Wimbledon may be one of the world's premier sporting events. For the fan, the tournament can be as much of an endurance test as for the players.
Some camp overnight to get to the front of the line. Others wait for more than 24 hours to be assured plum tickets for the best matches. Yet few people complain. Even when a boisterous thunderstorm drenched several thousand queuers on the first day of the tournament, spirits were high, sustained by brollies and bacon sandwiches.
Wimbledon organizers argue that the beauty of the system is that it allows the casual and the curious to get into the marquee event in professional tennis. Most major sporting events in Britain rapidly sell out to the initiated and dedicated. Wimbledon allocates most of its seats through a ballot, but holds back 6,000 tickets each day for those who can be bothered to get up before dawn.
溫布頓網球賽是世界最重要的運動比賽之一。對球迷而言，這錦標賽對他們的耐力考驗不亞於選手。
有些人搭帳篷過夜，以便搶在排頭；也有人為了可以買到最精采比賽的頂級入場券，等了二十四個多小時。然而，很少人抱怨，甚至開賽首日，數千位排隊購票者被淅瀝嘩啦的雷雨淋濕，都以洋傘和培根三明治維持高昂的興致。
溫布頓主辦者表示，制度的優點是讓隨興與好奇的人，在職業網球盛事也有一席之地。在英國，大多數的運動比賽門票，很快被經驗老道與死忠的球迷搶購一空；溫布頓透過抽籤分配大部分的座位，但每天保留六千張票，給不厭其煩，破曉前就來排隊的人。