Heavy rain threatened to make the third day of Wimbledon a complete wash-out today but thousands of British tennis diehards still braved the early morning queues in the hope of seeing their heroes.
The weather over London SW19 was more reminiscent of late autumn than midsummer, with dark cloudy skies, persistent heavy rain and strong winds which were forecast to gust at up to 45mph.
Rain badly hampered yesterday's play, which was abandoned in the early evening, leaving more than 40 first round matches still to be completed - and many of those had not even been started.
The poor weather - more of which is forecast for tomorrow - threatened to make this the worst rain-affected first week of the championships since 1997, when two days were completely lost to heavy downpours.
The All England Club said fans who bought tickets for today would receive a refund if there was less than an hour's play. Despite the gloomy forecast, hundreds of tennis fanatics still camped out overnight in the hope of getting tickets to Centre Court or Court One.
Fans erected tarpaulins and pitched tents to keep themselves dry, but even that was not enough as the rain showers blew in from all angles.