Florence Chan, a Wimbledon superfan from Hong Kong, queued for 57 hours in temperatures reaching 30°C to secure the first spot in line and watch her favourite player, Novak Djokovic, on Centre Court. She joined the queue at 7:30am on Saturday, June 27, and waited until play began on Monday afternoon, when Djokovic faced Wu Yibing of China in his opening match.
Determined to be first
Chan, who had previously queued at Wimbledon and obtained ticket number 171 in 2025, was determined to improve her position. “I also got a centre court ticket [last year] but my number was 171, so not too bad,” she told Mirror Sport. This year she achieved the earliest number of all. She has attended the US Open before, once paying $500 (£378) to watch Djokovic, but only queues at Wimbledon. This year, she returned with friends she made in the queue 12 months ago.
Enduring the heat
Fans camped in tents in the shadow of the All England Club as temperatures hit 30°C on Saturday. Conditions were cooler on Sunday, and Monday’s forecast was more manageable for the first day’s play. Chan’s best memory from last year was soaking up the atmosphere inside Centre Court. “It’s very impressive how grand it is. It’s like nowhere else,” she said. “I’ve been to the US Open and it’s very different.” Her fondest memories of queueing involve meeting new people: “I made some new friends [in the queue] and then we came together this year.”
Monday’s lineup
Defending champion Jannik Sinner opened Centre Court against Miomir Kecmanovic, followed by world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka against Teodora Kostovic in the women’s singles. Djokovic, seeking an eighth Wimbledon title, entered the tournament after a frustrating early exit at the French Open, where he lost a two-set lead against Joao Fonseca. “Roland Garros was physically very draining, demanding,” Djokovic said. “Three matches that I played, all of them went almost four hours. But I'm proud of the effort. I lost in the third round against a 20-years-younger opponent, fought until the end in the five sets almost, four and whatever hours that we played. Maybe not the result I was looking for, but the effort was there. Anyway, I was planning to peak at Wimbledon after the injury of the shoulder that kind of kept me away from the tour for several months. I knew not having any… official matches on the tour, going pretty much straight into Roland Garros, is going to be quite difficult. Maybe too big of a challenge for me at the moment. That's what happened. But I knew that's going to give me a bit more time to get myself prepared for Wimbledon. So hopefully I'll have a good tournament here.”
