Wimbledon: 14 Britons in action on day one - watch, listen & follow

BBC News

19 hours ago

Update:
Date: 11:02 BST
Title: 'I thought it was crazy - now we can't stop coming'
Content: Harry PooleBBC Sport
After I spotted the collection of Spanish bucket hats sat around laughing together, I approached Jorge, Luis, Jose, Eduardo and his son, also Eduardo.
"I think I know who you're here for, then?" I said. "Sinner!" came the collective reply, followed by more laughter.
Of course, they are here to see one man, Carlos Alcaraz. Do they think he'll win it again this year? "Of course" they again tell me in unison.
"We were here last year to watch him in the first
round, so he has to win this year as well. Our motivation for queueing
was to see him play on Centre Court on the opening day," says Jorge, who is from Madrid.
For most of them this is their third or fourth year of embracing the queue and they managed to get themselves in the top 140 - so a centre Court seat for Alcaraz will be theirs.
"It's an incredible experience, very unique,
obviously, camping here just to get tennis tickets I think is something that
you can only do here in Wimbledon," says Jorge.
"At the beginning, the first time I came, I thought
it was crazy. Then I decided to do it thinking, 'oh, my God, this is crazy'. And then since we did it, we can't stop. We love it because
just you find people, I mean, you meet people from everywhere and it's just
great experience. So we love it."
Update:
Date: 11:01 BST
Title: Rufus reporting for duty
Content: Plenty of familiar faces are back at the All England Club for this year's Wimbledon Championships, including Rufus the American Hawk.
Rufus, who is preparing for his 17th year on patrol at Wimbledon, is responsible for scaring away pigeons and keeping the courts pest-free.
Update:
Date: 10:57 BST
Title: 'The world's most gentil festival'
Content: Harry PooleBBC Sport
In second place in this year's queue, but having to cover a fair bit more ground to get there than Vicki and Nigel in front of them, are Linda and her friend Aleta from Houston in the United States.
They also arrived on Friday having flown overnight, dumping their bags at their accommodation before rushing to the queue to make sure their long journey was rewarded with a Centre Court ticket.
"I did it
last year and I was number five. If you're going to fly that far, you want to
make sure you get a really wonderful ticket!" said Linda.
"I just thought it was so much fun [last year]. The
day I got home to the United States, I booked my Airbnb for this year. One of
our other teammates [from our tennis club] is here as well, they're like 680th.
"This is, like, the most gentile festival you can ever
come to. It makes you love England. Everyone is so polite. Everyone is so nice.
You guys queue so well. Everybody's been so kind. I just fell in love with it
when I came here, I was going to come by myself if nobody else could join me."
Aleta was able to join Linda, with this her first trip to Wimbledon - and anywhere in Europe for that matter.
"I'm loving it. I'm scared to fly. This is my first time
on a long distance flight and I've always wanted to come to Europe. I like old
things, and I got to see the tower of London and some history. The ticket is
affordable to get in for the match too, compared to the US Open or other slams.
"Everybody's just civilised and it's just nice, it's just so great. We've met a
lot of nice people in the queue and yeah I would definitely come back again."
Update:
Date: 10:55 BST
Title: Post
Content: From Glastonbury to Wimbledon, it has been a good few days for anyone in the tent business.
Plenty of happy campers have been patiently waiting for the first day of Wimbledon to get under way.
Update:
Date: 10:53 BST
Title: Hotting up
Content: With more than 10,000 people now in the queue, the All England Club are advising people not to travel from this point.
Inside the grounds, the crowds are flooding in, with refreshments the priority for many with the temperatures already ramping up.
It's rare to see Henman Hill this quiet at any point during the fortnight - but it's easy to see why spectators might be putting off reserving their spot a little while with the sun already beating down and no cover available.
Update:
Date: 10:50 BST
Title: Live scores, results and order of play
Content: The first few days of Wimbledon can be a little bit chaotic with so many matches going on.
That's not made easier this year by the fact that we have 23 British players to keep tabs on.
If you are keen to keep across live scores, results and order of play, then click here and you'll find our dedicated page.
Update:
Date: 10:49 BST
Title: 'Like being in a parallel universe'
Content: Harry PooleBBC Sport
First place in the Wimbledon queue for 2025 goes to... Team Wales!
Vicki and Nigel from Neath have taken the number one and number two tickets after arriving on Friday at midday.
That might seem a long wait but they have loved every minute - and they had plenty of motivation.
The pair want to watch Carlos Alcaraz - and I think they're safe on that front - but they also hail from the same tennis club as British player Mimi Xu and hope to give her some support too.
They are veterans of the queue - Nigel has been doing this since the 1980s! - and their previous best positions together were numbers five and six, but this time they will be the first to buy their tickets for Monday's action.
"We've met people from all over the world, just chatting, away and getting to know people. It's been
lovely and the weather's been so nice," said Vicki.
"It's just nice to just be able to take
time out of everything else. It's like being in a parallel universe.
"It's a community of people, all with a common goal. There's never any problems in the queue. The stewards run it so well.
"You know, the world's crazy at the moment. But it's like you take time out from that and you're all just talking about tennis, you're talking about where you come from, how long did it take you to get here, how long you're staying for, and it's just lovely, it's really nice."
Update:
Date: 10:47 BST
Title: 'Very special times'
Content: Tim HenmanFormer British number one on BBC TV
You can just feel the atmosphere on the first morning, getting ready for the players to get under way, it is very special times.
Update:
Date: 10:45 BST
Title: Open for business
Content: Gary RoseBBC Sport at Wimbledon
The gates opened at 10am on the dot and it was all very civilised as the fans made their way through security checks and into the ground - it's too hot really to get a quick walk on to get to the best spots.
Jacob Fearnley, one of the 14 Brits in action today, says he still gets goosebumps when he comes through the gates into the grounds and it is easy to see why as there's nowhere quite like Wimbledon.
Update:
Date: 10:43 BST
Title: British teenage trio creating Wimbledon history
Content: For the first time this century, there will be three British players aged 17 and under in the women's singles draw at Wimbledon.
Mika Stojsavljevic, Hannah Klugman and Mimi Xu have been rewarded with main-draw wildcards and are all playing on day one.
Stojsavljevic, 16, has made the most notable progress, having won the US Open girls' title last year.
Last month, Klugman, also 16, became the first Briton in almost 50 years to reach the French Open girls' final.
The 17-year-old Xu is ranked just outside the world's top 300 and has already beaten two top-100 opponents on the grass this year.
Now, having got their GCSE and A-Level exams out of the way, the trio are focusing on their Wimbledon senior debuts.
Update:
Date: 10:39 BST
Title: Wimbledon's top accessory...
Content:
Update:
Date: 10:34 BST
Title: Follow the 'Q'
Content: Harry PooleBBC Sport
When people arrive at Wimbledon queue, this is what they are looking out for - and they will hope it's not too far from the front of the line.
The back of the queue is marked by a large 'Q' flag, below which the Wimbledon stewards direct everyone to where they will begin their wait.
Each member of the queue receives a queue card marking their place, and they were permitted to leave for up to 30 minutes to collect refreshments.
There was music, ball games, food being delivered, the drinks were flowing, and friendships were being made between people from all around the world.
The overnight campers are woken up at around 05:30 BST in the morning to allow time for packing up and leaving any belongings in the left luggage area, before the final wait to see what tickets they will get...
Update:
Date: 10:30 BST
Title: Watch live
Content: BBC Two
As well as enjoying our live text coverage you can also watch the action at Wimbledon over the next two weeks on the BBC.
Build-up to day one is now live on BBC Two and iPlayer for you to enjoy, with play due to begin at 11:00BST.
Update:
Date: 10:28 BST
Title: Will 'sport's best-dressed officials' be missed at Wimbledon?
Content: Thomas Sweeney's first incentive to become a line judge was the offer of a free sandwich.
For Pauline Eyre, who called the lines at Wimbledon for 16 years, some natty blazers and the chance to buy tickets for the tournament were the main recompense for work she had to take annual leave to do.
Nowadays the best officials might earn up to £200 a day plus expenses.
But line judging has never been about the money for those who spend hours leaning forward, hands resting on knees, staring intently at a line of chalk to determine in a split second on which side of it the yellow ball has bounced.
Being so close to Jana Novotna on Centre Court that she could see her foot shaking on the first point of a Wimbledon final or being "psyched out" by John McEnroe were priceless experiences for Eyre.
"It's all the tradition of Wimbledon – the people and the funny uniforms – and that's a bit of personality that's gone," said Eyre. "I think it's all of those little things that made Wimbledon Wimbledon."
Traditionalists will miss them, but technology fans will point to progress.
BBC Sport has been finding out what umpires, players and line judges make of the move.
Update:
Date: 10:23 BST
Title: Post
Content: Jess AndersonBBC Sport at Wimbledon
The courts are looking absolutely pristine as ever as the All England Club gets ready for two weeks of drama, action, entertainment, Pimm's and strawberries.
In less than an hour's time these courts will be packed with excited punters all waiting to get a glimpse of the best players in the world.
At these early stages of the tournament it doesn't matter if you haven't got a ticket for the show courts, there's just as much brilliant action to be seen on the outside more intimate settings. It's first come, first served though so no time for messing around if you want a good seat.
Update:
Date: 10:19 BST
Title: What is the prize money this year?
Content: Wimbledon will offer record £53.5m total prize money in 2025 - an increase of 7.1%.
The men's and women's singles champions will each take home £3m, with the £38.8m fund available to players in those draws representing a 8.2% increase on 2024.
First-round losers in the men's and women's singles are guaranteed to walk away with £66,000 - 10% more than in 2024.
Winners of the wheelchair singles events - men's, women's and quad - will each take home £68,000, which is up by 4.6%.
Update:
Date: 10:16 BST
Title: Post
Content: Speaking of the queue...
There are now over 10,000 people waiting to get in at Wimbledon and The All England Club are advising people not to travel here.
Update:
Date: 10:08 BST
Title: Welcome to the queue!
Content: Harry PooleBBC Sport
Welcome to the Wimbledon queue, that quintessentially British phenomenon which each year signals the dawn of a new Championships at the All England Club.
Crowds have been arriving since as early as Friday afternoon to secure one of the limited number of show court tickets on offer, and spirits remained high despite the long wait and toasty temperatures when I first stopped by on Sunday evening.
For thousands of people, this is the doorway to the promised land, and an annual rite of passage for some of tennis' biggest fans.
Nobody does queuing quite like the Brits.
Update:
Date: 10:06 BST
Title: Alcaraz opens Centre Court
Content: As Wimbledon tradition dictates, men's champion Carlos Alcaraz opens play on Centre Court. The second seed launches his campaign at 13:30 BST as he faces 38-year-old Italian Fabio Fognini.
German third seed Alexander Zverev faces France's Arthur Rinderknech.
On Court One, Belarusian top seed Aryna Sabalenka gets play under way against Canadian Carson Branstine at 13:00 BST. Branstine, 24, got past French Open semi-finalist Lois Boisson and former US Open winner Bianca Andreescu in qualifying and will be making her main draw debut in a Grand Slam.
Update:
Date: 10:02 BST
Title: British hopes
Content: We're just shy of an hour away from the first ball being hit at the 138th edition of the Wimbledon Championships.
There are 23 British players in the main draws across the men's and women's singles - the highest involvement since 1984 - and a healthy 14 of them are in action on the opening day.
Among those featuring today are Katie Boulter, Emma Raducanu, Sonay Kartal, Cameron Norrie and qualifier Oliver Tarvet.