The queues were long but the spirits were high outside and inside the All England Club on the opening day of the Wimbledon 2015 Championships.

Walking up from Wimbledon station (trying but giving up on counting the number of tennis balls in shop windows), it was clear that the town and village were joining in the spirit.

The first people I met with were John and Freda Atkins, who had travelled from north London to support Serena Williams in the ladies singles.

John, 52, said: “Wimbledon is a wonderful place to watch tennis, there is so much tradition here from the strawberries to the rule that the players have to wear white.

“We’re following Serena – is there a better female tennis player ever?”

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Getting into the spirit: Wimbledon village marks the route to the All England Club

Freda said: “We’ve been very lucky with the weather, yesterday it was raining, and today it’s glorious.”

Further down the line were youngsters Paul and Sam Wright, who have tickets for today and tomorrow, when they cannot wait to see Andy Murray in action.

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Thirteen-year-old Paul, who had travelled from Newcastle with his parents, said: “Andy is brilliant and I hope he can win again.”

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From much further afield were Spaniards Juan Peroza and his friend Seb Hernadez, who, having gone through the ticket barriers, were waiting patiently to be released inside the arena.

Seb said: “We’re supporting Rafa Nadal mostly, but we’re going to watch Dan Gimeo-Traver – he’s playing the number seven seed I think, so it will be tough.”

Juan added: “Wimbledon is a great place, and with this weather it is like being back in Madrid.”

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Not far to go: Fans in the queue get closer and closer to the entrance