Those lucky fans who snapped up tickets for Andy Murray’s opening match on Centre Court were celebrating after camping out through the rain last night.
The arrival of the £100 million retractable roof meant the committed fans who pitched their tents two days ago will see the Scot play come rain or shine.
South African Ewal Smit camped out from 8am on Saturday, he was the first person to get tickets. He pitched his tent with his housemate Derek Human who brought along his parents Fred and Susan, and cousin Marlein Dewet. The 35 year old said: “It was raining on Saturday and not the most comfortable situation, but it’s all part of the experience. We thought it was going to rain, so we wanted to make sure we could get centre court tickets to make sure we’d get to see some tennis.”
The last Centre Court ticket went to a Mr. Alex Dunlop: “I just wanted to see Murray play. It’s going to be so hard for him to win the whole thing as Federer and Nadal are so good, but I got in and that’s all that matters – I’m glad I decided to get in the queue.”
Fred Human who travelled all the way from South Africa for Wimbledon said “The person I really want to watch is Nadal.” Nadal cruised through his first match today, dominating Michael Russell in three sets. Murray will follow Nadal playing against Daniel Gimeno-Traver.
Not all of the campers were as happy as Mr. Smit and Mr. Dunlop. There were several complaints about people who had set up their pitch at Tent City, only to go away and sleep at home. A steward said: “Some people come on Saturday, pitch a tent, and then go and have a nice sleep somewhere else – but we can’t do anything about it as it’s not our jurisdiction until Sunday at 8am. It’s not in the spirit of the system but the stewards can’t act.”
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