Wimbledon fans left scrambling while players pocket its iconic towels as tournament faces ‘shrinkflation’ accusations after ‘disappointing’ strawberries and cream servings
While tennis fans are buying the £40 red ‘strawberry towels’ sought after at the Wimbledon Championships, some are selling them online for a 40 per cent profit.
Spectators faced long queues outside stores at the All England Club as they tried to purchase the hugely popular limited edition items.
Wimbledon sold 6,330 red towels on site in its first week; This figure is almost equivalent to 7,423 of the classic championship version in the club’s green and purple colours.
Players in the tournament also pocket hundreds of towels each day as souvenirs for themselves or their teams, while some fans have requested one as well.
The Wimbledon court team handed out 3,789 towels in the first six days of this year’s championships, with only 1,044 returned; That is, 457 towels were purchased per day.
The towels sell for £40 in store or on the Wimbledon website, but are currently on sale for up to £55 on eBay – a profit of £15, or 38 per cent.
Italian player Flavio Cobolli was ridiculed by Wimbledon’s own social media team after he was seen putting a towel into his bag during last week’s second round victory.
After winning, an interviewer asked him: ‘I saw you bought about 15 towels. Will you then distribute these to the crowd?’ Fans could be heard shouting and Cobolli replied: ‘Thanks guys. Lots of Italians [fans]. But the towels are for my team.’
Italian Flavio Cobolli was called the ‘new towel thief’ of the Wimbledon Championships
Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka used a red towel during the break of her Wimbledon match last Friday
Italian Jannik Sinner used a towel during the break in play against Miomir Kecmanovic last week
American star Serena Williams wiped her face with a towel at the All England Club last week
A red Wimbledon towel on the players’ couch at the All England Club in south-west London
Cobolli then threw a towel into the crowd, making a gesture indicating they couldn’t take any more – and the Wimbledon TikTok channel later posted a short clip with the caption: ‘Aside Iga, we’ve got a new towel thief on our hands.’
Women’s champion Iga Swiatek was nicknamed the ‘towel thief’ for her habit of hoarding iconic towels from Grand Slams including Wimbledon.
He later explained that he collected them as souvenirs to give to family, friends and charities.
Players are allowed to take home towels if they wish, and All England Club chief executive Sally Bolton said: ‘We are delighted that our towels are such a popular product.’
He also told the Times: ‘Sales in the store show that the towel is something people really want to own, and I’m not surprised players feel the same.’
Winston Sedgwick, assistant manager of the court services team that distributed the towels, added: ‘This is a desirable object. That has been the case for as long as Wimbledon has been producing towels. Players love to get a souvenir from each of them.’
Wimbledon’s head of retail, product and licensing, Daniel Ashmore, told the Telegraph the towel had become the club’s ‘number one bestseller’ online.
She added: ‘This year we’re calling it the strawberry towel. In 2025, anything with strawberries on it sold very quickly and very well, so red became the unofficial fourth color in our collection this year.
‘There are 1.2 sales for every green and purple towel online.’
Mr Ashmore said he expected the towels to be sold out by the end of the tournament, adding that online sales were ‘going exceptionally well which surprised us’.
The red towel can be purchased from All England Club stores and the Wimbledon website.
£40 red towels are currently selling for up to £55 on eBay – a profit of £15 or 38 per cent
Women’s champion Iga Swiatek was nicknamed the “towel thief” for her habit of hoarding iconic towels from Grand Slams (taken in 2025) including Wimbledon.
Separately, this year’s strawberries and cream are also said to have fallen victim to the contraction
Disgruntled fans post photos and videos of £2.85 portion online
It comes as Wimbledon attendees complain that this year’s famous strawberries and cream has fallen victim to contraction.
Disgruntled fans posted photos and videos online, claiming their £2.85 portion contained fewer than the traditional ten strawberries, while others claimed some of the berries were cut in half to expand the serving.
The complaints sparked a wave of criticism, with many raising the question of whether one of Britain’s best-loved sports was becoming smaller.
Dessert has long been considered one of the few bargains at the All England Club, where food and drink prices have risen steadily in recent years.
This year a portion of strawberries and cream cost £2.85; The price, which was £2.70 last year, had risen for the first time in 15 years.
Among those unimpressed was Angelina, 42, who counted just nine strawberries in her basket last week.
‘It was disappointing,’ he said. ‘You want the right amount. If the cost has gone up and it’s less, it’s not fair.’
A spokesman for the All England Club said there was a risk of falling below the target ten strawberries per box, but some customers might find more than ten strawberries in their portion.
