Campers queue for Wimbledon
(Picture: PA Wire)Tennis fans attending Wimbledon say it is noticeably “quieter” compared with previous years.
It comes as attendance figures show spectator numbers are down so far compared with this point in the tournament in 2019, which was the last time full crowds were seen at the tennis championships.
Official figures released by the All England Law and Tennis Club (AELTC) reveal more than 153,000 spectators attended Wimbledon during the first four days of matches.
Some 153,193 fans have poured into SW19 so far, with 36,603 on Monday, 39,450 on Tuesday and 38,520 on Wednesday.
On Thursday, 38,620 people passed through the gates on the day team GB’s Katie Boulter beat last year’s Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time.
However, analysis shows this is more than 18,000 below the equivalent figure of 171,263 in 2019, which was the last time the south-west London tournament was open to full crowds.
Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time since World War II in 2020, due to the pandemic, and returned with limited capacity last year.
The AELTC projected record crowds this year as the tournament returned at full capacity for the first time in three years.
Speaking on day one of the championships, Wimbledon chief executive Sally Bolton said they were “expecting a record crowd” because of the addition of play on the middle Sunday.
Some 42,000 people were expected to attend the Championships each day.
But the drop in attendance had been noticeable to some people queuing for on the day tickets on Friday morning, as the first week of the tournament draws to a close.
Tennis enthusiast Heidi Watson, 52, from Bookham in Surrey, has queued for every Wimbledon for the last 20 years and said the atmosphere was more subdued than previous years.
She said: “I found it quite quiet when we got here. We were number 228, and we’ve queued for two nights.
“I can’t believe how quiet it seems to be. But other than that, it’s been run really well and feels safe in the park.”
Pals Ian Horton, 52, and Emma Cawley, 45, from Cardiff, have queued a couple of times for Wimbledon and also found the queue to be “quieter”.
Ms Cawley said: “We arrived yesterday and it was a lot quieter than we would normally expect.
“We don’t know whether it’s an issue with flights. The atmosphere will still be fantastic in Wimbledon.”
