Wimbledon's limited-edition red "strawberry towels" have become a runaway hit, with fans queuing outside shops at the All England Club to buy the £40 items and some reselling them online for a significant profit. The tournament sold 6,330 of the red towels on site during the first week, nearly matching the 7,423 sales of the traditional green-and-purple championship version, underlining how a piece of merchandise has become one of the event's talking points.

Demand has been intensified by players themselves taking large numbers of towels as souvenirs, with the courts team handing out 3,789 in the first six days but only 1,044 returned — an average of 457 vanishing each day. Resellers are listing the £40 towels for up to £55 on eBay, a profit of about 38 per cent. Italian player Flavio Cobolli was teased by Wimbledon's own social media team and dubbed the "new towel thief" after being filmed piling around 15 towels into his bag during a second-round win, later explaining they were for his team. The frenzy comes as the tournament also faces "shrinkflation" complaints over its strawberries and cream servings.