Wimbledon’s ‘Last 8 Club’ and why winners get free tickets for life

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Louise Thomas

Editor

The fourth round of Wimbledon gets underway on Sunday with players knowing they are just one more win away from the quarter-finals of the Championships.

It’s a special stage of the tournament as the second week begins and the contenders for the titles are narrowed down, while there is also more than prize money at stake.

Reaching the quarter-finals of the men’s and women’s singles at the All England Club earns players £375,000, as well as entry into an exclusive Wimbledon group.

Emma Raducanu, Coco Gauff and Ben Shelton are among the players bidding to reach the quarter-finals of Wimbledon and the ‘Last 8 Club’ for the first time today.

What is Wimbledon’s Last 8 Club?

Any player who reaches the quarter-finals, or last eight, of the men’s and women’s singles gets to join Wimbledon’s exclusive ‘Last 8 Club’.

This comes with significant perks for players, including free tickets to the Championships and access to hospitality suits at the All England Club once their playing days are over.

Last year, American Christopher Eubanks said reaching the quarter-finals of Wimbledon as an unseeded player and on his debut at the tournament was a “dream to come” after being told that he had life-long tickets for the All England Club.

“It’s tough to really put into words. I can’t really describe it,” he said. “Everything from realising that I have two credentials at Wimbledon for the rest of my life, to checking my phone and seeing my name as an ESPN alert, to realising how much I disliked grass at the beginning of the grass court season, to now look at where I am. There’s so many different ways I could go about it.”

US Open champion Coco Gauff highlighted the ‘Last 8 Club’ as further motivation as the American bids to reach the quarter-finals of Wimbledon for the first time.

“It would be really special here because I think the final eight club is the most established here,” Gauff said ahead of her match against Emma Navarro. “That would be really cool to get that.

“Wimbledon is very special. I say this all the time. It’s definitely the most nervous I get when it comes to slams. It’s just something special, the history behind this tournament. It just feels very exclusive.

“Even though, yes, it’s my fifth time, but every time just feels new and, like, it doesn’t feel like I’ve done this before. It always feels fresh every time.

“I think that’s why I just always have special memories maybe. I don’t know if it’s because it was my first big tournament. I don’t know if that’s the thing, or just Wimbledon in itself. For some reason, I always get nervous here, especially in the first round. Now I’m past that, so I’m okay.”