'We queued for 77 hours for the first day of Wimbledon - for one reason alone'

Three tennis superfans queued for a staggering 77 hours in Wimbledon Park, south London, prior to the opening day of the historic championship.

Blase Walton, 41, Dorigan Chandler, 26, and Alex Kelly, 18, left their Essex homes at 5am on Friday 28 June and made it to SW19 for 8am to bag themselves the first three places in the famous queue.

The trio, hailing from David Lloyd tennis club in Basildon, spent three nights in a tent before the gates opened at the All England Club at 10am on Monday, July 1.

Tennis coach Alex explained that the three of them were actually part of a wider group of around 20 that had made their way down to south-west London from their south Essex club.

However, the three of them were set on securing the first places in the queue for one reason: Carlos Alcaraz.

Alex, who said wearily on Monday morning “[I’ve] been here a long time”, explained that the sleep deprivation was worth it to bag a seat on Centre Court to see then 21-year-old Spanish tennis sensation.

He told the Daily Express: “There’s a big group of us, they are about 200 and something in the queue. We’ve all come from David Lloyd in Basildon. Some of us work there, some of us play there, but we all like tennis and we all wanted to see Alcaraz this year. So we thought ‘well we’ll get number one’ [and] make sure we can see him.”

Racket manager Blase echoed Alex’s rationale for the very early arrival: “We’re quite keen to get [seats in] section 101 so we can get Alcaraz’s autograph and stuff, you know? That’s what we’re after.

“[I] can’t wait. It’s been a long three days.”

However, despite leaving three days before the gates opened to the world’s most prestigious tennis tournament, Alex, Blase and Dorigan feared they may not have left early enough to guarantee they’d be at the front of the queue.

Alex explained: “We thought the whole time… ‘what if we turn up and there’s already like 100 people there on Friday morning?’. But luckily there was only a few of us and by Friday night I think there was about six [or] seven of us.”

Incredibly, not every one of the approximately 12,000 Wimbledon queuers were waiting for entry to Monday’s play.

Despite arriving “first thing” on Saturday morning, teacher Kevin Selbie, 49, revealed that he and several others had given up their prized spaces in the queue in order to bag the first places in the queue for Tuesday’s matches.

The Glaswegian, who travelled down to London from Netherlee, said that he and the others in the impromptu line had sacrificed their chance to watch Monday’s action in order to secure a ticket to watch two-time Wimbledon champion, Andy Murray.

The self-described “queue virgin” added: “I got here first thing on Saturday morning, but the intention was always to see Andy Murray so fingers crossed he’s going to be announcing that he’s going to play.

“So I decided to forgo our space in the queue… and we basically have come to the side, so there’ll be number one, there’ll be number two, and I’ll be number three tomorrow.”

The Scotsman, who was originally number 22 in the queue for Monday’s play, said he’d been wanting to take in the iconic spectacle live for years: “It’s been on the bucket list for a long time. [I’m a] huge tennis fan, love Wimbledon.

“A wee bit of history, my Dad was a professional tennis coach. He’s had some dealing with the Murray family so I thought if it’s his last year I’ve got to come down and see him.

“If he doesn’t play Singles, hopefully he’ll play Doubles so I’m going to hang on for the Doubles as well. I’m here for the week if I need to be.”

Auditor Jason Wynne, 33, and his partner Katy weren’t quite as keen as the Basildon fanatics or Murray devotee Kevin, however the Bournemouth pair nevertheless arrived in the capital on Saturday morning.

After watching England’s nail-biting Last 16 win over Slovakia at the Euros in a nearby pub, the couple arrived in the park at around 8pm on Sunday.

Draped in an AFC Bournemouth blanket, Jason told our reporter early on Monday morning that he’d have joined the queue earlier if organisers had shown the football on the park’s large information screen.

But he conceded he understood why the All England Club didn’t turn the queue into an official football fan park: “It’s a shame they don’t have the football on here. I get it though, because it’s kind of what makes Wimbledon special - it’s the traditions they stick to, which I respect a lot to be fair. It’s nice they kind of hold on to them and don’t sway from them.”

For those that make it to Centre Court today, they’ll see Britain’s Emma Radacanu, last year's men's singles winner Carlos Alcaraz,as well as American sensation Coco Gauff.

Andy Murray is expected to make a decision on whether to compete for the men's singles crown later on today.