I WATCHED a shameless Wimbledon queue-jumper try to pull a fast one to bag a Centre Court seat — then get served a lesson they’ll never forget.
The crafty tennis fan was left red-faced after a pathetic ploy to cheat the legendary Wimbledon queue backfired spectacularly, sending them back 600 places to the end of the line.
The chancer pitched their tent to save a prime spot for the men’s semi-finals — then smugly headed home for a comfy night in bed.
But the sneaky scheme unravelled right in front of my eyes after I’d braved a night in a tent to get my hands on one of the hottest tickets in tennis.
Thousands of tennis fans admirably join the Wimbledon queue each year, with many sleeping overnight, to try to snag a seat watching their favourite stars clash on the historical grass courts of SW19.
This year, I braved the long night in Wimbledon Park with just a tent, sleeping bag and toothbrush in the hope of getting my hands on a ticket and experiencing one of Britain’s great traditions.
I was #80 in the queue after setting up my tent at 6:30pm the night before.
The person in front of me, however, was nowhere to be seen, having sneakily left an empty tent as a placeholder.
But, they’d made one huge error.
Wimbledon stewards, famed for their hawk-eyed efficiency, changed the system.
Instead of handing out the all-important numbered queue cards in the morning, they handed them out the night before.
I woke up bright and early at 5am, and who should appear but the conniving queuer, looking refreshed and pleased with themselves.
They even had the cheek to offer me a croissant.
Knowing full well they’d missed the ticket handout, I asked to see their queue card.
The colour drained from their face.
I watched as they frantically dashed over to the nearest steward, pointing at their tent and pleading their case.
But it was no use.
The steely-faced official wasn’t having any of it.
They trudged back to their tent clutching a new queue number: #681.
In a glorious twist of fate, a comfortable night’s sleep had cost them over 600 places and they now had no chance of getting into Centre Court.
And as I took my resell seat to watch the last two sets of the Novak Djokovic versus Jannik Sinner semi-final on Centre Court – which only cost me £15 – I couldn’t help but smile.
Once again, the Great British queue had served up a big slice of justice.
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