Wimbledon Finals – What a Disappointment September 16, 2024 – Posted in: Writer

“You lucky thing! Tickets for the Men’s Finals – wow! How was it?”

In truth, my answer would be “not great”, but is it allowed to criticise the institution that is the wondrous Wimbledon All England Lawn Tennis Club? 

This year, 2024, was my fourth visit, and, if asked the same question following  Wimbledon experiences in the pre-Covid years my answer would have been an instant: “fantastic”.

Last year we decided to enjoy the first week, outside court experience and I imagined myself nibbling strawberries, sipping Pimms as I drifted from one court to another cheering on my favourites in the early rounds. 

In reality there was no “drifting” to be done. The side passageways between the courts were literally jammed with people making it impossible to get through – let alone watch any tennis. 

“We won’t be doing that again”, we said afterwards. “It’s bound to be much quieter as fewer matches are played later in the tournament.”

So, to be sure of a more gracious experience, The Husband splashed out on tickets for Centre Court on the very last day – July 14th – Men’s Finals.

We had no idea that so many people would be crammed into the areas outside the courts… that crowd numbers would reach capacity, that walking anywhere would be a stressful jostle, that there would be nowhere to sit down to sip the £11.95 plastic cup of Pimms (with an additional 75p for the container) and that we had queued 20 minutes to purchase.  Forget the strawberries … we couldn’t get even within shouting distance of the stall.

The seats we had been assigned proved to be very disappointing – about fifteen rows up, in the middle, behind the umpire’s chair. They were small, hard and crammed together. The large gentleman who sat next to The Husband overlapped his and unfortunately had a nervous tic in his right thigh which bounced and twitched non-stop sending vibrations along the row and driving The Husband (who can’t stand people in his space at the best of times) somewhat demented. 

But worse was to come… who knew that our view of the tennis would be so limited, through a sea of mobile phones busy taking selfies and capturing the action on court.

I could go on, but, I’m sure you get the picture. Even cheering the courageous Princess of Wales in the Royal Box, could not make up for the disappointment of the Wimbledon ’24 experience. 

Recovering at home the next day, one of the first things we did was to watch the iPlayer repeat of the finals on television. The view was perfect, the sofa had never felt as comfortable and welcoming – the Pimms was refreshing (and cost less for a bottle than a single plastic cupful at Wimbledon), while the Norfolk strawberries were simply delicious. 

I know where we will be watching Wimbledon 2025.