Wimbledon returned in probably the most appropriate manner today as play at SW19 was delayed by rain after only 45 minutes of it being at capacity for the first time in three years.
Since before the coronavirus outbreak, the grounds won’t be packed with up to 42,000 people every day until the 2022 championship.
As many anxiously wait to purchase on-the-door tickets in the expectation of watching some of the top sports stars in the world, some spectators camped out starting on Friday and pitched tents in a public park across from the courts over the weekend.
However, the covers were swiftly brought back on as raindrops started to fall throughout the complex less than an hour after the first ball was delivered on court, and both spectators and players hurriedly crowded under umbrellas.
This year, the renownedly conventional championships saw a lot of modifications, including the installation of gender neutral restrooms, for which some fans have accused the All England Club of “becoming woke.”
Another significant issue for 2022 is the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes in retaliation to the invasion of Ukraine, including men’s world number one Daniil Medvedev and women’s number five Aryna Sabalenka.
The cost of strawberries at Wimbledon hasn’t changed, despite the effects of inflation and problems with the world’s supply chain.
The All England Lawn and Tennis Club’s (AELTC)) chief executive, Sally Bolton, told reporters: “Like any other business, we have to manage the issue of rising expenses. We try our best not to pass that forward to the customer.
Strawberries, one of the most recognizable components of our food and beverage menu, have remained at £2.50 since 2010, thus despite rising input costs, that pricing has been maintained.
When asked whether the AELTC has faced any difficulties with food supplies this year, she added: ‘We haven’t and part of the reason we haven’t is because over recent years we’ve been moving very distinctly towards as much local sourcing as we can – so very much focused on UK food – but we can’t get all of the things that we serve at The Championships from a 10-mile radius.
‘The driver for that wasn’t about supply chain originally, it was actually about supporting UK producers and reducing our environmental footprint, but actually that served us well in a situation where supply chains have been challenging.’
In the queue this morning, Roger Federer superfan Danilo Criscuolo flew from Napoli in Italy and camped for three nights to make the front of Wimbledon’s famous queue for Tuesday tickets.
The 30-year-old, a car rental administrator, said: ‘It was a very long trip because we were two hours delayed from the start, and there was another two hours of delay for the luggage. But when I saw for the first time the grass of the Wimbledon park, I lost all my bad vibes – only good vibes.’
Baring a tattoo of Federer on his calf, he joked: ‘I have a portrait here of Roger Federer but I don’t have a portrait of my wife – he is more important than my wife.’
Mr Criscuolo said he is rooting for Italian and world number 11 Matteo Berrettini this year.
Emma Raducanu takes shelter from the rain ahead of a training session on day one of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships
Colm O’Donnell, from Ashford in Kent, said he has made lifelong friends with people from China, Australia and the USA after meeting them in the Wimbledon queue.
The 35-year-old food bank employee, who has been camping outside the south-west London venue to ensure his spot in the queue since Saturday, said: ‘This is my fifth year in the queue.
‘I’m making an effort because I’ve made so many friends in the queue and that’s what’s so good about the queue.
‘I’ve made a friend in the queue who I’ve been having Zoom calls with for the past year-and-a-half during Covid and lockdown, and they’ve invited me to their home in Australia.
‘And that’s the magic of what the queue does, for meeting people around the world.
‘That’s why Federer fans and tennis fans come to meet in this one spectacular place in Wimbledon.’
Mr O’Donnell said that, as a Roger Federer fan himself, he wants to see ‘anyone but Djokovic’ win this year, particularly after he refused to get vaccinated for coronavirus ahead of the Australian Open.
Suzanne Pyefinch, 54, and her sister, Michele Jennings, 57, have been joining the queue for more than 35 years, and told the Times: ‘This is a very special time for British tennis fans. We have got a lot to be excited about.’
Jacob Miles, 41, a Canadian tennis coach from London, Ontario, has also been lining up over the weekend with his wife, brother and three children.
He added: ‘I have been watching Wimbledon on television all my life but this is the first time seeing the grass courts in person. The queue is a unique experience, there is nothing else like this in sport.’
Mixed weather conditions are forecast for the two-week period, which will likely see predominantly dry conditions with sunny spells interspersed with some showers and breezy winds.
Marco Petagna, a spokesman for the Met Office, said: ‘The first half of the week, the impression is a lot of bright dry weather with a small chance of showers coming in.
‘It is really the second half of the week that there will be a greater chance of showers breaking out.
‘Temperatures are generally going to be around average so highs of 21C.’
Mr Petagna said the second week could see more settled weather although confidence in the longer-term forecast is lower.
He said: ‘The trend is that things get a bit more settled as we head into July so a better chance of more settled weather developing in that second week and possibly a little bit warmer as well.’
Sally Bolton, chief executive of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, said organisers are expecting a ‘record crowd’ this year because of play continuing throughout the whole 14 days for the first time.
She told reporters: ‘It’s a hugely exciting day of tennis – what a way to start The Championships – masses to look forward to over the two weeks.
‘(This is the) first year of permanent middle Sunday, so we are expecting a record crowd because of that.’
She added: ‘The history of why we didn’t use to play on middle Sunday was about the courts needing a rest.
‘But as grass court technology care and attention has improved over many years, we arrived at a place where we believe that the courts – and particularly Centre Court because that’s the one that receives the majority of the wear – could withstand 14 days.
‘We’re very confident it can and we’re very excited about adding the extra day, but particularly the extra day on a Sunday when we think about available audiences and we think about trying to take tennis to as many people as we can globally, it’s a really important part of our focus.’
Novak Djokovic will begin the defence of his 2021 title, while Rafael Nadal will make his return to the hallowed grass courts having not played at Wimbledon since 2019.
Eyes will also be on British player Emma Raducanu after she made history last summer as the first qualifier to win the US Open – and 23-time grand slam winner Serena Williams who is coming back as a wild card.
Both active British grand slam champions – Raducanu and Sir Andrew Murray – will play their first round matches on centre court on Monday.
Tenth seed Raducanu is nursing a side strain while Sir Andy, who is unseeded, is battling an abdominal strain.
Organisers have also announced record prize money for this summer’s tournament, with the two singles champions taking home £2 million.
The total prize money of £40.35 million is an 11.1% increase on 2021’s Championships, where capacity was reduced for Covid reasons, and 5.4% higher than the last regular tournament in 2019.
Elsewhere, the squash brand Robinsons and Wimbledon have ended their sponsorship partnership after 86 years – one of the longest-running deals in sport since it was set up in 1935.
The championship will also mark the centenary of the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s move to the Church Road site in 1922.
British hopes at Wimbledon are high after an encouraging draw for the home players.
Remarkably, of the 17 British representatives in the men’s and women’s singles, not one drew a seeded player in the first round.
Besides Raducanu and Sir Andy, other Britons playing at Wimbledon this year include Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal, Heather Watson, Harriet Darta, Katie Swan and Jodie Burrage.
For the men’s draw, British players Jay Clarke, Paul Jubb, Dan Evans, Cameron Norrie, Jack Draper, Alastair Gray and Liam Broady are in action at the start of the week.