“‘The Queue’ at Wimbledon is now a social media sensation in its own right”
episodePreviously titled “`“‘The Queue’ at Wimbledon is now a social media sensation in its own right”” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 8, 2026
Transcript
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Now, wipe away your tears. Wimbledon draws to a close today. The men's singles final takes place on Centre Court in SW19 at four o'clock this afternoon. And outside of tennis, it's been a very colourful tournament in general this year. Tennis fan and deputy editor of the Journal.ie, Christina Bowen. Hello.
Hi, how are you?
So, Christine, you don't need to be a tennis fan to enjoy Wimbledon. The event and the occasion of it kind of transcends sport, really, doesn't it?
How did this year's Wimbledon stand out beyond the tennis matches?
Yeah, I think it's become a proper event now. Wimbledon's become kind of one of the biggest fixtures of the year. And I think this year in particular, it was just so exciting. I think sometimes people think that Wimbledon is quite staid or boring or traditional. But actually, it's one of the most unpredictable of all the tennis tournaments just because it's played on grass and a lot of players can never quite handle that. Some players will walk out and they will thrive. Other players will walk out and just choke. And so that's what we've seen this year at Wimbledon. We've seen some of the biggest names dropping out early. We've seen underdogs doing really well. We saw Britain's Arthur Ferry doing so well.
Tell us about him. As a tennis fan, were you aware of this guy? I hate to say it, I was not aware of this guy. I think a lot of people weren't. I think he was ranked something like 129th in the world before Wimbledon. He was not on people's radar, it's fair to say. Came out of absolutely nowhere. The one thing I would say, and the British media weren't really saying a huge amount about him, was that he had a bit of an easy run to get up to the semi-finals in the way that he did. in that he was playing, so he was a wild card, which is very unusual. And a wild card means what? You're invited to play. So say Serena Williams was a wild card this year. So it means that you're not seeded, you're not in the top 50 in the world or anything like that.
but they think do you know what let's invite you to play and let's see how you get on so that's how he got to play and it was a great story because he grew up really really close to Wimbledon he's played tennis since he was a kid and I think Wimbledon rewards underdogs they love seeing somebody coming out of nowhere and and just ending up... And when they're British. And when they're British, they do love that.
Yeah. And of course, not too much mention of the fact that his family is worth like hundreds of millions. I mean, you know, he's... I don't think the guy was playing against the garage wall as a kid or anything. No, exactly.
It's kind of a funny thing in tennis in recent years. We have seen the rise of people. I don't know if you'd call them nepo babies, but people who've definitely had a bit of a leg up with, you know, tennis courts in the back garden. They weren't playing in their local, you know, Dublin City Council Park or anything.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. OK, we'll come back to the tennis. In terms of the colour around the event, so it was always part of what they call the season in London, the high society kind of summer season. But recently, and I suppose like everything else, Wimbledon has let in the influencers and full of influencers now.
Yeah, Wimbledon is cool now, I think it's fair to say. If you think about it, it used to be kind of synonymous with tradition and conservatism. And now, quietly in the last few years, they've been letting influencers in. And I think it's partly because Wimbledon has got that mix of celebrity, fashion, food and obviously the tennis too. And there's some people who kind of argue that, I suppose the purists would say, is it good for tennis to be having influencers showing up and taking their videos at Wimbledon? I think it's great.
Why was Arthur Fery's run at Wimbledon such a surprise and what is a wild card?
I think anything that gets people paying more attention to it. So you see influencers taking videos of everything from the strawberries and cream to the prices to the queue, you know, to get in the door. And I think it's kind of democratised it and it's brought it to an audience that mightn't pay attention to the tennis otherwise.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:25
2
How did this year's Wimbledon stand out beyond the tennis matches?
0:25–3:05
3
Why was Arthur Fery's run at Wimbledon such a surprise and what is a wild card?
3:05–6:15
4
How has wealth and background influenced recent tennis upstarts?
6:15–8:15
5
How have influencers and social media changed the Wimbledon atmosphere?
8:15–9:03