The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), organizers of Wimbledon in association with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA, the governing body for tennis in the UK), changed the traditionally free-to-attend Wimbledon qualifying tournament to a ticketed event. Held annually at the Roehampton Club, the 2017 event will have 1000 tickets available daily, as well as two courts capable of being covered by a tennis bubble.

There is much speculation that this presages the AELTC’s giving a wildcard entry to qualifying to Maria Sharapova. Although that decision is not to be announced until June 20th, the switch to paid entry at Roehampton (£5/ticket) along with other changes of note all suggest the AELTC is expecting larger than normal crowds at qualifying, especially for 2017. Details about this and other AELTC/Wimbledon announcements – including a first time world feed for television – can be found here.
Mike Dickson, tennis correspondent for the Daily Mail, probably sums up the tennis world’s feelings best:
Somewhat sad that the tradition of Roehampton qualifying being a free show now being abandoned. 1000 tickets per day max at £5 each. – @Mike_Dickson_DM
No further news about purchasing tickets has been released yet.