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Hemingways is the two-time defending champion, and the business’s design this year references how they and Carlos Alcaraz are both going for a hat-trick of titles. The 2025 winner will be crowned on Tuesday.
“We’ll probably do more money this week than we will in the whole of January,” Hemingways general manager Ben Pritchard told this masthead.
“I think for everybody [in the village], it’s the busiest time of the year. This is our Christmas. Most bars and restaurants survive on Christmas parties – we survive on the tennis trade. Our rent is based on centre court being just down the road, so you have to make the most of it.”
Pizza Express getting in on the Wimbledon fun.Credit: Marc McGowan
The verdict was the same from The Ivy’s general manager, Oscar Accomando, who estimated his stylish restaurant did comfortably more than double its usual business at this time of year.
Among The Ivy’s customers in the past week was grand slam champion Daniil Medvedev and his entourage, while across the road is a new coffee shop, Hagen, that opened in April but has already become a favourite of Australia’s best tennis player Alex de Minaur.
Pritchard said Hemingways sold about 6000 pizzas and almost 71,000 cocktails to roughly 26,000 visitors during Wimbledon last year.
A few minutes’ walk away is Wimbledon Village News, which Mano Souneerajah has owned for almost 26 years.
It is the official newsagent for the Wimbledon Championships. The likes of Roger Federer, Lleyton and Bec Hewitt, and Boris Becker have all wandered into Souneerajah’s business to flick through magazines, buy a newspaper or post something.
“We don’t show the difference,” Souneerajah said of his celebrity customers.
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“They are all very pleasant and friendly. They’re more comfortable when they come in because one thing I make clear is no photos or anything like that. The rule I have is not to disturb anyone.”
More than 40,000 tennis fans attend Wimbledon daily, but locals leave the area in droves. They rent out their upscale and period homes, which become more impressive the closer to the All England club, or even just their driveways for parking purposes at exorbitant rates.
The most expensive rental properties in Wimbledon Villages, which include six or seven bedrooms, cost upwards of £15,000 ($31,250) for the month.
Tennis London provides private homes to rent for players and sponsors during the Wimbledon fortnight.
The proliferation of mobile phone cameras means players still in Wimbledon contention are less likely to be spotted out and about at village pubs such as the Dog and Fox, Hemingways or Rose and Crown.
Dog and Fox general manager Phil Daley said they had stopped posting on Instagram when famous tennis players, such as Andy Murray, Jack Draper and Maria Sharapova, were enjoying dinner or a drink at his pub.
It is still possible to catch household tennis names, just like when Rafael Nadal used to ride a bike through the village at past Wimbledons to do grocery shopping.
However, Australians de Minaur – who owns a home nearby with his British fiancee and fellow player Katie Boulter – and Ajla Tomljanovic avoid the village once the tournament starts.
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“I love staying there because just knowing I’m close to the courts gives me such peace of mind … but what I don’t like is you bump into so many players,” Tomljanovic said.
“If you’re a tennis fan, go to the village and just hang around there, especially from dinner time, and you’ll see everyone.
“I do love how cute it is, the convenience of everything, and I’ve got good restaurants and coffee places, but you’ve got to [put on your] blinders a bit. It just seems like we all said, ‘Let’s meet here at 8pm’.”
That said, Tomljanovic admitted to having one big night at the Dog and Fox in her “wild and rebellious years”.
Kyrgios is forever linked to the Dog and Fox for his decision to attend the establishment the night before he faced Nadal in the second round at Wimbledon in 2019.
Wimbledon Village in all its glory.Credit: Marc McGowan
A journalist quizzed Kyrgios after he lost on whether he might have played better if not for being there, which the Australian clapped back at before spotting another reporter he saw at the pub the previous night.
“You were at the pub last night. That’s hilarious,” Kyrgios said, pointing at freelance writer Lucia Hoffman, who replied: “Oh yes, I know. You are ruining my reputation!”
Daley said that Kyrgios moment was part of the iconic pub’s “folklore”.
The themed shopfront of the Ivy Cafe in Wimbledon Village.Credit: Marc McGowan
“We stand at the head of Wimbledon Hill, and it’s such a big, grand, old building. I think it might be older than Australia,” Daley said, laughing.
“Nick’s been in every day. He just goes about his business. He did a Q&A down at the theatre on Monday night, and at the end he said, ‘I’m going to my local for a beer if anyone wants to join’, so we had 200 people rock up half an hour before we closed. It was brutal, but he’s a good lad.”
Both Dog and Fox’s Daley and The Ivy’s Accomando said the village was abuzz during the Wimbledon fortnight and needed to be experienced to be believed.
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“Everyone is happy, there are many tourists, and starting from a couple of weeks ago, the village completely transforms,” Accomando said.
“We see really busy breakfast service, it drops during lunch, then dinner is our busiest after the matches because there are massive flows of people coming into the village.
“Our window [design with giant pink tennis balls and red strawberries] has attracted lots of people, taking selfies. We are in such an important building in Wimbledon Village, at the roundabout where the heart of the village is, so it is important to contribute to the atmosphere.”
Marc McGowan travelled to Wimbledon with the support of Tennis Australia
