Andy Murray: public finally make it a love match

To most of the tennis world he is a dour Scot with a precocious talent that could one day propel him to greatness, but there are growing signs that the public have finally taken Andy Murray to their hearts.

Tickets for his quarter-final clash with Rafael Nadal were selling for a record £2,000 a head yesterday.

Seats at today’s Centre Court show-down between Murray and the No 2 seed are in such demand that hundreds of fans who had spent Monday night queueing for tickets to yesterday’s matches opted to spend another night camping instead, to secure a spot at the Murray match.

Some had rushed to SW19 as soon as Monday’s result was confirmed. “We just got in the car and went,” said Abigail Tartellin, 20, camping outside the ground with her mother, Pat. “We got here at 3.30am and couldn’t work out how to put the tent up. It’s mad, but it’s our first time and we realised that this is what we had to do.”

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Most of the 15,000 Centre Court tickets sold out long ago but 500 were reserved for those willing to join Wimbledon’s world-famous queue. Nearly 200 people had already set up camp by mid-afternoon yesterday, with the numbers set to quadruple overnight.

The only other legitimate way to get tickets is to rent a debenture, the allocation of 2,300 seats sold by the club for a five-year period. Eric Baker, the chief executive of Viagogo, Europe’s largest ticket exchange, said that his company had seen debentures for the Murray match sell at nearly double the price of last year’s Federer-Nadal final.

“We’ve seen people trading tickets for as much as £2,000. This has been the hottest ticket we’ve ever seen for Wimbledon and what’s amazing is it’s not even the final.

“The manner in which [Murray] came back against Gasquet has turned this next match from a simple game of tennis into an event.”

Ebay, the auction website, was the subject of the All England Club’s wrath after nondebenture tickets, which cannot be resold, were found trading on the site for up to ten times their face value. An eBay spokesman said the tickets were “like gold dust”, adding that eBay was a legitimate way to buy sports tickets and the site made it clear that restrictions could apply.

But a Wimbledon spokesman said that those selling tickets through unauthorised sources were con artists. “If we find people with these tickets we will not let them in.”

Wimbledon first-aiders treated 50 people for heat-related illnesses yesterday as temperatures hit 30C (86F).

Murray is again set to appear second on Centre Court after Roger Federer takes on Mario Ancic. Tournament officials hope the Scot’s match will again fall into the evening prime viewing time. BBC One achieved a massive 44.7 per cent audience share for Monday’s match. A peak of 10.5 million viewers tuned in.

And it looks likely that the weather will conspire to push Murray’s match to a nail-bitingly late finish. The Met Office said there was a 70 per cent chance of showers until about 7pm.

Set in his ways

The scowl Andy Murray’s default demeanour. Could mean anything

Outstretched palms, scream of “Christ!” He’s just played five drop shots in a row, each of which has plopped into the net

Clenched fist, scream of “C’mon!” The drop shot finally came off

Arched spine, head thrown back, roaring Victory (or news of an England loss in any other sport)

Rolled-up sleeve, tensed bicep Useful to show Richard Gasquet who’s boss. Unlikely to come out against Nadal, as Murray’s upper arms are Twiglets by comparison

—The BBC has coverage from 1pm on BBC Two before switching to BBC One at 3.25pm, and then back to BBC Two at 6pm. Matches are also on www.wimbledon.org and cost £7.19 for the day