Enlarge imageBy Miles Evans
LONDON (Reuters) - Waving flags and grinning through facepaint, it seemed to be lost on the 7,400 queuing tennis fans that there were just 500 "gold-dust" tickets on offer to gain access to Wimbledon's sacred Centre Court on Tuesday.
But then English eccentricity runs deep at the world's premier tennis tournament and the locals are once again straining their nostrils for a sniff of the end to a 73-year wait for a British men's singles champion.
Andy Murray is the world number three and makes his eagerly anticipated bow at the All England Club on Tuesday when he faces American Robert Kendrick in the last match up on Centre Court.
Never mind that bookmakers consider victory for him a foregone conclusion -- he is quoted at 1/100 in this two-horse race -- his appearance is causing something of a stir.
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Murray is Britain's best hope of a men's champion at Wimbledon since Fred Perry cut a thrust to the title three years before World War II broke out, and the snaking queue for tickets is testament to the British public's desire to see the drought ended.
Officials recorded the 8:30 a.m. total of spectators queuing up at 7,400, compared to 6,137 from the same time on the opening day of the grasscourt championships on Monday.
It took 12 minutes to walk its length and they were packed in six deep around the perimeter of the immaculately manicured public golf course which doubles up as a queuing area and carpark for the duration of the two-week championships.
HENMAN'S MANTLE
Murray has taken up the mantle left by Tim Henman as Britain's hope.
Aloof Scot replacing Henman, the embodiment of Middle England, probably was not what the British tennis public had in mind but they seem quite happy to settle for it.
"It's irrelevant that he's Scottish," Joanne Allen, who was among some 1,800 fans who had queued overnight for a chance to see their hero, told Reuters. "He's British and a great player."
Her 11-year-old daughter Rose was clutching a picture of Murray to her chest. Who did she want to see? "Andy."
But the 22-year-old Scot was not the only prize draw and the 500 tickets on sale for both Centre Court and Court One were not the only objective of the queuing faithful.
A gaggle of Serbian fans with face paint and flags around their arms were delighted that mere ground passes would allow them to watch their beloved former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic on Court Four.
Murray will be more aware than anyone of the dangers that lurk in underestimating an opponent who took Rafa Nadal to five sets at Wimbledon in 2006.
"I'd love to disappoint a nation," Kendrick was quoted as saying by local media. "But then I would probably have to leave the country the next day."
Murray was planning to take in reality TV show Big Brother before an early night on Monday.
Rest assured on Tuesday there will be an awful lot of people watching his every move.
(Editing by John O'Brien)
