US Edition
Wimbledon defends empty seats on show courts at start of week two
Lack of spectators on Court No 1 on Monday and Centre Court for Emma Raducanu’s defeat on Sunday was notable
Wimbledon’s Court No 1 was noticeably not at capacity at the start of the tournament’s second week, with large sections of empty green seats clearly visible during the first game of the day.
While courts being slow to fill up is not uncommon particularly around lunch time, even after multiple opportunities for supporters to come in during the change of ends there remained rows of empty seats for the match between the ninth seed Alex de Minaur and Arthur Fils, with De Minaur watched by his partner Katie Boulter, the British No 1.
Blocks of between 10 to 15 empty seats could still be spotted midway through the second set.
Court No 1 can hold 12,345 spectators, narrowly behind Centre Court’s 14,979 capacity, with ticket prices for day eight at Wimbledon ranging from £125 for the back six rows to £150 for the rest of the court, where the empty seats could easily be spotted.
Wimbledon’s chief executive, meanwhile, has suggested the weather is to blame for a dip in attendance at this year’s tournament.
In the past, empty seats have been attributed to hospitality guests opting to skip the tennis in order to take advantage of food and drink on offer, dipping in and out of the action during matches, which has in turn been met with frustration from tennis followers unable to get tickets.
Rows of empty seats were also noticeable for Emma Raducanu’s fourth-round defeat on Sunday by New Zealand’s Lulu Sun on Centre Court, with one comment on X questioning how, when tickets “are like gold dust”, there could be “empty seats on Centre Court for the game with the last-surviving British player”.
Attendance figures at Wimbledon have surpassed pre-pandemic levels in recent years, with 532,651 visitors for the 2023 Championships, an increase of around 17,500 on 2022. A total of 500,397 attended Wimbledon in 2019.
The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club said in a statement: “Both Centre Court and No 1 Court are completely sold out. It is entirely reasonable to expect that guests won’t be sat in their seats throughout the entire day.”