In Wimbledon's famous queue, fans keep tradition alive by waiting hours for tickets

LONDON (AP) — It may not come as a surprise that the oldest Grand Slam tennis tournament has a somewhat antiquated process when it comes to getting tickets.

Wimbledon is one of the few major sporting events where fans can get tickets in person on the day of the match. But doing so requires plenty of patience, and many hours of waiting in line.

The tradition has become so famous, it’s known as simply “The Queue.” Hopeful fans will even go so far as to camp out in line overnight in hopes of securing one of the first spots that could grant access to Centre Court.

Upon arriving at The Queue, you are given a card with a number that tells you your place in line. This year, some fans have reported waiting up to seven hours before making it inside the grounds, arriving as early as 4 a.m. to get a spot in line.

Fans say the crowds feel bigger this year compared to recent editions, but officials say the 2026 numbers reflect those of 2018 and 2019.

“The queue was growing until COVID, then we had two years with no queue,” said James Mendelssohn, Wimbledon’s Chief Steward. “It has gotten busier every year since COVID, so we’re now roughly back up to pre-COVID numbers.”

Those who choose to queue arrive prepared with water, snacks, games, books, umbrellas, sunscreen and blankets. Everything you need for a long day of waiting outside, whatever the weather.

“(We) brought a lot of food,” said Sebastian Wooff. “Made a few sandwiches, froze some beers overnight so they would stay cold, definitely do that.”

For those who are willing to brave the heat and crowds, The Queue is a cherished tradition.

“I think queueing is part of the Wimbledon experience, a rite of passage in a way,” said first-time queuer Alex Conrad. “You can chat to people around you, have a laugh with your mates while you’re still a bit delirious at the early hours. I’d say the queue was definitely worth the wait, at least for me.”

Even the players acknowledge how much time is dedicated to waiting to see them play.

“Some of you may wait many hours to even see us play; sometimes days. So I always work hard and try my best on the court. It gives me a little bit more motivation, knowing that so many people put their lives aside to watch me play,” Coco Gauff told the crowd on Centre Court after her quarterfinal win Tuesday.

There are only about 500 tickets up for grabs for the tournament’s main show courts: Centre Court, No. 1 Court and No. 2 Court, where all the big names play. Once those are gone, fans are offered grounds tickets, which give fans access to the rest of the courts as well as the famous Hill, where they can gather to watch matches on the big screen.

“(Fans) know that the queue works and that it works well,” Mendelssohn said. “If you come to the queue and you get in, you will get in in the right order.”

“People trust the system, they know it works, it’s something that is quintessentially English.”

Of course, not everyone who attends Wimbledon needs to wait in The Queue. Months before the tournament, the public ballot opens, and those who are selected have the opportunity to purchase tickets in advance.

But for many, The Queue is about more than getting a ticket. It makes the end result of walking through the gates, taking that first sip of a Pimm’s or that first bite of strawberries and cream, feel like a reward.

“(My) favorite part would just be the anticipation of it all. And I think the waiting around makes getting into Wimbledon’s grounds that much more special and exciting because you’ve been waiting so long to get in, rather than simply swanning in with a ticket from the get-go,” Conrad said.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Members of the public queue for entry on day four of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (Andrew Matthews/Pool Photo via AP)

Tennis fans queue in the early morning to buy tickets for the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 4, 2026.(AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Tennis fans queue in the early morning to buy tickets for the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 4, 2026.(AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Tennis fans queue in the early morning to buy tickets for the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 4, 2026.(AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Tennis fans queue in the early morning to buy tickets for the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 4, 2026.(AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an attempt by a conservative activist to obtain guardianship records in an effort to find ineligible voters in the presidential battleground state.

The case has been wending its way through the courts for years and stems from attempts by conservatives to overturn President Joe Biden's victory in Wisconsin over President Donald Trump in 2020.

Here’s what to know:

The case tested the line between protecting personal privacy rights and ensuring that ineligible people can’t vote.

Former travel executive Ron Heuer and a group he leads, the Wisconsin Voter Alliance, brought the lawsuit in 2022 alleging that the number of ineligible voters doesn’t match the count on Wisconsin’s voter registration list. The lawsuit doesn't specify how many people could be affected.

In Wisconsin, a guardianship order is granted by a court giving a person certain legal rights over another who is determined to be unable to make decisions about their life. A court has the power to remove the right to vote from a person under a guardianship order if the person is determined to be unable to understand “the objective of the election process.”

Heuer asked the state Supreme Court to rule that counties must release records filed when a judge determines that someone isn’t competent to vote so that those names can be compared to the voter registration list.

Heuer’s attorney, Erick Kaardal, argued that privacy concerns could be balanced with the public’s right to access government records by redacting identifying or sensitive information on the forms.

But the attorney for Walworth County said those seeking access to the records wanted to cross-check ineligible voters against the names of those registered. They can’t do that, attorney Sam Hall said during oral arguments, without releasing the person’s name and address.

Hall praised the ruling, saying it “protects the privacy of vulnerable individuals while preserving their dignity.”

Kaardal did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, which advocates for public access to documents but did not take a position on this case, said the court’s decision was “narrowly tailored and should not have a huge impact.”

The council praised the court for clarifying the standard for deciding similar cases in the future, but that “it’s always disappointing when access to public information is curtailed.”

In the 5-2 ruling on Tuesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court's liberal majority along with conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn ruled that the records are not public as the conservative activist had claimed.

The court took the case after two lower state appeals courts issued divergent rulings. One appeals court, based in Madison, denied access to the records while another appeals court, based in Waukesha, said in 2023 that the records should be made public.

It ordered Walworth County to release them with birth dates and case numbers redacted.

The Supreme Court overturned the appeals court ruling that the records should be made public.

State law is clear that the records being sought are not public and “the Alliance has no right to the records,” Justice Janet Protasiewicz wrote for the majority.

Conservative justices Annette Ziegler and Rebecca Bradley dissented, saying the court adopted “an overbroad and unworkable definition of what records pertain to a finding of incompetency” to include the forms that indicate a person has been found ineligible to vote.

Those forms are not pertinent to the finding of incompetency and are therefore subject to the open records law, Ziegler and Bradley wrote.

The case was an attempt by those who questioned the outcome of the 2020 presidential race to cast doubt on the integrity of elections in the presidential swing state. Heuer and the WVA filed lawsuits in 13 Wisconsin counties in 2022 seeking guardianship records.

Heuer and the WVA have pushed conspiracy theories about the 2020 election in a failed attempt to overturn Biden’s win in Wisconsin. Heuer was hired as an investigator in the discredited 2020 election probe led by former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman. The probe found no evidence of fraud or abuse that would have changed the election results.

The WVA also filed two unsuccessful lawsuits that sought to overturn Biden’s win in Wisconsin.

Biden defeated Trump by nearly 21,000 votes in Wisconsin in 2020, a result that has withstood independent and partisan audits and reviews, as well as lawsuits and the recounts Trump requested. Trump won Wisconsin in 2024 by about 29,000 votes.

There are no pending lawsuits challenging the results of the 2024 election or calls to investigate the outcome.

FILE - The entrance to the Wisconsin Supreme Court chambers is seen in the state Capitol in Madison, Wis., March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Todd Richmond, File)