The 2011 Wimbledon Ballot

I’ve been lucky enough to be allocated tickets in the 2011 Wimbledon ballot – Court No. 1 on the first Friday. Naturally as a Rafa fan, I’m hoping that he’ll be scheduled on that court on that day … but that’s the thing with Wimbledon, a ballot offers no guarantees and no choice. Is that one of the unique and wonderfully traditional things about it? Or would you rather endure the ‘horrors’ that are reported when the French Open tickets go on sale, ie. sitting on your computer for nearly a day, hoping against hope that either (a) you get through and (b) you’re able to finally transact the tickets you have chosen.

Have you been successful in this year’s ballot? And considering the computer generated world we live in, is this really the fairest method of allocating tickets to what must be a massively over-subscribed event??

Congrats mate. Hope you get to see a good match

Well done Woofie

Hope you have a grrrrreat time !!

It's a bit far from the Wilds of NW Scotland to Wimby so I
envy you

I got tickets for the French open a couple of years ago, and it was indeed pretty horrific. Basically, tried to get access to the site when I woke up, and spent the rest of the day trying!

Got on about midnight, but there were still some decent tickets left. I think I went to the first friday on Centre Court, and the second tuesday on court one.

This is a totally different tournament - obviously - but last year we booked tickets for Monte Carlo this coming April, and I could literally click on the seats that I wanted to have via use of a website and there you go. The whole process was so easy.

Which got me thinking that this whole ballot thing seems so antiquated. However, for a Slam such as Wimbledon which is so supported by the British public and so many people want to go to it, the only other solution seems to be the French one which is as hit and miss as any ballot. So in some ways, perhaps its fair.

Woolfie

re Monte Carlo, it's the same for the Paris masters in Bercy. I've been pretty much every year and upto about a month or less before the start it's remarkably easy to get tickets for anything upto and including QFs.

Like for MC you basically choose your seats, much cheaper than RG too. But as you say, everyone wants to go to the slams, so basically the Paris "free for all" and the wimbledon ballot are pretty much the only solution.

I used to be member of a tennis club near Paris and would get tickets through them as licenced players get priority (can get tickets earlier). Is it the same for Wimbledon?

Hi all,

Having navigated through the Roland Garros website to finally buy some tickets (first ever Slam) I'm a bit nervous. My RG account says the tickets are confirmed but they haven't taken any money from my account yet, I wanted to know if anyone has done this before and if this is normal.

Obviously with flights and a hotel booked I don't want to miss out on this slam so I'm getting more nervous by the day that something is going wrong!

Thanks for any help!

Hi Gonzini.

I've never been to RG and don't have any personal experience of the process. However, I've asked one of my friends who's been for the past couple of years for her advice.

I'll let you know if she responds.

I like the way Wimbledon does the ballot - I know it means that you aren't guaranteed tickets, no matter how quick off the mark you are (I've been successful only once out of four attempts) but it's much fairer and more civilised than the French free for all

Plus there is the chance for people to get tickets from Ticketmaster the evening before (also very difficult - I've never been successful) or returns after 5 pm if you are lucky enough to be in the vicinity when the tournament is actually on.

Wimbledon...don't go changing

Thanks Wooffie.

I am also a fan of the Wimbledon Ballot, however this year I am going to go and attempt to camp overnight for tickets, as part of the Wimbledon tradition. Has anyone else done this before? It looks like it's quite fun and would be worth it to get a show court ticket!

Morning Gonzini if you're around.

Our friend Pearl got back to me about Roland Garros. She said that things are notoriously slow to process when you book your tickets, but so long as you've had your confirmation email, don't worry, it will all be going through.

She said if you've chosen e-tickets you should be able to print them off.

She was unlucky this year. She said that last year she only went on the website in the evening on the day they went on sale, but had no trouble and got tickets easily. So she decided to do the same this year, but couldn’t get through on the website at all … so sadly, they are all sold out and she can’t go.

So … there really is no perfect solution, so it seems.

Thanks Wooffie, it'll put my mind at rest for now!

I was surprised at how quickly they sold out too, luckily I was awake at 6am so I managed to get them before I had to leave for work (pushed it tight with the amount of errors you get on that site!)

Happy I managed to get centre court for the 2nd day I'm there, am going to try to get on TV with my mate. Maybe fancy dress will accomplish this!

I agree that there is no perfect solution for ticketing, the wimbledon ballot is good but it's complete luck, whereas RG can make you angry it's that frustrating at times!