Agencies say the price for a ticket to see the first ever Brit come close to winning a Wimbledon crown has reached the highest ever in history
LONDON: Tennis mania has reached fever pitch with a single ticket to the Centre Court finals on Sunday selling for £35,500 or around Rs 31 lakh.
Ticket agencies say the price for a ticket to see the first ever Brit come close to winning a Wimbledon crown — the UK has not had a men's singles champion on the hallowed grass court of All England Club since Fred Perry in 1936 — has reached the highest ever in history with a pair going for £71,000 or nearly Rs 63 lakh.
The greatest grass court tournament in the world and arguably the best of the four Grand Slams, Wimbledon could not have asked for a better final — top seed Novak Djokovic versus second seed and home boy Andy Murray; no wonder, ticket agencies saw a deluge of requests after the semifinals on Friday. The locals, though, will hope it won't be an encore of last year's final, which Murray had lost to Roger Federer.
Ticket agency Viagogo registered more than a million searches for tickets for the men's final. Fans wanting to be part of British tennis history clicked on Viagogo's website for tickets that cost a maximum of £35,500 a pair or around Rs 16 lakhs a piece. But unfortunately none are now available.
Viagogo spokesman Steve Roest said the tickets hadn't ever been this expensive. Experts said Murray's unbelievable comeback win over number 24-seed hard-serving Jerzy Janowicz saw the price jump jump to £42,914, which is 165 times the £260 value of a pair of final tickets in the official Wimbledon ballot.
The final will also have a slice of history for India. Eleven-year-old Pinki Sonkar from Mirzapur will flip the toss coin at the gentlemen's singles final on Centre Court. Pinki, who is representing Smile Train, has travelled from her native village to share her story about her cleft lip. In 2007, she received a free cleft repair surgery, which was captured in the Oscar winning short documentary short, Smile Pinki.
Pinki will meet the players and be assisted in her on-court duties by Andrew Jarrett, the championship referee, and the chair umpire. After the formalities, she will watch the match; her day includes lunch in the Competitors' Restaurant.
She told TOI that she was gunning for Murray. Though she is not yet familiar with the game, with the whole of Britain under the grip of a Murray mania, Pinki will be plenty to emulate from spectators.
Ticket agencies say the price for a ticket to see the first ever Brit come close to winning a Wimbledon crown — the UK has not had a men's singles champion on the hallowed grass court of All England Club since Fred Perry in 1936 — has reached the highest ever in history with a pair going for £71,000 or nearly Rs 63 lakh.
The greatest grass court tournament in the world and arguably the best of the four Grand Slams, Wimbledon could not have asked for a better final — top seed Novak Djokovic versus second seed and home boy Andy Murray; no wonder, ticket agencies saw a deluge of requests after the semifinals on Friday. The locals, though, will hope it won't be an encore of last year's final, which Murray had lost to Roger Federer.
Ticket agency Viagogo registered more than a million searches for tickets for the men's final. Fans wanting to be part of British tennis history clicked on Viagogo's website for tickets that cost a maximum of £35,500 a pair or around Rs 16 lakhs a piece. But unfortunately none are now available.
Viagogo spokesman Steve Roest said the tickets hadn't ever been this expensive. Experts said Murray's unbelievable comeback win over number 24-seed hard-serving Jerzy Janowicz saw the price jump jump to £42,914, which is 165 times the £260 value of a pair of final tickets in the official Wimbledon ballot.
The final will also have a slice of history for India. Eleven-year-old Pinki Sonkar from Mirzapur will flip the toss coin at the gentlemen's singles final on Centre Court. Pinki, who is representing Smile Train, has travelled from her native village to share her story about her cleft lip. In 2007, she received a free cleft repair surgery, which was captured in the Oscar winning short documentary short, Smile Pinki.
Pinki will meet the players and be assisted in her on-court duties by Andrew Jarrett, the championship referee, and the chair umpire. After the formalities, she will watch the match; her day includes lunch in the Competitors' Restaurant.
She told TOI that she was gunning for Murray. Though she is not yet familiar with the game, with the whole of Britain under the grip of a Murray mania, Pinki will be plenty to emulate from spectators.
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