A Day at the Tennis

We hadn't planned to go to the tennis at Wimbledon this year - we’d applied for tickets in the ballot and weren’t successful.

Like thousands of other Barclays customers, we did spend a couple of minutes messing around with their Strawberry Smash app, entered our details into the prize draw, and then forgot all about it.

Then an email popped up in my inbox.

A Strawberry Changed Everything

This year Barclays ran a competition for its account holders called Strawberry Smash. It was a little app game where you had to hit strawberries back over the net, and avoid everything else.

It was so easy that it was pretty difficult not to score enough points to be entered into the draw for a pair of tickets to Wimbledon.

We both played the game, entered and forgot about it - until an email arrived.

After I replied it got even better. The seats were in Centre Court, on the last Thursday - so that would include the ladies semi-finals.

Planning Our Wimbledon Escape

We wanted to make a  mini break out of it - but the price of hotels in London, if you don’t book well in advance is eye watering. It was further complicated with what we should do with our luggage. Travelling and stopping by a hotel to drop our luggage off, felt like too many steps.

After a bit of looking around at alternatives we opted to drive down to London, park at the hotel, jump on the tube to Wimbledon, and check into the hotel later in the evening after the tennis was over.

In the end we chose the Hilton DoubleTree Ealing as we could drive straight there, leave the car overnight, walk five minutes to Ealing Common tube station and be at Wimbledon within an hour without worrying about an Uber and central London traffic.

Tennis Bound

The drive down to London was fine - if a little slow - as we got onto the North Circular. There were no specific delays and having parked the car we were soon walking toward the tube station 300m away.

One would have thought that we would be heading to Wimbledon tube station, of Wimbledon Park tube station - but no, the officially recommended station is Southfields tube station, and then a 1.5km walk up a gentle hill to Wimbledon. During the championships - there are taxis available from the station as well as cycle tuktuks for £15/£20 one way.

From reading around a little whilst Southfields is the official recommendation, if you are not in hurry, walking from Wimbledon station, passes by many cafés, pubs and plenty of tennis-themed shops for the fortnight of the Championships. Maybe next year...

Collecting Our Tickets

Barclays asked us to collect our tickets from just across from Gate 4, where there was a sponsors room - with booths for Barclays, Emirates, Amex etc guests. We were offered some bottled water. Whilst we already had some, I should have accepted the offer - as water queues given the heat were very long - and who wants to wait in a queue.

We were escorted back across the road and through the short queue and light security at Gate 4 - I think Gate 4 isn’t an entrance for standard guests - so probably a good place to watch out for celebs.

And then we were on our own. Did I mention the goodie bag - no, because there wasn’t one. Barclays I think you could have done better here - some food vouchers, a Barclays branded tote bag, and something from your stand - I honestly found the old style fan pretty useful.

It would have made the experience feel just that little bit more special

First Impressions of Wimbledon

Words that come to mind…

Crowded - there were a lot of people. Though we did notice that for most of the day Centre Court had maybe 10% of its seats free. It did get crowded again for the 3rd set of each match.

Centre Court - 1st set

Centre Court - 3rd set

Expensive - We were there most of the day - so we had two boxes of sandwiches and a sausage bap each. That was £60 before any drinks. Yes we could have brought our own picnic - but honestly in the heat, I’m not sure I would have trusted it not to spoil. Drinks were around £20 for two drinks - a wine and a beer.

Clean - everything was lovely and clean, despite having hosted thousands of guests for the previous 10 days.

Centre Court at Last

We found our seats in Centre Court around 13:00 ahead of a 13:30 start.

The seats were about 10 rows back from the royal box, and had a great view from the rear of the court.

Thankfully we were in the shade.

The court was showing the impact of nearly two weeks of tennis - with some heavily worn areas around the service line - otherwise it was beautifully manicured.

I noticed shortly after that the line judges have been replaced by automation - feels like a good thing to me.

The tennis was entertaining - we watched;

Karolina Muchova v Coco Gauff

and then

Marta Kostyuk v Linda Noskova

Both games were entertaining - and resulted in Muchova and Noshova - both from the Czech Republic winning each of their games.

Noskova went on to win the Championship the following Saturday, and I believe an eye watering £3.6 million pounds. She won’t be short of a few quid.   

The Spectators Deserve a Yellow Card

There were frustrating behaviours from fellow spectators;

Late arrivals - felt like their seats were being wasted, and the stepping over us wasn’t appreciated. The couple next to us stayed for only one set - I imagine that was Wimbledon ticked for them.

Endless chatting - not about tennis - but their nephew's skiing holiday, someone's kitchen extension and whether Waitrose would have any strawberries left.

Distractions - there was of course the odd phone going off - despite the request to switch them off, Champagne corks popping mid serve, but mostly everyone was well behaved.

Strawberries, Pimms and Lunch

The queue for strawberries, as with everything was huge - if you had stretched out the queue - it probably would reach back to Henman Hill. We decided to remain strawberry-less.

I don’t do Pimms.

And as already said - the sandwiches weren’t bad, but that isn’t to say that they were good, and the sausage bap was probably the best thing.

Beyond the Tennis

We explored the grounds at little, walked past the Hill. The shops were full - so we didn’t bother with them.

We did however stop to watch some tennis on the minor courts - under 14 girls. Most surprisingly, the seats - basically you are on the court - or as close as you can humanly get, with no one in front of you. The view was so much better than our seats, and the tennis was as entertaining.

Jane congratulated the winner as she came to collect her towel from the side of the court, and received a ‘thank you’ from the young Danish girl.

Was It Worth Winning?

Of course - what was not to like.

But - would I pay for Centre Court tickets?

Probably not.

I’ll be playing the Barclays competition again - who knows lightning might strike twice, and if not general admission and some of the smaller courts will more than suffice for my yearly tennis fix.

A Comfortable Night in the Capital

We stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton London - Ealing.

It was just off the North Circular with Ealing Common Tube Station just 300m or so away.

We slept well, though the room was hot, and the aircon wasn’t effective as it could have been.

It was a comfortable hotel, breakfast was standard hotel breakfast with most of the hot buffet items having gone cold. Jane opted for a cooked to order omelette - I think that, or poached eggs was the way to go.

Cost was £95.20, which was a bargain for mid-week London.

Parking should have been £14.50 for our stay - but that was comped when we checked in, along with a couple of drinks.

Also the 9000 Hilton Points due to various promotions were very welcome.

First time at Wimbledon

• Best to start with hotel, taking into consideration your travel preferences. We’ve stayed previously within walking distance - but that requires early booking to get an affordable deal.

• Otherwise Wimbledon is easily accessed via the tube - so any hotel near a tube station should work.

• Take drinks - you can take a bottle of wine or fizz each, and as much water as you can carry.

• Look at the weather and dress appropriately - a hat and fan was useful.

• Take some snacks - to fill the gaps, but the food honestly isn’t bad.

• Toilets and facilities - available - but crowded at times.

• Dress code - I wore shorts, short sleeved shirt and white trainers and felt fine in it.

Our Wimbledon Ratings;

Tennis ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Food ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Atmosphere ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Organisation ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Overall Experience ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐