Wimbledon tennis champ Maria Sharapova is not the only person looking forward to this year’s tournament.

Thousands of people have already begun serving up applications for temporary work at the world famous grass-court venue.

FMC, the tournament catering company, sent out Christmas cards to the 1,600 staff the firm employed at last year’s event, and has already begun processing the returned applications.

Recruitment opportunities aren’t limited to serving strawberries and cream for the two-week sporting jamboree. More than 2,500 temporary staff are taken on during the Wimbledon fortnight in roles including security and driving players to and from the event.

Georgina Rhodes is now Wimbledon recruitment manager for FMC, after initially enquiring about a job as a waitress for the 1999 tournament. “A temporary job really did change my life and shape my career,” said Rhodes. “I see examples of it all the time among students and others who I now recruit.”