Excitement is building among tennis fans at Wimbledon ahead of Cameron Norrie’s quarter-final.
The 26-year-old, who has become the new home favourite as the last GB singles player in the tournament, will face Belgium’s David Goffin on No.1 Court on Tuesday afternoon.
Great Britain’s Alicia Barnett and Jonny O’Mara will also be returning to the hallowed grass courts on Tuesday in the mixed doubles.
Hopeful spectators lined up in the queue outside the ground in the early morning sunshine in the hopes of watching Mr Norrie and to “get behind the atmosphere”.
People were wearing colourful clothes, tennis whites and Wimbledon hats as they sipped on free coffees and sat chatting on the grass in the warm weather while they waited for the line to move.
Jill Dutton, from Wolverhampton, who had joined the queue with her family to celebrate her 70th birthday, said they were looking forward to watching Norrie.
She said: “We’re on No.1 Court and he’s playing on No.1 Court today so we’re looking forward to it.
“I hope he wins! Last British man standing,” she added, saying they also want to catch the doubles matches.
Vicky Gardner, 44, and her partner Chris Dow, 45, from Bristol, said they came to London to watch the Rolling Stones concert and to watch Wimbledon.
Speaking about Norrie, she said: “We just planned to come on Tuesday so it’s great that he’s playing.
“We’re excited to see him play today, I think.
“I’ve not really seen much of him so it’ll be interesting to see how he holds out.”
A group of five Nottingham university medical students said they had skipped classes to cheer on the British player, shouting: “Go Norrie” in unison in the queue.
Hanna Ord, 21, said: “We thought the sun was shining, and we couldn’t think of a better way to spend the day than drinking Pimms in the sun.”
Charlotte Kilpatrick, 21, added: “I’m really excited to see Cameron Norrie in his quarter-finals today.
“We are fans,” she laughed. “I’ve been sat in the library watching tennis on my phone.”
Charlotte Petter, 21, who had come to Wimbledon for the first time, said she wanted “to soak in a bit of the atmosphere”.
“Norrie is here which is obviously a perk and the inner Brit within me is going to hopefully come out in full force,” she said.
Hannah Sharpe, 21, added: “I’m very much an ‘all for everyone’ just supporting Britain and whoever.
“I’m here very much to get behind the atmosphere and just create atmosphere.”
Esme Bliss, 22, said she wanted to join the “very British day” with “lots of queues, lots of strawberries, lots of Pimms and then obviously Cam Norrie as a Brit”.
We’re going to cheer for the Brit, we’ve seen Cameron play elsewhere and we like him so we hope he wins for you guys— Diego Gutierrez
The group joked that they were “partial” to Murray Mound being renamed “Norrie Knoll”.
Tennis fans from all over the world were also queuing for tickets, saying they would support British players at their home tournament.
Pablo Leclercq, 20, from Lille, and Miguel Devesa, 20, from Madrid, who met at boarding school in Kent said they are both “big tennis fans” and used to go to the tournament in Eastbourne.
Mr Leclerq said they decided to join the queue and visit Wimbledon “for the vibe”.
On Norrie, Mr Devesa said: “We hope he wins because it’s his home tournament, but we back Nadal.”
Mr Leclerq added: “Yeah, we back Nadal, Go Nadal.
“Just the way he serves, we’re in love with him,” he added.
Diego Gutierrez, 47 and his son Gonzalo, 14, from Mexico, also joined the queue on Tuesday morning.
Gonzalez told PA that he is a tennis fan who also plays on grass.
Mr Gutierrez said: “We’re going to cheer for the Brit, we’ve seen Cameron play elsewhere and we like him so we hope he wins for you guys.
“We’re going to cheer for Cameron Norrie, we hope he wins big time!”
Stefani Hahn, 56, from Germany, said she first came to Wimbledon in 1986 when she was working as an au pair and was a fan of Boris Becker.
She said: “We’re going to see the German mixed doubles and we want to see Tommy Haas as well.
“We cheer for the British too though they were playing against the Germans, if they play good tennis it’s nice to see,” she added.
“I love the queue, though a lot has changed, it’s stricter organised since I first came.
“I think it’s just a great atmosphere,” she said.
“This is happening here, it’s not happening everywhere. Wimbledon’s special.”
