The Mirror | 30 June 2024 | Felix Keith
"All eyes will be on the courts at the All England Lawn Tennis Club when Wimbledon returns for a two-week tennis extravaganza on Monday – but there is another equally fierce competition happening behind the scenes too.
The Grand Slam runs from July 1 to July 14, bringing thousands of fans to SW19 for the iconic tournament where well-dressed people will eat their strawberries and cream, gulp their champagne and watch some world-class tennis. Yet all is not rosy in the plush streets around the site, with a battle for the competition’s future continuing.
The AELTC wants to expand the tournament by building 38 new grass courts and a 8,000-seat show court across Church Road on the site of what used to be Wimbledon Park Golf Club, in order to bring qualifying on site. They bought the land from Merton Council in 1993 for £5.1million and, in 2018, the golf club – whose members included Ant and Dec and Piers Morgan – accepted a £65m offer to end its lease early, netting every member £85,000."...read more about The Mirror: Wimbledon Future Unclear Amid Argument Over Expansion Plans As Mayor of London Steps In