The French Open Men’s Singles Final, which ended on June 8, was impressed with many tennis fans. Carlos Alcaras (Spanish tax second place) gave Jannik Shiner (Italy Se -seop No. 1) first to give one or two sets first, and a reversal drama that wins three or five sets. In particular, Alcaras’ determination and passion, which won the four sets of match points and won after 5 hours and 29 minutes, surprised the world.
Thanks to the French Open, which has been directed, the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament (June 30 -July 13), which will be held this year, is receiving more attention than ever. In addition to tennis fans, sports fans dream of the world’s oldest and prestigious Wimbledon competition.
However, it is notorious for finding a Wimbledon ticket. In particular, it takes more than imagination or huge money to get tickets for ‘Show Court (Court 1 and No. 2)’, where the most attention and important matches are held during the tournament. I invite you to buy a Wimbledon ticket that is much harder than getting a premier league (EPL) football ticket.
‘Public Ballot’ is one of the two ways to get a Wimbledon ticket at the cheapest way. The Wimbledon public voting, which was held in 1924, was designed to allocate tickets to the public most fairly. This method, which can be applied to those who live abroad rather than the UK, was mailed until 2019, and now a voting application is made online.
Unfortunately, public voting is not very likely to win. The ‘All England Ron Tennis Club (AELTC)’, which hosts the Wimbledon competition, does not disclose the number of applications received every year, but is generally 10%of the chances of winning a public vote. But it’s definitely worth trying because it’s not expensive to try.
The guests are randomly assigned to the game and seats. Therefore, you cannot apply for a game of a specific date. Ticket assignments are limited to two per winners. Tickets obtained in this way are not available for transfer, gifts, or resale. All tickets that violate this are invalidated. In addition, ticket prices obtained through public votes are determined by the economy. For example, the price of the game in Court 3 on the first day of 2024 was £ 46 (85,000 won) and the final ticket was £ 240 (446,000 won).
The process of applying for a public vote and waiting for the result is like a marathon. This is because the deadline for voting is usually 9 months before the opening of the competition. For example, the Wimbledon voting application in 2025 was closed on September 16 last year, and the result was in February this year. It is far from the emotions of Koreans who prefer “fast”.
The British loves to stand in line. Therefore, if you look at the line, you can stand and ask for the purpose of the line. Thus ‘The Queue’ has become a pronoun of British culture. When the summer begins, the cue is mentioned in England, and most British are talking about Wimbledon. Another way for the general public to get a Wimbledon ticket is the cheapest way.
Wimbledon is the only tournament where fans can line up and buy a showcourt ticket, unlike other tennis Grand Slam. A daily 500 tickets are assigned to the center coat and the first and second coats. In order to buy these tickets, fans are aiming for opportunities for a few days overnight. If you join the queue, you will receive a number of numbers, and if you want to leave the queue for a while, you should seek the understanding of the stewards that manage the people around you or the queue. There are also water facilities and toilets for those who camp. Of course, no thousands of people in line every day can buy a showcourt ticket. Therefore, those who did not get a showcourt ticket can watch the game of other coats except the showcourt with the ‘Ground Pass Ticket’.
It may sound romantic, but in fact, waiting for a few tens of hours to watch a tennis game requires tremendous patience. I tried to try it once and I gave up because I couldn’t find a person who had been lined up all night.
The most amazing thing about Wimbledon’s Cue is that people don’t line up to buy tickets, but think as if they are participating in the social events of tennis. While lining, they often make friends, play games, share food and drinks, and have social time. Even if the sun is bright or rainy and the wind blows, the atmosphere is almost always enthusiastic because of tennis fans from all over the world. They come to Wimbledon and sincerely rejoice in being part of the game.
The time to find a ticket for the 2025 Wimbledon tournament as a public ballot has long passed. But if you are a sports fan who plans to visit London during the competition, why don’t you challenge the cue? It is possible if you have a passion for tennis and tremendous patience. If you are lucky, you can watch a global player on the center court. Even if you don’t have that luck, you can have a lifelong memories that will be more queue in Wimbledon.
By Kim Sik reporter seek@edaily.co.kr
