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- Wimbledon Championships 2024 - My First Time
Wimbledon Championships 2024 - My First Time
A unique experience standing out nicely in comparison to the US Open
Rich Neher
July 19, 2024
Pat and I had a delightful journey to Europe this year. Reflecting fondly on my previous experience of working and living in London, we decided to make England the main focus before proceeding to Germany for a family reunion.
In England, we initially spent a few days in Windsor to meet with my esteemed partner, Tim Farthing, as well as tennis entrepreneur James Shorland and his wife. Although we did not actually have an audience with King Charles (LOL), our visit to Windsor Castle proved to be quite captivating. Following that, we allocated two days to experience the Wimbledon Championships and took the opportunity to explore some of the famous landmarks in London (meaning we hung out at Harrods all day!) |
Additionally, I had the pleasure of meeting Ganesh Rao, the Co-founder and CEO of the Spin Tennis App, who is another intriguing entrepreneur. I will provide further details about his app in the near future.
 Wimbledon 24 Program | Regarding Grand Slams, my partner Pat and I have personally attended the US Open on two occasions. We were fortunate enough to be invited as guests in the President's Box once, thanks to our friends who purchased tickets at a charity auction but were unable to attend. The other time, we received tickets for seats high up in Arthur Ashe Stadium. This allowed us to experience both the glamorous side of the event as well as the view from the upper nosebleeds. |
Coming to The Championships this year, we again had two types of tickets that were generously donated by two wonderful tennis celebrities you all know but will remain nameless here.
DAY ONE: CENTRE COURT
Monday morning, July 8, we traveled from our hotel located just north of the northwest Hyde Park Corner. The Bayswater tube station, was conveniently located only less than five minutes away. Fortunately for us, the station was on the so-called District Line, which led us directly to Wimbledon. |  Yes, I do own a jacket and a tie! |
Taylor Fritz (foreground) playing Sasha Zverev
 Novak Djokovic | The matches we observed were exceptional. Firstly, Elena Rybakina triumphed over Anna Kalinskaya with a swift 6-3, 3-0 (ret.) victory. Next, we witnessed Taylor Fritz skillfully dismantle Sasha Zverev in five thrilling sets. However, the true highlight for me was witnessing my idol, Novak Djokovic, comfortably defeat Holger Rune in 3 sets. It is always a privilege to watch the greatest of all time compete live. The armosphere in Centre Court was just super. The picture shows Novak’s with a brace on his right knee. |
DAY TWO: COURT TWO
Unfortunately, the weather conditions on the day I had planned to watch doubles matches were not favorable. Despite my excitement, it continued to rain throughout the day, resulting in the outer courts remaining covered. Only Centre Court and Court One had matches. It was quite disappointing! I empathized with my tennis coaching friend who had organized the tickets for me and hope that he was able to secure a refund. Due to the intermittent rain showers, my companion and I decided to explore the entire Wimbledon grounds. However, this meant that we had to endure the wet and cool weather, which eventually led to me catching a cold. Regrettably, I may have unintentionally passed the cold on to Pat as well and later to one of my sisters in Germany. Yikes. |  Fred Perry Statue |
HOW DID WIMBLEDON COMPARE TO THE US OPEN?
Obviously, my evaluation is subjective. However, I have intentionally excluded my experience of the Centre Court/President's Box and the negative impact of rainouts or nosebleed seats in order to provide a more objective assessment. Therefore, I will focus on general aspects that apply to all visitors.
STAFF FRIENDLINESS
To be honest, I have never witnessed such exceptional staff friendliness. Every interaction with the staff members of the venue was characterized by their friendliness, positivity, politeness, and even a touch of humor. They consistently went above and beyond to assist me, often anticipating my needs before I even expressed them. This level of professionalism and dedication to customer service was evident throughout the entire organization, from the traffic guards to the ushers and even the department managers. It is evident that all staff members are extensively trained and genuinely enjoy their work.
I don’t mean to suggest that the staff at the US Open is unfriendly, but I did not see the same level of overall happiness among the staff members. Furthermore, it seemed that as the position of the US Open staff members increased, their level of politeness decreased. This may be particular to the New York culture, but in terms of customer service, I would give the advantage to Wimbledon with a score of Wimbledon 1, US Open 0.
QUALITY AND PRICE OF FOOD
We have frequented many different establishments during those 2 days and found that the quality of food is very good everywhere. We had coffees, teas, salads, chicken, salmon, beers and champagne, all very, very good. I think the prices are comparable with the US Open mainly since prices have gone up a lot after Brexit. Main menu items were between £15 and £20 ($18-24). The usual drinks were a little cheaper, I guess, with beers around £6.50 and Champagne between £18 and £20 pounds a glass. A large coffee Americano (great Italian Lavazzo brand!) was £2.60. You can’t even get a small coffee for this price in New York. WIMBLEDON 1, US OPEN 0
 | And here is the most amazing price difference: Evian Water. Are you ready for this? A large bottle (.75 ltr) of delicious Evian goes for £2.95. Let that sink in, folks. That’s $3.60 or so. I think the smallest bottle of water at the US Open now goes for $6-8. Come on! WIMBLEDON 1, US OPEN 0 |
SIGNATURE FOOD AND DRINKS
The signature food of The Championships is strawberries and cream. This delightful snack is sold for £2.50, and the organizers proudly maintain that the price has remained unchanged for the past 10 years. It is uncertain if the US Open has a signature food offering.
Strawberries & Cream - a deliciousness synonymous with The Championships
The signature drink of Wimbledon is the 'Pimm's No. 1 Summer Cup', a delightful gin and lemonade-based long drink that is available throughout the grounds. It is priced at £7.50, which I consider to be quite reasonable. In comparison, the US Open offers the 'Honey Deuce', a vodka-based drink that is priced at $22 per glass. (in 2023, probably more this year). For me Pimm’s is the winner in terms of both taste and value, earning a score of WIMBLEDON 1, US OPEN 0 |  |
NO TIP REQUESTS
 No tip screens at Wimbledon | Yes, you read that right. Nobody was shoving a tip screen in my face. Ever. Not at the shops, restaurants, bars. Un-bloody-believable! WIMBLEDON 1, US OPEN 0 |
ARMED FORCES
This is actually an amazing sight. All four branches of the British armed forces (Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines are volunteering at the Wimbledon grounds.
You can see them as ushers on every gangway to your stadium section, as helpers entering the members’ section, and as on-court security in the stadiums. (See pic) I talked to some of them and learned that they love to volunteer there on their days off and the only recognition they receive is some credits for volunteer work. I found this amazing. You can’t find this spirit at the US Open and I assume New Yorkers as a whole don’t have a loving relationship with the military. WIMBLEDON 1, US OPEN 0 |  |
MISCELLANEOUS
NO HOT FOOD IN THE STADIUM. Some of the things I found out and experienced were quite astonishing. Like, while you can take drinks to your stadium seat, hot food is not allowed. The Army Sergeant I asked about it told me they don’t want unpleasant odors wafting through the stadium. For someone like me who is on a warpath with unwanted odors, this was heaven. I don’ even want to mention the odors I encountered high up in Arthur Ashe.
CLEAN TOILETS. I know, USTA CEO Lew Sherr likes to tell everyone how clean the toilets are at the US Open. I can tell you now the ones at Wimbledon are super clean, too. For the USTA, this is just part of the “Reputation Laundering” scheme in my opinion. Read me July article about that sore subject.
NO GIANT SCREEN IN CENTRE COURT STADIUM. Yep, I found this refreshingly different. I don’t need two giant screens to tell me what just happened on the tennis court or to play advertisements. Just another thing that makes Wimbledon so special.
YES, ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM IS BIGGER. After considering several factors, I have come to the conclusion that Wimbledon is now my preferred Grand Slam tournament, despite the fact that the entire US Open holds significance on various levels and I still enjoy attending it for the tennis. However, my opinion has been heavily influenced by the negative aspects I have observed over the years. High ticket prices, which make it difficult for ordinary individuals and families to attend, and the unfair practice of charging children over the age of two as adults, have played a significant role in swaying my vote in favor of Wimbledon.
ONE LAST THING ABOUT BRITAIN
As mentioned before, I used to reside and work in London, a considerable time ago. During that period, the British Rail system did not particularly stand out to me in comparison to other systems, such as German Rail. However, that has since completely changed. Each train we utilized was impeccably clean, appeared to be brand new, operated on schedule, and traveled at a rapid pace. Our hotel was conveniently located near Paddington Station, allowing us to easily access the Airport Express service to Heathrow Airport. The Airport Express runs every 15 minutes and provides a swift and comfortable 15-minute journey. What more could one ask for? From the Heathrow train station, it was just a brief stroll to Terminal 2. Quite pleasant!
Would you like to share your experience traveling to London and going to The Championships? Please leave your comments and get a good conversation going.