Wimbledon 2021: When does it start, who is playing and will there be a queue?

(Duchess of Sussex and Duchess of Cambridge at Wimbledon in 2018)

Get your strawberries and big screens at the ready. After two years away from SW12, the world’s top tennis stars are (finally!) returning to Centre Court and Murray Mound is back open for Pimms-swilling business.

From Monday, Wimbledon is back in (almost) all its former pre-pandemic glory, aside from some fetching white face masks and strict player bubbles. From the stars to watch out for to what’s happening to the tournament’s famous queue, here’s everything you need to know.

The Covid question

First, the big question: will there be a queue? Unfortunately not, according to official Wimbledon sources, who’ve had to restrict audience numbers due to quarantine restrictions. Instead, lucky ticket-holders will need a smartphone to enter the grounds and crowds will be limited to be 50 per cent capacity - apart from the finals, which will be the first outdoor sporting event in Great Britain to be played with a full, 100 per cent capacity crowd since the beginning of the pandemic as part of a pilot (hurrah!).

Players will also be staying in bubbles, not houses, meaning they will all have to stay in the official Championships hotel in central London - even Andy Murray, who lives just round the corner from the All England Club. There they will abide by strict rules and be transported in private vehicles between there and the grounds.

The line-up

Bad news for fans of Spaniards in short shorts. Rafael Nadal won’t be gracing the crowds with his famously tanned quads this year, nor will world number two Naomi Osaka who’s chosen to spend time with family and friends ahead of the Olympics.

(AFP via Getty Images)

Otherwise, it’s a stellar line-up. Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer,Serena Williams and teenage superstar Coco Gauff will all be returning to the All England Club next week, with Federer going for a record-extending ninth title (tennis insiders are already tipping him to make a retirement decision after this year’s Championships).

As for the Brits, Andy Murray is back in the singles for the first time since 2017 - watch out for tears (he cried on returning to the grass at Queens this month) - but he won’t be returning to his doubles partnership with Serena Williams. Other British hopefuls to look out for are Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans, Heather Watson, Katie Boulter and of course, our women’s No1 Johanna Konta.

The final clash

Finals weekend is always a key date for the calendar, but the 2021 edition has another big sporting event to contend with. Not only does the men’s singles final take place on Sunday 11 July, but so too does the final of the Euros.

(Getty Images)

Mercifully, it’s possible for fans to watch both. While the tennis starts at 2pm, the football doesn’t kick off until 8pm, so the chance of a clash is unlikely, unless the men’s finalists beat the current four hour and 57 minutes record for the longest Wimbledon final in history. Game on.

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