was sunny, I started queuing at 5 am and was in the 10,000s; on the second Monday, which saw heavy rain the night before but cleared up after 9 am, I started queuing around 8.30 am and was in the 6,000s. Please decide when to start queuing based on the weather forecast.
How long do you have to queue?：
First, please check the number on your Queue Card. As a general guide, numbers 1–500 are for Centre Court, 501–1000 are for Court No. 1, and 1001–1500 are for Court No. 2.
For the Show Courts: You will be directed to the ticket sales kiosks in the order of Centre Court, No. 1 and No. 2, following the route marked ①→④ on the map above. You can expect to be admitted to No. 2 around 11:00 am.
For numbers 1501 and above, you will be directed to The Grounds as and when space becomes available. It is quite possible that this will not be until the afternoon.
As a total of around 10,000 to 11,000 day tickets are distributed, if the number you have been given is higher than this, you should unfortunately give up hope. If your number is borderline, you may ultimately be admitted, but you should be prepared for it to be 3 or 4 pm, or even later in the evening. Wimbledon generally plays matches until sunset, so if it is the first half of the first week, when there are many matches, you will still be able to watch a few matches.
Here is another very important tip！
There is still a chance to upgrade from the Ground Courts to the Show Court.
Whilst you are being guided from Queue Village to the Grounds, a member of staff may approach you and ask if you wish to enter the resale queue. If you want to upgrade, don’t hesitate to say ‘Yes!’.
Even if a member of staff does not approach you, there are resale kiosks where you can register: one just past the Ticket Sales Kiosk (in Queue Village) and another as you enter the venue (on the Park Side). If a seat becomes available, you will receive a text message on the mobile number you registered. When you receive the message, reply to confirm your purchase within the specified time (around 10 to 20 minutes), then return to the resale kiosk to buy your ticket.
Ticket prices are £15 for Centre Court and £10 for Courts No. 1 and No. 2.
Even if a seat does become available, if you miss the message, you’ll lose your chance to buy it. Make sure you check your mobile messages constantly, and be careful not to run out of battery! There used to be charging stations inside the venue, but as of 2025, these were no longer available. Don’t forget to bring a power bank!
