No queues and lots of sunshine ... it must be People’s Sunday!

THE sun was shining, you didn’t have to queue too long to buy a drink and nobody had to worry about asking their boss for time off work. No wonder everyone seemed in such good spirits at Wimbledon yesterday as they enjoyed the first ‘People’s Sunday’ for 12 years.

Many of those lucky enough to get one of the 22,000 tickets – which sold out within 27 minutes of going on sale online on Saturday, with Centre Court tickets costing just £70 – were first-time visitors, and their excitement was clear from their enthusiastic cheering. There was less hustle and bustle than on usual days too, when the capacity is 39,000 spectators.

The day, only the fourth time there has been play on the middle Sunday in the tournament’s history, was arranged after last week’s wet weather caused a backlog of matches. This time the rain stayed away – although some unlucky spectators got an unexpected soaking when Centre Court’s retractable roof was moved back and rainwater that had built up cascaded down. One diehard Serena Williams fan had travelled all the way from the US at the last minute after snapping up a ticket. Allison Creekmore, 41, who lives in New York, hopped on a plane on Saturday night. After travelling for nearly nine hours, she watched the defending champion defeat Germany’s Annika Beck in just 51 minutes.

First-time visitors Rob Clarke, 24, a police constable, and his partner Emily Walsh, 23, a housekeeper, from Kingston, Surrey, said: ‘We’ve always wanted to come, but usually it’s long queues and you have to get time off work. This way we weren’t working so it’s been great.’ Mitch Flegg, 55, an oil executive from Gerrard’s Cross, said: ‘I’ve been a few times before, and it feels like a special day. It’s more relaxed – and there’s not so many people so you can get to the bar.’

The extra day’s play meant extra work for ticket touts, too. A few outside nearby Southfields station were overheard offering a pair of tickets for No 1 Court for £1,200.