The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply
Wimbledon, is the oldest
tennisTennis is a sport played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a strung racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court....
tournament in the world and is generally considered the most prestigious. It has been held at the
All England ClubThe All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club , also known as the All-England Club, based at Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam tennis event still held on grass...
in the
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
suburb of
WimbledonWimbledon is a suburb in south west London, part of the London Borough of Merton and located from Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
since 1877. It is one of the four
Grand SlamThe four Grand Slam tournaments, also called the Majors, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, and public attention. They are: Australian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open...
tennis tournaments, and the only one still played on the game's original surface, grass, which gave the game of lawn tennis its name.
The tournament takes place over two weeks in late June and early July, culminating with the ladies' and gentlemen's singles final, scheduled respectively for the second Saturday and Sunday. Each year, five major events are contested, as well as four junior events and four invitational events.
The hard court
Australian OpenThe Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments held each year. The tournament is held each January at Melbourne Park. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was contested on grass from then up to 1987. Since 1988, the tournament has been held on hard...
and
clay courtA clay court is one of the four different types of tennis court. Clay courts are made of crushed shale, stone or brick. The red clay is slower than the green, or Har-Tru "American" clay. The French Open uses clay courts, making it unique among the Grand Slam tournaments.Clay courts are more common...
French Open precede Wimbledon in the calendar year. The hard court US Open follows. For men, the grass court
Queen's Club ChampionshipsThe Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is an ATP World Tour 250 series tournament on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour. Its sponsored name is currently the AEGON...
, also in London, the
Gerry Weber OpenThe Gerry Weber Open is a tennis tournament held in Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Held since 1991, the tournament is played on four outdoor grass courts and is a part of the ATP World Tour 250 series on the ATP Tour schedule....
in Halle, Germany, and the
Ordina OpenThe Ordina Open is a tennis tournament on the ATP Tour and WTA Tour held in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.-Singles:-Doubles:-Singles:-Doubles:-External links:*...
in
's-Hertogenbosch's-Hertogenbosch — translated in French as Bois-le-Duc, in German as Herzogenbusch, in Spanish as Bolduque and in Italian as Boscoducale — is a municipality in the Netherlands, and also the capital of the province of North Brabant...
,
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
are popular warm up tournaments for Wimbledon. For women, there are warm-up tournaments in Birmingham and Eastbourne.
Wimbledon traditions include the eating of
strawberriesGarden strawberries are a common kind of strawberry cultivated worldwide. Like other species of Fragaria , it belongs to the family Rosaceae. Technically, it is not a fruit, but a false fruit, meaning the fleshy part is derived not from the plant's ovaries but from the peg at the bottom of the...
and
creamCream is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, over time, the lighter fat rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream this process is accelerated by using centrifuges called "separators"...
, drinking Pimms spritzers, royal patronage, and a strict dress code for competitors. In 2009, Wimbledon's
Centre CourtCentre Court is the main court at the Wimbledon Championship, the 3rd annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is situated in the Aorangi Park and is home to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club, its only regular use is for the two weeks a year that the Championships take place,...
was fitted with a
retractable roofA retractable roof is a kinetic architectural element used in many sports venues, in which a roof made of a suitable material can readily be mechanically deployed from some "retracted" or "open" position into a "closed" or "extended" position that completely covers the field of play and spectator...
to insure against the possibility of rain delays interrupting Centre Court matches during the tournament.
Beginnings
The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is a private club founded in 1868, originally as 'The All England Croquet Club'. Its first ground was situated off Worple Road, Wimbledon.
In 1875, lawn tennis, a game devised by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield a year or so earlier and originally called 'Sphairistike', was added to the activities of the club. In the spring of 1877, the club was re-titled 'The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club' and signalled its change of name by instituting the first Lawn Tennis Championship. A new code of laws (replacing the code until then administered by the
Marylebone Cricket ClubMarylebone Cricket Club was founded in 1787 as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground near St John's Wood in north London. MCC was formerly the governing body of cricket in England and across the world...
) was drawn up for the event. Today's rules are similar except for details such as the height of the net and posts and the distance of the service line from the net.
The only event held in 1877 was the Gentlemen's Singles, which was won by Spencer Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player, from a field of 22. About 200 spectators paid one shilling each to watch the final.
The lawns at the ground were arranged so that the principal court was located in the middle with the others arranged around it; hence the title 'Centre Court', which was retained when the Club moved in 1922 to the present site in Church Road, although not a true description of its location. However, in 1980 four new courts were brought into commission on the north side of the ground, which meant the Centre Court was once more correctly defined. The opening of the new No. 1 Court in 1997 emphasised the description.
By 1882, activity at the club was almost exclusively confined to lawn tennis and that year the word 'croquet' was dropped from the title. However, for sentimental reasons, it was restored in 1889 and since then the title has remained The
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet ClubThe All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club , also known as the All-England Club, based at Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam tennis event still held on grass...
.
In 1884, the All England Club added ladies' singles and gentlemen's doubles. Ladies' doubles and mixed doubles were added in 1913. Until 1922, the reigning champion had to play only in the final, against whoever had won through to challenge him. As with the other three
Grand Slam events, Wimbledon was contested by top-ranked amateur players until the advent of the open era in tennis in 1968. No British man has won the singles event at Wimbledon since
Fred PerryFrederick John Perry born in Stockport, Cheshire, was a British tennis and table tennis player and three-time Wimbledon champion. He was the World No...
in 1936 and no British woman has won the Ladies Singles since
Virginia WadeSarah Virginia Wade, OBE is an English former tennis player. She won three Grand Slam singles titles and four Grand Slam doubles titles. She won the women's singles title at Wimbledon in the tournament's centenary year on 1 July 1977, the last time a Briton has won a singles title at the tournament...
in 1977, although
Annabel CroftAnnabel Croft is a former professional tennis player and current television presenter.Since retiring from tennis, she has turned to television presenting, with such shows as Treasure Hunt and Interceptor...
and
Laura RobsonLaura Robson is a British tennis player. Born in Australia, she moved to the UK at an early age and first gained a British passport in early 2008....
won the girls' championship in
1984List of the 1984 Wimbledon champions:-Men's singles: John McEnroe def. Jimmy Connors, 6–1, 6–1, 6–2*It was McEnroe's 8th title of the year, and his 54th overall. It was his 6th career Grand Slam title, and his 3rd Wimbledon title.-Women's singles: Martina Navrátilová def...
and
2008The 2008 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 122nd edition of the Wimbledon Championships, and the third Grand Slam event of the year...
, respectively. The Championship was first televised in 1937.
21st century
Wimbledon is widely considered to be the premier tennis tournament in the world and the priority of The All England Lawn Tennis Club, which hosts The Championships, is to maintain its leadership into the 21st century. To that end a long term plan was unveiled in 1993, intended to improve the quality of the event for spectators, players, officials and neighbours.
Stage one of the plan was completed for the 1997 championships and involved building in Aorangi Park the new No. 1 Court, a broadcast centre, two extra grass courts and a tunnel under the hill linking Church Road and Somerset Road.
Stage two involved the removal of the old No. 1 Court complex to make way for the new Millennium Building, providing extensive facilities for the players, press, officials and members, and the extension of the West Stand of the Centre Court with 728 extra seats.
Stage three has been completed with the construction of an entrance building, housing club staff, museum, bank and ticket office.
A new retractable roof has been built in time for the 2009 championships, marking the first time in the tournament's history that rain will not stop play for a lengthly time on Centre Court. The All England Club tested the new roof at an event called
A Centre Court Celebration on Sunday, 17 May 2009, which featured exhibition matches involving
Andre AgassiAndre Kirk Agassi is a former World No. 1 professional American tennis player who won eight Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. He is generally considered by critics and fellow players to be among the greatest tennis players of all time, and has been called the...
,
Steffi GrafStefanie Maria Graf is a former World No. 1 female tennis player from Germany.Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...
,
Kim ClijstersKim Antonie Lode Clijsters is a Belgian tennis player. She is a former World No. 1 ranked player in singles and in doubles. As of September 28, 2009, she is ranked World No. 17....
and
Tim HenmanTimothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is an retired professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Men's...
. The first Championship match to take place under the roof was the completion of the fourth round women's singles match between
Dinara SafinaDinara Mikhailovna Safina is a Russian professional tennis player and former world number 1 who is currently ranked World No. 2....
and
Amelie MauresmoAmélie Simone Mauresmo ; born 5 July 1979) is a French professional tennis player. She is a former World No. 1. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam singles titles in 2006, at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon....
. The first match to be played in its entirety under the new roof was between Andy Murray and
Stanislas WawrinkaStanislas Wawrinka is a Swiss professional tennis player. His career ranking high is #9, achieved on 9 June 2008.He considers clay his best surface, and the backhand his best shot...
on 29 June 2009, which Murray won 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. The match recorded the latest ever finish at The Championships, concluding at 10.38pm. A new 4000-seat No. 2 Court has been built on the site of the old No. 13 Court and was ready for the 2009 Championships. A new 2000-seat No. 3 Court is being built on the site of the old Court No. 2.
Main events
The five main events, and the number of players (or teams, in the case of doubles) include the following:
- Gentlemen's Singles (128 draw)
- Ladies' Singles (128 draw)
- Gentlemen's Doubles (64 draw)
- Ladies' Doubles (64 draw)
- Mixed Doubles (48 draw)
Junior events
Also known as Chimbledon (Children's Wimbledon), the four junior events and the number of players or teams include the following:
- Boys' Singles (64 draw)
- Girls' Singles (64 draw)
- Boys' Doubles (32 draw)
- Girls' Doubles (32 draw)
No mixed doubles event is held at this level.
Invitation events
The five invitational and the number of pairs include the following:
- Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
- Senior Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
- Ladies' Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
- Gentlemen's Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs)
- Ladies' Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs)
Match formats
Matches in the Gentlemen's Singles and Gentlemen's Doubles competitions are best-of-five sets. Matches in all other events are best-of-three sets. A tiebreak game is played if the score reaches 6–6 in any set except the fifth (in a five-set match) or the third (in a three-set match), in which case a two-game lead must be reached.
All events are
single-elimination tournamentA single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event...
s, except for the Gentlemen's, Senior Gentlemen's and the Ladies' Invitation Doubles, all of which are
round-robin tournamentA round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a type of tournament "in which each contestant meets every other contestant in turn". In a single round-robin schedule, each participant plays every other participant once. If each participant plays all others twice, this is frequently called a...
s.
Until 1922, the winners of the previous year's competition (except in the Ladies Doubles and Mixed Doubles) were automatically granted
byesA bye, in sports and other competitive activities, most commonly refers to the practice of allowing a player or team to advance to the next round of a playoff tournament without playing...
into the final round (then known as the challenge round). This led to many winners retaining their titles for successive years, as they were able to rest while their opponent competed from the start of the competition. From 1922, the prior-year's champions were not granted byes but were required to play all the rounds, like other tournament competitors.
Schedule
Each year, the tournament begins on the Monday falling between 20 and 26 June.
Wimbledon begins two weeks after the
Queen's Club ChampionshipsThe Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is an ATP World Tour 250 series tournament on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour. Its sponsored name is currently the AEGON...
, which is one of the men's major warm-up tournaments for Wimbledon. Another important men's warm-up tournament is the
Gerry Weber OpenThe Gerry Weber Open is a tennis tournament held in Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Held since 1991, the tournament is played on four outdoor grass courts and is a part of the ATP World Tour 250 series on the ATP Tour schedule....
, which is held in
Halle, GermanyHalle is a town in the German Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia and belongs to the district of Gütersloh.- Geographic Location :...
during the same week as the Queen's Club Championships. Other important grass-court tournaments before Wimbledon are Eastbourne, England, and 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, both combining mixed events. The other women's warm-up tournament for Wimbledon is Birmingham, also in England. And to bring the grass court season to an end after the Championships each year there is a tournament held overseas at Newport, Rhode Island, US.
Wimbledon is scheduled for 13 days, beginning on a Monday and ending on a Sunday with the middle Sunday a designated rest day. The five main events span both weeks, but the youth and invitational events are held mainly during the second week. Traditionally, there is no play on the "Middle Sunday", which is considered a rest day. However, rain has forced play on the Middle Sunday three times in the Championship's history: in 1991, 1997, and 2004. On each of these occasions, Wimbledon has staged a "People's Sunday", with unreserved seating and readily available, inexpensive tickets, allowing those with more limited means to sit on the show courts. Additionally, if the tournament is not completed by the end of the second Sunday, all remaining matches are postponed until "People's Monday".
Players and seeding
A total of 128 players feature in each singles event, 64 pairs in each single-sex doubles event, and 48 pairs in Mixed Doubles. Players and doubles pairs are admitted to the main events on the basis of their international rankings, with consideration also given to their previous performances at grasscourt events. Currently (since 2001) 32 male and female players are given
seedingsA seed is a preliminary ranking that can be used in arranging a sports tournament. It is called a seed because of the analogy with plants where the seed might grow into a top rank at the end of that tournament, or the seed might instead wither away...
in the Gentlemen's and Ladies' singles while 16 teams are seeded in the doubles events.
The Committee of Management and the Referee evaluate all applications for entry, and determine which players may be admitted to the tournament directly. The committee may admit a player without a high enough ranking as a wild card. Usually, wild cards are players who have performed well during previous tournaments, or would stimulate public interest in Wimbledon by participating. The only wild card to win the Gentlemen's Singles Championship was
Goran IvaniševićGoran Ivanišević is a former professional tennis player from Croatia. He is best remembered for being the only person to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard. He achieved this in 2001, having previously been runner-up at the championships in 1992, 1994 and 1998...
in 2001. Players and pairs who neither have high enough rankings nor receive wild cards may participate in a qualifying tournament held one week before Wimbledon at the
Bank of EnglandThe Bank of England is, despite its name, the central bank of the whole of the United Kingdom and is the model on which most modern, large central banks have been based. It was established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and to this day it still acts as the banker for the UK...
Sports Ground in
RoehamptonRoehampton is a district in south-west London, forming the western end of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It lies between the town of Barnes to the north, Putney to the east, Wimbledon Common to the south and Richmond Park Golf Course to the west of the neighbourhood. In between which is...
. The singles qualifying competitions are three-round events; the same-sex doubles competitions last for only one round. There is no qualifying tournament for Mixed Doubles. No qualifier has won either the Gentlemen's Singles or the Ladies' Singles tournaments. The furthest that any qualifier has progressed in the main draw of a Singles tournament is the semi-final round:
John McEnroeJohn Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles—three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open—nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
in 1977,
Vladimir VoltchkovVladimir Nikolayevich Voltchkov is a Belarusian tennis player. Voltchkov reached the semi-final at the 2000 Wimbledon, where, as a qualifer, he lost to Pete Sampras in straight sets...
in 2000 (Gentlemen's Singles), and
Alexandra StevensonAlexandra Winfield Stevenson is a professional tennis player from the United States. She is the daughter of retired professional basketball player Julius Erving....
in 1999 (Ladies' Singles).
Players are admitted to the junior tournaments upon the recommendations of their national tennis associations, on their
International Tennis FederationThe International Tennis Federation is the governing body of world tennis, made up of 205 national tennis associations.It was established as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by 12 national associations meeting at a conference in Paris, France on 1 March 1913...
world rankings and, in the case of the singles events, on the basis of a qualifying competition. The Committee of Management determines which players may enter the four invitational events.
The Committee seeds the top players and pairs on the basis of their rankings. However, the Committee does also change the seedings due to a player's previous grass court performance. A majority of the entrants are unseeded. Only two unseeded players have ever won the Gentlemen's Singles Championship:
Boris BeckerBoris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17. Tennis Magazine put Becker in 18th place on its list of...
in 1985 and
Goran IvaniševićGoran Ivanišević is a former professional tennis player from Croatia. He is best remembered for being the only person to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard. He achieved this in 2001, having previously been runner-up at the championships in 1992, 1994 and 1998...
in 2001. (In 1985 there were only 16 seeds and Becker was ranked 20th at the time; Ivanišević, however, was ranked 125th when he won as a Wild Card entrant.) No unseeded player has captured the Ladies' Singles title; the lowest seeded female champion was
Venus WilliamsVenus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions; as of October 19, 2009, she is ranked World No. 4...
, who won in 2007 as the twenty-third seed, beating her own record from 2005, when Williams won as the fourteenth seed. Unseeded pairs have won the doubles titles on numerous occasions; the 2005 Gentlemen's Doubles champions were not only unseeded, but also (for the first time ever) qualifiers.
Grounds
The nineteen courts used for Wimbledon are composed purely of rye grass.
The main show courts,
Centre CourtCentre Court is the main court at the Wimbledon Championship, the 3rd annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is situated in the Aorangi Park and is home to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club, its only regular use is for the two weeks a year that the Championships take place,...
and
No. 1 CourtNo. 1 Court is a tennis court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London. Opened in 1997, it is used for the Wimbledon Championships and is sometime chosen for Great Britain Davis Cup home ties, the primary Centre Court being preserved solely for the Grand Slam tennis...
, are normally used only for two weeks a year, during the Championships, but play can extend into a third week in exceptional circumstances. The remaining seventeen courts are regularly used for other events hosted by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. The show courts will, however, be pressed into action for the second time in three months in 2012 as Wimbledon will host the tennis events of the
2012 Olympic GamesThe 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are due to take place in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
. One of the show courts is also used for home games for the GB teams in the
Davis CupThe Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. The largest annual international team competition in sports, the Davis Cup is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition...
.
Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event played on grass courts. At one time, all the Grand Slam events, except the French Open, were played on grass. The US Open abandoned grass for a synthetic clay surface in 1975 and changed again to a hard surface (
DecoTurfDecoTurf is a tennis hardcourt comprising layers of acrylic, rubber, silica, and other materials on top of an asphalt or concrete base. It is manufactured by Decosystems, which is a division of California Products Corporation which also manufactures Plexipave), and is based in Andover,...
) with its 1978 move to the National Tennis Center. The
Australian OpenThe Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments held each year. The tournament is held each January at Melbourne Park. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was contested on grass from then up to 1987. Since 1988, the tournament has been held on hard...
abandoned grass for
Rebound AceRebound Ace is a cushioned tennis hardcourt comprising layers of polyurethane rubber, fiberglass, and other materials on top of an asphalt or reinforced concrete base...
, a different type of hard surface, in 1988, and switched to yet another type of hard surface,
PlexicushionPlexicushion is a tennis surface system made by Plexipave, a company based in Massachusetts, USA.- Description :According to the Plexipave website there are four different types of Plexicushion...
, in 2008.
The principal court,
Centre CourtCentre Court is the main court at the Wimbledon Championship, the 3rd annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is situated in the Aorangi Park and is home to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club, its only regular use is for the two weeks a year that the Championships take place,...
, was opened in 1922 when the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club moved from Worple Road to Church Road. This change of venue was due to the huge crowd pressure at Worple Road to see the French phenomenon
Suzanne LenglenSuzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen was a French tennis player who won 31 Grand Slam titles between 1914 and 1926. A flamboyant, trendsetting athlete, she was the first female tennis celebrity and one of the first international female sport stars, named La Divine by the French press.- Early life :A...
, and for which that ground proved completely inadequate.
Due to the possibility of rain during Wimbledon, a retractable roof was installed prior to the 2009 Championship. The retractable roof is designed to close/open in about 10 minutes and will be closed primarily to protect play from inclement (and, if necessary, extremely hot) weather during The Championships. When the roof is being opened or closed, play is suspended. During a Wimbledon Championship match, the first time the roof was closed was on Monday 29 June 2009, involving
Amélie MauresmoAmélie Simone Mauresmo ; born 5 July 1979) is a French professional tennis player. She is a former World No. 1. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam singles titles in 2006, at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon....
and
Dinara SafinaDinara Mikhailovna Safina is a Russian professional tennis player and former world number 1 who is currently ranked World No. 2....
. The court has a capacity of 15,000. At its south end is the Royal Box, from which members of the Royal Family and other dignitaries watch matches. Centre Court usually hosts the finals and semifinals of the main events, as well as many matches in the earlier rounds involving top-seeded players or local favourites.
The second most important court is
No. 1 CourtNo. 1 Court is a tennis court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London. Opened in 1997, it is used for the Wimbledon Championships and is sometime chosen for Great Britain Davis Cup home ties, the primary Centre Court being preserved solely for the Grand Slam tennis...
. The court was constructed in 1997 to replace the old No. 1 Court, which was adjacent to Centre Court. The old No. 1 Court was demolished because its capacity for spectators was too low. The court was said to have had a unique, more intimate atmosphere and was a favourite of many players. The new No. 1 Court has a capacity of approximately 11,000.
From 2009, a new No. 2 Court is being used at Wimbledon with a capacity for 4,000 people. To obtain
planning permissionPlanning permission or planning consent is the permission required in the United Kingdom in order to be allowed to build on land, or change the use of land or buildings. Within the UK the occupier of any land or building will need title to that land or building , but will also need "planning...
, the playing surface is around 3.5m below ground level, ensuring that the single-story structure is only about 3.5m above ground level, and thus not affecting local views. Plans to build on the current site of Court 13 were dismissed due to the high capacity of games that will be played at the
2012 Olympic GamesThe 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are due to take place in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
. The old No. 2 Court has been renamed as Court No. 3. The old No. 2 Court was known as the "Graveyard of Champions" because many highly seeded players were eliminated there during early rounds over the years, including
Ilie NastaseIlie Năstase is a former Romanian professional tennis player, one of the world's top players of the 1970s. Năstase was the World No. 1 in 1973 according to the Association of Tennis Professionals ranking system, which placed him first from August 23, 1973 to June 2, 1974...
,
John McEnroeJohn Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles—three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open—nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
,
Boris BeckerBoris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17. Tennis Magazine put Becker in 18th place on its list of...
,
Andre AgassiAndre Kirk Agassi is a former World No. 1 professional American tennis player who won eight Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. He is generally considered by critics and fellow players to be among the greatest tennis players of all time, and has been called the...
,
Pete SamprasPete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former World No. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam men's singles titles, and had a 203–38 win-loss record over 52 Grand Slam singles tournament appearances....
,
Martina HingisMartina Hingis is a retired professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...
,
Venus WilliamsVenus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions; as of October 19, 2009, she is ranked World No. 4...
, and
Serena WilliamsSerena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and current World No. 1. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on four separate occasions...
. The court has a capacity of about 3,000.
At the northern end of the grounds is a giant television screen on which important matches are broadcast. Fans watch from an area of grass officially known as the Aorangi Terrace. When British players do well at Wimbledon, the hill attracts fans for them, and is often re-named by the press for them:
Greg RusedskiGregory "Greg" Rusedski is a former British Canadian tennis player who turned professional in 1991, and played until his retirement on 7 April 2007, at the age of 33....
's followers convened at "Rusedski Ridge", and
Tim HenmanTimothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is an retired professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Men's...
has had the hill nicknamed
Henman HillAorangi Terrace, colloquially known as "Henman Hill", is an area in the grounds of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club where, during the annual Wimbledon tennis championship, crowds of people without showcourt tickets can watch the tennis matches live on a giant television screen at the...
. As both of them have now retired and Andy Murray is the number 1 British player, the hill is now sometimes referred to as "Murray Mound" or "
MurrayfieldMurrayfield Stadium is a sports stadium located in the west end of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland...
", as a reference to his Scottish heritage and the Scottish ground of the same name.
Ball boys and ball girls
In the championship games,
ball boys and girlsBall Boy is a comic strip in the UK comic The Beano and also the name of the main character. It first appeared in issue 1735, dated 18 October 1975. It features a five-a-side football team that includes:* Ball Boy - the captain of the team, Ball Boy bears resemblances to The Dandy's Owen Goal...
, known as BBGs, play a crucial role in the smooth running of the tournament, with a brief that a good BBG "should not be seen. They should blend into the background and get on with their jobs quietly."
From 1947 ball boys were supplied by Goldings , the only Barnardos school to provide them. Previous to this, from the 1920s onwards, the ball boys had been provided by The Shaftsbury Children's Home.
Since 1969, BBGs have been provided by local schools. As of 2008 they are drawn from schools in the London boroughs of
Merton-People:* Gerald Merton, English astronomer * Paul Merton , British actor and comedian* Robert C. Merton , American nobel-prize winning economist, or to his Merton Model...
,
Sutton-Places:Sutton, meaning 'south settlement' in Old English, is a very common place name. Places named Sutton include:-United Kingdom:In London:* London Borough of Sutton** which includes Sutton, London** historically Sutton Urban District...
,
KingstonKingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in south-west London.It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross...
and
WandsworthWandsworth is an inner suburb of London on the south bank of the River Thames in south-west London. Wandsworth takes its name from the River Wandle, which enters the Thames at Wandsworth. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Wandsworth appears in...
, as well as from
SurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford...
. Traditionally, Wandsworth Boys Grammar School in Sutherland Grove, Southfields and Mayfield Girls School on West Hill in Wandsworth, both now defunct, were the schools of choice for selection of BBGs. This was possibly owing to their proximity to the All England Club. BBGs have an average age of 15, being drawn from the school years
nineYear Nine is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the ninth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between thirteen and fifteen....
and
tenYear Ten is an educational year group in schools in many countries including India, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the tenth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between fourteen and sixteen....
. BBGs will serve for one, or if re-selected, two tournaments.
As of 2005, BBGs work in crews of six, 2 at the net, 4 at the corners, and crews rotate one hour on court, one hour off, (two hours depending on the court) for the day's play. Crews are not told which court they will be working on the day, to ensure the same standards across all courts. With the expansion of the number of courts, and lengthening the tennis day, as of 2008, the number of BBGs required is around 250. BBG service is paid, with a total of £120-£160 being paid to each ball boy
or girl after the 13-day period. Along with this it is seen as a privilege, and seen as a valuable addition to a school leaver's curriculum vitae, showing discipline. BBG places are split 50:50 between boys and girls, with girls having been used since 1977, appearing on centre court since 1985.
Prospective BBGs are first nominated by their school headteacher, to be considered for selection. To be selected, a candidate must pass written tests on the rules of tennis, and pass fitness, mobility and other suitability tests, against initial preliminary instruction material. Successful candidates then commence a training phase, starting in February, in which the final BBGs are chosen through continual assessment. As of 2008, this training intake was 600. The training includes weekly sessions of physical, procedural and theoretical instruction, to ensure that the BBGs are fast, alert, self confident and adaptable to situations. As of 2007, early training occurs at Sutton Junior Tennis Centre, and then moves to the main courts after
EasterEaster is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day from his crucifixion...
.
Colours and uniforms
Dark green and
purplePurple is a general term used in English for the range of shades of color occurring between red and blue. In additive light combinations it occurs by mixing the primary colors red and blue in varying proportions...
(sometimes also referred to as
mauveMauve is a pale lavender-lilac color, one of many in the range of purples....
) are the traditional Wimbledon colours. However, all tennis players participating in the tournament are required to wear all white or at least almost all white clothing, a long time tradition at Wimbledon. Wearing white clothing with some colour accents is also acceptable. Green clothing was worn by the chair umpire, linesmen, ball boys and ball girls until the 2005 Championships; however, beginning with the 2006 Championships, officials, ball boys and ball girls were outfitted in new navy blue and cream coloured uniforms from American designer
Ralph LaurenRalph Lauren is an American fashion designer and business executive. He is most notable for his Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand.-Early life:...
. This marked the first time in the history of the Championships that an outside company was used to design Wimbledon clothing. Wimbledon's contract with Ralph Lauren is set to last until 2009.
Referring to players
Prior to 2009 female players were referred to by the title "Miss" or "Mrs" on scoreboards. As dictated by strict rule of etiquette, married female players are referred to by their husbands' names: for example,
Chris Evert-LloydChristine Marie "Chris" Evert is a former world number 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships, including a record seven championships at the French Open and a record six championships at the U.S. Open. According to the Women's Tennis...
appeared on scoreboards as "Mrs. J. M. Lloyd" during her marriage to
John LloydJohn Lloyd is a former professional tennis player and current television commentator.During his career, he reached one Grand Slam singles final and won three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles...
, since "Mrs. X" essentially designates "The Wife of X". This tradition has continued at least to some extent.. For the first time during the 2009 tournament, players were referred to on scoreboards by both their first and last names. For example "Andy Murray" and not "A. Murray".
The title "Mr" is not used for male players who are professionals on scoreboards but the prefix is retained for amateurs, although chair umpires refer to players as "Mr" when they use the replay challenge. The chair umpire will say "Mr
is challenging the call..." and "Mr has X challenges remaining."
If a match is being played with two competitors of the same surname (e.g. Venus and Serena Williams, Bob and Mike Bryan), the chair umpire will specify whom they are referring to by stating the player's first name and surname during announcements (e.g. "Game, Serena Williams", "Advantage, Mike Bryan").
Royal family
Previously, players bowed or curtsied to members of the Royal Family seated in the Royal Box upon entering or leaving Centre Court. In 2003, however, the President of the All England Club, His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, decided to discontinue the tradition. Now, players are required to bow or curtsy only if Her Majesty the Queen or the Prince of Wales is present.
Radio Wimbledon
Since 1992, Radio WimbledonRadio Wimbledon is the official radio station to the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the AELTC in Wimbledon.-About:Radio Wimbledon broadcasts daily on 87.7FM between 8am and approximately 10pm during the Championships at Wimbledon...
– an on-site radio station with a studio in the Centre Court building – has broadcast commentary, music and speech from 8am to 10pm daily throughout the championship. It also broadcast the draw on the Friday before the start of the tournament. Radio WimbledonRadio Wimbledon is the official radio station to the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the AELTC in Wimbledon.-About:Radio Wimbledon broadcasts daily on 87.7FM between 8am and approximately 10pm during the Championships at Wimbledon...
can be heard within a five-mile radius on 87.7 FM, and also online. It operates under a Restricted Service LicenceA UK Restricted Service Licence , is typically granted to radio stations and television stations broadcasting within the UK to serve a local community or a special event...
and is arguably the most sophisticated RSL annually in the UK. The main presenters are Sam Lloyd and Ali Barton. Typically they work alternate four-hour shifts. Reporters and commentators include Gigi Salmon, Nick Lestor, Rupert Bell, Nigel Bidmead, Guy Swindells, Lucie Ahl, Nadine Towell and Helen Whitaker. Often they report from the "Crow's Nest", an elevated building housing the Court 3 and 4 scoreboards which affords views of most of the outside courts. Regular guests include Sue Mappin. In recent years Radio WimbledonRadio Wimbledon is the official radio station to the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the AELTC in Wimbledon.-About:Radio Wimbledon broadcasts daily on 87.7FM between 8am and approximately 10pm during the Championships at Wimbledon...
acquired a second low-power FM frequency (within the grounds only) of 96.3 FM for uninterrupted Centre Court commentary, and, from 2006, a third for coverage from No. 1 Court on 97.8 FM. Hourly news bulletins and travel (using RDSRadio Data System, or RDS, is a communications protocol standard for embedding small amounts of digital information in conventional FM radio broadcasts. The RDS system standardises several types of information transmitted, including time, station identification and programme information.Radio...
) are also broadcast.
Television coverage
For over 60 years, the BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
has broadcast the tournament on television in the UK, splitting time for the many matches it covers between its two main terrestrial channels, BBC One
and BBC Two
. The BBC holds the broadcast rights for Wimbledon until 2014 and it distributes its commercial-free feed to outlets worldwide. During the days of British Satellite BroadcastingBritish Satellite Broadcasting was a British television company which provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom...
, its sports channel carried extra coverage of Wimbledon for subscribers. One of the most notable British commentators was Dan MaskellDaniel "Dan" Maskell was an English tennis player, who later became even better known as a radio and television commentator on the game, and was known as the BBC's "voice of tennis"....
, who was known as the BBC's "voice of tennis" until his retirement in 1991. Other regular commentators on UK television include British ex-players Greg RusedskiGregory "Greg" Rusedski is a former British Canadian tennis player who turned professional in 1991, and played until his retirement on 7 April 2007, at the age of 33....
, Andrew CastleAndrew Nicholas Castle is an English retired tennis professional, and now television presenter.-Biography:...
, Tim HenmanTimothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is an retired professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Men's...
and Annabel CroftAnnabel Croft is a former professional tennis player and current television presenter.Since retiring from tennis, she has turned to television presenting, with such shows as Treasure Hunt and Interceptor...
; and guest veterans such as Boris BeckerBoris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17. Tennis Magazine put Becker in 18th place on its list of...
, John McEnroeJohn Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles—three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open—nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
, Jimmy ConnorsJames Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former World No. 1 tennis player. Connors is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time...
and Tracy AustinTracy Ann Austin Holt is a former World No. 1 women's professional tennis player from the United States who won the women's singles title at the US Open in 1979 and 1981 and the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 1980, before a series of injuries cut short her career.-To 1980:Austin won 21...
. The coverage is presented by Sue BarkerSusan Barker, MBE is a television presenter and former professional tennis player. During her tennis career, she won the women's singles title at the French Open and reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3...
and highlights with John InverdaleJohn Inverdale , is an English radio and television broadcaster who works for the BBC, mainly covering sporting events.-Biography:...
. Previous BBC presenters include Des LynamDesmond Michael "Des" Lynam, OBE is an Irish presenter on British television and radio.He has hosted television coverage of high profile events for many years...
, David VineDavid Martin Vine was a British television sports presenter. He presented a wide variety of shows from the 1960s onwards.-Early life:...
and Harry CarpenterHarry Carpenter , is a former BBC sports commentator broadcasting from the early 1950s until his retirement in 1994. His speciality was boxing...
.
The Wimbledon Finals are obliged to be shown live and in full on terrestrial television (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5) by government mandate. Highlights of the rest of the tournament must be provided by terrestrial stations; live coverage (excepting the finals) may be sought by satellite or cable tv.
Americans have made a tradition of NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
's "Breakfast at Wimbledon" specials at weekends, where live coverage starts early in the morning (the US being a minimum of 5 hours behind the UK) and continues well into the afternoon, interspersed with commentary and interviews from Bud CollinsArthur Worth "Bud" Collins, Jr. is an American journalist and television sportscaster, best known for his tennis commentary...
, whose tennis acumen and (in)famous patterned trousers are well-known to tennis fans in the USA. Collins was sacked by NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
in 2007, but was promptly hired by ESPNESPN is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day....
, the cable home for The Championships in the States. From 1975 to 1999, premium channel HBO carried weekday coverage of Wimbledon. Hosts included Jim LampleyJim Lampley is an American sportscaster, news anchor, movie producer, and restaurant owner. He has been in several television shows, but is better known for his participation in the HBO Boxing series . He currently works alongside Larry Merchant and Emanuel Steward in that series...
, Billie Jean KingBillie Jean King is a tennis player from the United States. She won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. King has been an advocate against sexism in sports and society...
, Martina NavratilovaMartina Navrátilová is a Czech-American tennis player. A former World No. 1...
, John Lloyd and Barry MacKayBarry MacKay is a retired professional tennis player and tournament director, and a current television broadcaster. He was the NCAA Men's Singles Champion and Doubles Finalist with Richard Potter in 1957, while playing for University of Michigan. He was a Doubles Finalist with Sammy Giammalva at...
among others.
Wimbledon was also involved, unintentionally, in a piece of television history, on 1 July 1967. That was when the first official colour broadcast took place in the UK. Four hours live coverage of Wimbledon was shown on BBC2 (then the only colour channel in the UK), and although footage of that historic match no longer survives, the men's final that year is still held in the BBC archives because it was the first men's final transmitted in colour.
Since 2007, the most anticipated Wimbledon matches have been transmitted in High Definition, on the BBC's free-to-air channel BBC HDBBC HD is a high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007...
, with continual live coverage during the tournament of Centre Court and Court No. 1 as well as an evening highlight show (Today at Wimbledon).
The BBC's opening theme music for Wimbledon was composed by Keith MansfieldKeith Mansfield is a British composer and arranger known for his creation of prominent television theme tunes, including the Grandstand theme for the BBC...
and is titled "Light and Tuneful". A piece titled "A Sporting Occasion" is the traditional closing theme, though nowadays coverage typically ends either with a montage set to a popular song or with no music at all.
Tickets
The majority of centre and show court tickets sold to the general public are made available by a public ballot that the All England Club holds at the start of the year. A ballot for tickets has been held since 1924.
The ballot has always been substantially oversubscribed. Successful applicants are selected at random by a computer.
The All England Club, through its subsidiary The All England Lawn Tennis Ground plc, issues Debentures to tennis fans every five years to raise funds for capital expenditure. Fans who invest thus in the club receive a pair of tickets for every day of the Wimbledon Championships for the five years the investment lasts. Only debenture holders are permitted to sell on their tickets to third parties, although for many years ticket touts have made a habit of illegally purchasing tickets allocated to non-debenture holders in the draw and selling them for a profit. In 2007 a group of debenture holders in the All England Club created the first website allowing debenture holders to sell tickets directly to members of the public. The new website, http://www.wimbledondebentureholders.com , allows debenture holders to sell their own tickets without paying a middle man, thus making the tickets themselves considerably cheaper for consumers.
Wimbledon is the only grand slam where fans without tickets for play can queue up and still get seats on Centre Court, Court 1 and Court 2. From 2008, there is a single queue, allotted about 500 seats for each court. When they join the queue fans are handed vouchers with a number on it and the following morning when the line moves towards the Grounds, stewards come through the line and hand out wristbands colour-coded to the specific court. The voucher is then redeemed at the ticket office for the ticket.
To get into the show courts, fans will normally have to queue overnight at Wimbledon. This is done by fans from all over the world and is considered part of the Wimbledon experience in itself. Those planning to queue overnight are advised to bring a tent and sleeping bag. Times to queue up vary according to the weather, but anyone queueing up before 9PM on a weekday should be able to get a show court ticket. Queuing for the show courts ends after the quarter finals have been completed.
Fans can also try to get a resale show court ticket at a price of £5 - something usually worth doing if there is a good match and if they have been queuing for more than 6 hours.
Trophies and prize money
The Gentlemen's Singles champion receives a silver gilt cup 18.5 inches (about 47 cm) in height and 7.5 inches (about 19 cm) in diameter. The trophy has been awarded since 1887 and bears the inscription: "The All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Champion of the World." The Ladies' Singles champion receives a sterling silver salver commonly known as the "Venus Rosewater DishThe Venus Rosewater Dish is awarded to the ladies singles champion at the Wimbledon Championships. It is an 18.75in silver salver made in 1864 by Messrs. Elkington and Co. Ltd. of Birmingham. The pewter original from the 1500s resides in the Louvre...
", or simply the "Rosewater Dish". The salver, which is 18.75 inches (about 48 cm) in diameter, is decorated with figures from mythology. The winners of the Gentlemen's Doubles, Ladies' Doubles, and Mixed Doubles events receive silver cups. The runner-up in each event receives an inscribed silver plate. The trophies are usually presented by the President of the All England Club, The Duke of KentPrince Edward, Duke of Kent is a member of the British Royal Family, a grandchild of George V. He has held the title of Duke of Kent since 1942....
.
Prize money was first awarded in 1968, the first year that professional players were allowed to compete in the Championships.
In 2008, the prize money for the main events is as follows (the amounts shown for the doubles events are per pair):
- Gentlemen's Singles and Ladies' Singles Winners £850,000
In 2009, a total of £12,500,000 in prize money was awarded with the singles champions receiving £850,000 each, an increase of 13.3 percent on 2008.
Champions
- Main article: List of Wimbledon champions (and the Championships by year)
Current champions
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon, is the oldest tennisTennis is a sport played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a strung racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court....
tournament in the world and is generally considered the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England ClubThe All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club , also known as the All-England Club, based at Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam tennis event still held on grass...
in the London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
suburb of WimbledonWimbledon is a suburb in south west London, part of the London Borough of Merton and located from Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
since 1877. It is one of the four Grand SlamThe four Grand Slam tournaments, also called the Majors, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, and public attention. They are: Australian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open...
tennis tournaments, and the only one still played on the game's original surface, grass, which gave the game of lawn tennis its name.
The tournament takes place over two weeks in late June and early July, culminating with the ladies' and gentlemen's singles final, scheduled respectively for the second Saturday and Sunday. Each year, five major events are contested, as well as four junior events and four invitational events.
The hard court Australian OpenThe Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments held each year. The tournament is held each January at Melbourne Park. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was contested on grass from then up to 1987. Since 1988, the tournament has been held on hard...
and clay courtA clay court is one of the four different types of tennis court. Clay courts are made of crushed shale, stone or brick. The red clay is slower than the green, or Har-Tru "American" clay. The French Open uses clay courts, making it unique among the Grand Slam tournaments.Clay courts are more common...
French Open precede Wimbledon in the calendar year. The hard court US Open follows. For men, the grass court Queen's Club ChampionshipsThe Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is an ATP World Tour 250 series tournament on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour. Its sponsored name is currently the AEGON...
, also in London, the Gerry Weber OpenThe Gerry Weber Open is a tennis tournament held in Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Held since 1991, the tournament is played on four outdoor grass courts and is a part of the ATP World Tour 250 series on the ATP Tour schedule....
in Halle, Germany, and the Ordina OpenThe Ordina Open is a tennis tournament on the ATP Tour and WTA Tour held in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.-Singles:-Doubles:-Singles:-Doubles:-External links:*...
in 's-Hertogenbosch's-Hertogenbosch — translated in French as Bois-le-Duc, in German as Herzogenbusch, in Spanish as Bolduque and in Italian as Boscoducale — is a municipality in the Netherlands, and also the capital of the province of North Brabant...
, NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
are popular warm up tournaments for Wimbledon. For women, there are warm-up tournaments in Birmingham and Eastbourne.
Wimbledon traditions include the eating of strawberriesGarden strawberries are a common kind of strawberry cultivated worldwide. Like other species of Fragaria , it belongs to the family Rosaceae. Technically, it is not a fruit, but a false fruit, meaning the fleshy part is derived not from the plant's ovaries but from the peg at the bottom of the...
and creamCream is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, over time, the lighter fat rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream this process is accelerated by using centrifuges called "separators"...
, drinking Pimms spritzers, royal patronage, and a strict dress code for competitors. In 2009, Wimbledon's Centre CourtCentre Court is the main court at the Wimbledon Championship, the 3rd annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is situated in the Aorangi Park and is home to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club, its only regular use is for the two weeks a year that the Championships take place,...
was fitted with a retractable roofA retractable roof is a kinetic architectural element used in many sports venues, in which a roof made of a suitable material can readily be mechanically deployed from some "retracted" or "open" position into a "closed" or "extended" position that completely covers the field of play and spectator...
to insure against the possibility of rain delays interrupting Centre Court matches during the tournament.
Beginnings
The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is a private club founded in 1868, originally as 'The All England Croquet Club'. Its first ground was situated off Worple Road, Wimbledon.
In 1875, lawn tennis, a game devised by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield a year or so earlier and originally called 'Sphairistike', was added to the activities of the club. In the spring of 1877, the club was re-titled 'The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club' and signalled its change of name by instituting the first Lawn Tennis Championship. A new code of laws (replacing the code until then administered by the Marylebone Cricket ClubMarylebone Cricket Club was founded in 1787 as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground near St John's Wood in north London. MCC was formerly the governing body of cricket in England and across the world...
) was drawn up for the event. Today's rules are similar except for details such as the height of the net and posts and the distance of the service line from the net.
The only event held in 1877 was the Gentlemen's Singles, which was won by Spencer Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player, from a field of 22. About 200 spectators paid one shilling each to watch the final.
The lawns at the ground were arranged so that the principal court was located in the middle with the others arranged around it; hence the title 'Centre Court', which was retained when the Club moved in 1922 to the present site in Church Road, although not a true description of its location. However, in 1980 four new courts were brought into commission on the north side of the ground, which meant the Centre Court was once more correctly defined. The opening of the new No. 1 Court in 1997 emphasised the description.
By 1882, activity at the club was almost exclusively confined to lawn tennis and that year the word 'croquet' was dropped from the title. However, for sentimental reasons, it was restored in 1889 and since then the title has remained The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet ClubThe All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club , also known as the All-England Club, based at Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam tennis event still held on grass...
.
In 1884, the All England Club added ladies' singles and gentlemen's doubles. Ladies' doubles and mixed doubles were added in 1913. Until 1922, the reigning champion had to play only in the final, against whoever had won through to challenge him. As with the other three Grand Slam events, Wimbledon was contested by top-ranked amateur players until the advent of the open era in tennis in 1968. No British man has won the singles event at Wimbledon since Fred PerryFrederick John Perry born in Stockport, Cheshire, was a British tennis and table tennis player and three-time Wimbledon champion. He was the World No...
in 1936 and no British woman has won the Ladies Singles since Virginia WadeSarah Virginia Wade, OBE is an English former tennis player. She won three Grand Slam singles titles and four Grand Slam doubles titles. She won the women's singles title at Wimbledon in the tournament's centenary year on 1 July 1977, the last time a Briton has won a singles title at the tournament...
in 1977, although Annabel CroftAnnabel Croft is a former professional tennis player and current television presenter.Since retiring from tennis, she has turned to television presenting, with such shows as Treasure Hunt and Interceptor...
and Laura RobsonLaura Robson is a British tennis player. Born in Australia, she moved to the UK at an early age and first gained a British passport in early 2008....
won the girls' championship in 1984List of the 1984 Wimbledon champions:-Men's singles: John McEnroe def. Jimmy Connors, 6–1, 6–1, 6–2*It was McEnroe's 8th title of the year, and his 54th overall. It was his 6th career Grand Slam title, and his 3rd Wimbledon title.-Women's singles: Martina Navrátilová def...
and 2008The 2008 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 122nd edition of the Wimbledon Championships, and the third Grand Slam event of the year...
, respectively. The Championship was first televised in 1937.
21st century
Wimbledon is widely considered to be the premier tennis tournament in the world and the priority of The All England Lawn Tennis Club, which hosts The Championships, is to maintain its leadership into the 21st century. To that end a long term plan was unveiled in 1993, intended to improve the quality of the event for spectators, players, officials and neighbours.
Stage one of the plan was completed for the 1997 championships and involved building in Aorangi Park the new No. 1 Court, a broadcast centre, two extra grass courts and a tunnel under the hill linking Church Road and Somerset Road.
Stage two involved the removal of the old No. 1 Court complex to make way for the new Millennium Building, providing extensive facilities for the players, press, officials and members, and the extension of the West Stand of the Centre Court with 728 extra seats.
Stage three has been completed with the construction of an entrance building, housing club staff, museum, bank and ticket office.
A new retractable roof has been built in time for the 2009 championships, marking the first time in the tournament's history that rain will not stop play for a lengthly time on Centre Court. The All England Club tested the new roof at an event called A Centre Court Celebration on Sunday, 17 May 2009, which featured exhibition matches involving Andre AgassiAndre Kirk Agassi is a former World No. 1 professional American tennis player who won eight Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. He is generally considered by critics and fellow players to be among the greatest tennis players of all time, and has been called the...
, Steffi GrafStefanie Maria Graf is a former World No. 1 female tennis player from Germany.Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...
, Kim ClijstersKim Antonie Lode Clijsters is a Belgian tennis player. She is a former World No. 1 ranked player in singles and in doubles. As of September 28, 2009, she is ranked World No. 17....
and Tim HenmanTimothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is an retired professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Men's...
. The first Championship match to take place under the roof was the completion of the fourth round women's singles match between Dinara SafinaDinara Mikhailovna Safina is a Russian professional tennis player and former world number 1 who is currently ranked World No. 2....
and Amelie MauresmoAmélie Simone Mauresmo ; born 5 July 1979) is a French professional tennis player. She is a former World No. 1. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam singles titles in 2006, at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon....
. The first match to be played in its entirety under the new roof was between Andy Murray and Stanislas WawrinkaStanislas Wawrinka is a Swiss professional tennis player. His career ranking high is #9, achieved on 9 June 2008.He considers clay his best surface, and the backhand his best shot...
on 29 June 2009, which Murray won 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. The match recorded the latest ever finish at The Championships, concluding at 10.38pm. A new 4000-seat No. 2 Court has been built on the site of the old No. 13 Court and was ready for the 2009 Championships. A new 2000-seat No. 3 Court is being built on the site of the old Court No. 2.
Main events
The five main events, and the number of players (or teams, in the case of doubles) include the following:
- Gentlemen's Singles (128 draw)
- Ladies' Singles (128 draw)
- Gentlemen's Doubles (64 draw)
- Ladies' Doubles (64 draw)
- Mixed Doubles (48 draw)
Junior events
Also known as Chimbledon (Children's Wimbledon), the four junior events and the number of players or teams include the following:
- Boys' Singles (64 draw)
- Girls' Singles (64 draw)
- Boys' Doubles (32 draw)
- Girls' Doubles (32 draw)
No mixed doubles event is held at this level.
Invitation events
The five invitational and the number of pairs include the following:
- Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
- Senior Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
- Ladies' Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
- Gentlemen's Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs)
- Ladies' Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs)
Match formats
Matches in the Gentlemen's Singles and Gentlemen's Doubles competitions are best-of-five sets. Matches in all other events are best-of-three sets. A tiebreak game is played if the score reaches 6–6 in any set except the fifth (in a five-set match) or the third (in a three-set match), in which case a two-game lead must be reached.
All events are single-elimination tournamentA single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event...
s, except for the Gentlemen's, Senior Gentlemen's and the Ladies' Invitation Doubles, all of which are round-robin tournamentA round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a type of tournament "in which each contestant meets every other contestant in turn". In a single round-robin schedule, each participant plays every other participant once. If each participant plays all others twice, this is frequently called a...
s.
Until 1922, the winners of the previous year's competition (except in the Ladies Doubles and Mixed Doubles) were automatically granted byesA bye, in sports and other competitive activities, most commonly refers to the practice of allowing a player or team to advance to the next round of a playoff tournament without playing...
into the final round (then known as the challenge round). This led to many winners retaining their titles for successive years, as they were able to rest while their opponent competed from the start of the competition. From 1922, the prior-year's champions were not granted byes but were required to play all the rounds, like other tournament competitors.
Schedule
Each year, the tournament begins on the Monday falling between 20 and 26 June.
Wimbledon begins two weeks after the Queen's Club ChampionshipsThe Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is an ATP World Tour 250 series tournament on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour. Its sponsored name is currently the AEGON...
, which is one of the men's major warm-up tournaments for Wimbledon. Another important men's warm-up tournament is the Gerry Weber OpenThe Gerry Weber Open is a tennis tournament held in Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Held since 1991, the tournament is played on four outdoor grass courts and is a part of the ATP World Tour 250 series on the ATP Tour schedule....
, which is held in Halle, GermanyHalle is a town in the German Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia and belongs to the district of Gütersloh.- Geographic Location :...
during the same week as the Queen's Club Championships. Other important grass-court tournaments before Wimbledon are Eastbourne, England, and 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, both combining mixed events. The other women's warm-up tournament for Wimbledon is Birmingham, also in England. And to bring the grass court season to an end after the Championships each year there is a tournament held overseas at Newport, Rhode Island, US.
Wimbledon is scheduled for 13 days, beginning on a Monday and ending on a Sunday with the middle Sunday a designated rest day. The five main events span both weeks, but the youth and invitational events are held mainly during the second week. Traditionally, there is no play on the "Middle Sunday", which is considered a rest day. However, rain has forced play on the Middle Sunday three times in the Championship's history: in 1991, 1997, and 2004. On each of these occasions, Wimbledon has staged a "People's Sunday", with unreserved seating and readily available, inexpensive tickets, allowing those with more limited means to sit on the show courts. Additionally, if the tournament is not completed by the end of the second Sunday, all remaining matches are postponed until "People's Monday".
Players and seeding
A total of 128 players feature in each singles event, 64 pairs in each single-sex doubles event, and 48 pairs in Mixed Doubles. Players and doubles pairs are admitted to the main events on the basis of their international rankings, with consideration also given to their previous performances at grasscourt events. Currently (since 2001) 32 male and female players are given seedingsA seed is a preliminary ranking that can be used in arranging a sports tournament. It is called a seed because of the analogy with plants where the seed might grow into a top rank at the end of that tournament, or the seed might instead wither away...
in the Gentlemen's and Ladies' singles while 16 teams are seeded in the doubles events.
The Committee of Management and the Referee evaluate all applications for entry, and determine which players may be admitted to the tournament directly. The committee may admit a player without a high enough ranking as a wild card. Usually, wild cards are players who have performed well during previous tournaments, or would stimulate public interest in Wimbledon by participating. The only wild card to win the Gentlemen's Singles Championship was Goran IvaniševićGoran Ivanišević is a former professional tennis player from Croatia. He is best remembered for being the only person to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard. He achieved this in 2001, having previously been runner-up at the championships in 1992, 1994 and 1998...
in 2001. Players and pairs who neither have high enough rankings nor receive wild cards may participate in a qualifying tournament held one week before Wimbledon at the Bank of EnglandThe Bank of England is, despite its name, the central bank of the whole of the United Kingdom and is the model on which most modern, large central banks have been based. It was established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and to this day it still acts as the banker for the UK...
Sports Ground in RoehamptonRoehampton is a district in south-west London, forming the western end of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It lies between the town of Barnes to the north, Putney to the east, Wimbledon Common to the south and Richmond Park Golf Course to the west of the neighbourhood. In between which is...
. The singles qualifying competitions are three-round events; the same-sex doubles competitions last for only one round. There is no qualifying tournament for Mixed Doubles. No qualifier has won either the Gentlemen's Singles or the Ladies' Singles tournaments. The furthest that any qualifier has progressed in the main draw of a Singles tournament is the semi-final round: John McEnroeJohn Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles—three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open—nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
in 1977, Vladimir VoltchkovVladimir Nikolayevich Voltchkov is a Belarusian tennis player. Voltchkov reached the semi-final at the 2000 Wimbledon, where, as a qualifer, he lost to Pete Sampras in straight sets...
in 2000 (Gentlemen's Singles), and Alexandra StevensonAlexandra Winfield Stevenson is a professional tennis player from the United States. She is the daughter of retired professional basketball player Julius Erving....
in 1999 (Ladies' Singles).
Players are admitted to the junior tournaments upon the recommendations of their national tennis associations, on their International Tennis FederationThe International Tennis Federation is the governing body of world tennis, made up of 205 national tennis associations.It was established as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by 12 national associations meeting at a conference in Paris, France on 1 March 1913...
world rankings and, in the case of the singles events, on the basis of a qualifying competition. The Committee of Management determines which players may enter the four invitational events.
The Committee seeds the top players and pairs on the basis of their rankings. However, the Committee does also change the seedings due to a player's previous grass court performance. A majority of the entrants are unseeded. Only two unseeded players have ever won the Gentlemen's Singles Championship: Boris BeckerBoris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17. Tennis Magazine put Becker in 18th place on its list of...
in 1985 and Goran IvaniševićGoran Ivanišević is a former professional tennis player from Croatia. He is best remembered for being the only person to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard. He achieved this in 2001, having previously been runner-up at the championships in 1992, 1994 and 1998...
in 2001. (In 1985 there were only 16 seeds and Becker was ranked 20th at the time; Ivanišević, however, was ranked 125th when he won as a Wild Card entrant.) No unseeded player has captured the Ladies' Singles title; the lowest seeded female champion was Venus WilliamsVenus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions; as of October 19, 2009, she is ranked World No. 4...
, who won in 2007 as the twenty-third seed, beating her own record from 2005, when Williams won as the fourteenth seed. Unseeded pairs have won the doubles titles on numerous occasions; the 2005 Gentlemen's Doubles champions were not only unseeded, but also (for the first time ever) qualifiers.
Grounds
The nineteen courts used for Wimbledon are composed purely of rye grass.
The main show courts, Centre CourtCentre Court is the main court at the Wimbledon Championship, the 3rd annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is situated in the Aorangi Park and is home to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club, its only regular use is for the two weeks a year that the Championships take place,...
and No. 1 CourtNo. 1 Court is a tennis court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London. Opened in 1997, it is used for the Wimbledon Championships and is sometime chosen for Great Britain Davis Cup home ties, the primary Centre Court being preserved solely for the Grand Slam tennis...
, are normally used only for two weeks a year, during the Championships, but play can extend into a third week in exceptional circumstances. The remaining seventeen courts are regularly used for other events hosted by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. The show courts will, however, be pressed into action for the second time in three months in 2012 as Wimbledon will host the tennis events of the 2012 Olympic GamesThe 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are due to take place in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
. One of the show courts is also used for home games for the GB teams in the Davis CupThe Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. The largest annual international team competition in sports, the Davis Cup is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition...
.
Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event played on grass courts. At one time, all the Grand Slam events, except the French Open, were played on grass. The US Open abandoned grass for a synthetic clay surface in 1975 and changed again to a hard surface (DecoTurfDecoTurf is a tennis hardcourt comprising layers of acrylic, rubber, silica, and other materials on top of an asphalt or concrete base. It is manufactured by Decosystems, which is a division of California Products Corporation which also manufactures Plexipave), and is based in Andover,...
) with its 1978 move to the National Tennis Center. The Australian OpenThe Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments held each year. The tournament is held each January at Melbourne Park. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was contested on grass from then up to 1987. Since 1988, the tournament has been held on hard...
abandoned grass for Rebound AceRebound Ace is a cushioned tennis hardcourt comprising layers of polyurethane rubber, fiberglass, and other materials on top of an asphalt or reinforced concrete base...
, a different type of hard surface, in 1988, and switched to yet another type of hard surface, PlexicushionPlexicushion is a tennis surface system made by Plexipave, a company based in Massachusetts, USA.- Description :According to the Plexipave website there are four different types of Plexicushion...
, in 2008.
The principal court, Centre CourtCentre Court is the main court at the Wimbledon Championship, the 3rd annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is situated in the Aorangi Park and is home to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club, its only regular use is for the two weeks a year that the Championships take place,...
, was opened in 1922 when the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club moved from Worple Road to Church Road. This change of venue was due to the huge crowd pressure at Worple Road to see the French phenomenon Suzanne LenglenSuzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen was a French tennis player who won 31 Grand Slam titles between 1914 and 1926. A flamboyant, trendsetting athlete, she was the first female tennis celebrity and one of the first international female sport stars, named La Divine by the French press.- Early life :A...
, and for which that ground proved completely inadequate.
Due to the possibility of rain during Wimbledon, a retractable roof was installed prior to the 2009 Championship. The retractable roof is designed to close/open in about 10 minutes and will be closed primarily to protect play from inclement (and, if necessary, extremely hot) weather during The Championships. When the roof is being opened or closed, play is suspended. During a Wimbledon Championship match, the first time the roof was closed was on Monday 29 June 2009, involving Amélie MauresmoAmélie Simone Mauresmo ; born 5 July 1979) is a French professional tennis player. She is a former World No. 1. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam singles titles in 2006, at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon....
and Dinara SafinaDinara Mikhailovna Safina is a Russian professional tennis player and former world number 1 who is currently ranked World No. 2....
. The court has a capacity of 15,000. At its south end is the Royal Box, from which members of the Royal Family and other dignitaries watch matches. Centre Court usually hosts the finals and semifinals of the main events, as well as many matches in the earlier rounds involving top-seeded players or local favourites.
The second most important court is No. 1 CourtNo. 1 Court is a tennis court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London. Opened in 1997, it is used for the Wimbledon Championships and is sometime chosen for Great Britain Davis Cup home ties, the primary Centre Court being preserved solely for the Grand Slam tennis...
. The court was constructed in 1997 to replace the old No. 1 Court, which was adjacent to Centre Court. The old No. 1 Court was demolished because its capacity for spectators was too low. The court was said to have had a unique, more intimate atmosphere and was a favourite of many players. The new No. 1 Court has a capacity of approximately 11,000.
From 2009, a new No. 2 Court is being used at Wimbledon with a capacity for 4,000 people. To obtain planning permissionPlanning permission or planning consent is the permission required in the United Kingdom in order to be allowed to build on land, or change the use of land or buildings. Within the UK the occupier of any land or building will need title to that land or building , but will also need "planning...
, the playing surface is around 3.5m below ground level, ensuring that the single-story structure is only about 3.5m above ground level, and thus not affecting local views. Plans to build on the current site of Court 13 were dismissed due to the high capacity of games that will be played at the 2012 Olympic GamesThe 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are due to take place in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
. The old No. 2 Court has been renamed as Court No. 3. The old No. 2 Court was known as the "Graveyard of Champions" because many highly seeded players were eliminated there during early rounds over the years, including Ilie NastaseIlie Năstase is a former Romanian professional tennis player, one of the world's top players of the 1970s. Năstase was the World No. 1 in 1973 according to the Association of Tennis Professionals ranking system, which placed him first from August 23, 1973 to June 2, 1974...
, John McEnroeJohn Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles—three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open—nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
, Boris BeckerBoris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17. Tennis Magazine put Becker in 18th place on its list of...
, Andre AgassiAndre Kirk Agassi is a former World No. 1 professional American tennis player who won eight Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. He is generally considered by critics and fellow players to be among the greatest tennis players of all time, and has been called the...
, Pete SamprasPete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former World No. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam men's singles titles, and had a 203–38 win-loss record over 52 Grand Slam singles tournament appearances....
, Martina HingisMartina Hingis is a retired professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...
, Venus WilliamsVenus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions; as of October 19, 2009, she is ranked World No. 4...
, and Serena WilliamsSerena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and current World No. 1. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on four separate occasions...
. The court has a capacity of about 3,000.
At the northern end of the grounds is a giant television screen on which important matches are broadcast. Fans watch from an area of grass officially known as the Aorangi Terrace. When British players do well at Wimbledon, the hill attracts fans for them, and is often re-named by the press for them: Greg RusedskiGregory "Greg" Rusedski is a former British Canadian tennis player who turned professional in 1991, and played until his retirement on 7 April 2007, at the age of 33....
's followers convened at "Rusedski Ridge", and Tim HenmanTimothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is an retired professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Men's...
has had the hill nicknamed Henman HillAorangi Terrace, colloquially known as "Henman Hill", is an area in the grounds of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club where, during the annual Wimbledon tennis championship, crowds of people without showcourt tickets can watch the tennis matches live on a giant television screen at the...
. As both of them have now retired and Andy Murray is the number 1 British player, the hill is now sometimes referred to as "Murray Mound" or "MurrayfieldMurrayfield Stadium is a sports stadium located in the west end of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland...
", as a reference to his Scottish heritage and the Scottish ground of the same name.
Ball boys and ball girls
In the championship games, ball boys and girlsBall Boy is a comic strip in the UK comic The Beano and also the name of the main character. It first appeared in issue 1735, dated 18 October 1975. It features a five-a-side football team that includes:* Ball Boy - the captain of the team, Ball Boy bears resemblances to The Dandy's Owen Goal...
, known as BBGs, play a crucial role in the smooth running of the tournament, with a brief that a good BBG "should not be seen. They should blend into the background and get on with their jobs quietly."
From 1947 ball boys were supplied by Goldings , the only Barnardos school to provide them. Previous to this, from the 1920s onwards, the ball boys had been provided by The Shaftsbury Children's Home.
Since 1969, BBGs have been provided by local schools. As of 2008 they are drawn from schools in the London boroughs of Merton-People:* Gerald Merton, English astronomer * Paul Merton , British actor and comedian* Robert C. Merton , American nobel-prize winning economist, or to his Merton Model...
, Sutton-Places:Sutton, meaning 'south settlement' in Old English, is a very common place name. Places named Sutton include:-United Kingdom:In London:* London Borough of Sutton** which includes Sutton, London** historically Sutton Urban District...
, KingstonKingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in south-west London.It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross...
and WandsworthWandsworth is an inner suburb of London on the south bank of the River Thames in south-west London. Wandsworth takes its name from the River Wandle, which enters the Thames at Wandsworth. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Wandsworth appears in...
, as well as from SurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford...
. Traditionally, Wandsworth Boys Grammar School in Sutherland Grove, Southfields and Mayfield Girls School on West Hill in Wandsworth, both now defunct, were the schools of choice for selection of BBGs. This was possibly owing to their proximity to the All England Club. BBGs have an average age of 15, being drawn from the school years nineYear Nine is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the ninth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between thirteen and fifteen....
and tenYear Ten is an educational year group in schools in many countries including India, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the tenth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between fourteen and sixteen....
. BBGs will serve for one, or if re-selected, two tournaments.
As of 2005, BBGs work in crews of six, 2 at the net, 4 at the corners, and crews rotate one hour on court, one hour off, (two hours depending on the court) for the day's play. Crews are not told which court they will be working on the day, to ensure the same standards across all courts. With the expansion of the number of courts, and lengthening the tennis day, as of 2008, the number of BBGs required is around 250. BBG service is paid, with a total of £120-£160 being paid to each ball boy
or girl after the 13-day period. Along with this it is seen as a privilege, and seen as a valuable addition to a school leaver's curriculum vitae, showing discipline. BBG places are split 50:50 between boys and girls, with girls having been used since 1977, appearing on centre court since 1985.
Prospective BBGs are first nominated by their school headteacher, to be considered for selection. To be selected, a candidate must pass written tests on the rules of tennis, and pass fitness, mobility and other suitability tests, against initial preliminary instruction material. Successful candidates then commence a training phase, starting in February, in which the final BBGs are chosen through continual assessment. As of 2008, this training intake was 600. The training includes weekly sessions of physical, procedural and theoretical instruction, to ensure that the BBGs are fast, alert, self confident and adaptable to situations. As of 2007, early training occurs at Sutton Junior Tennis Centre, and then moves to the main courts after EasterEaster is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day from his crucifixion...
.
Colours and uniforms
Dark green and purplePurple is a general term used in English for the range of shades of color occurring between red and blue. In additive light combinations it occurs by mixing the primary colors red and blue in varying proportions...
(sometimes also referred to as mauveMauve is a pale lavender-lilac color, one of many in the range of purples....
) are the traditional Wimbledon colours. However, all tennis players participating in the tournament are required to wear all white or at least almost all white clothing, a long time tradition at Wimbledon. Wearing white clothing with some colour accents is also acceptable. Green clothing was worn by the chair umpire, linesmen, ball boys and ball girls until the 2005 Championships; however, beginning with the 2006 Championships, officials, ball boys and ball girls were outfitted in new navy blue and cream coloured uniforms from American designer Ralph LaurenRalph Lauren is an American fashion designer and business executive. He is most notable for his Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand.-Early life:...
. This marked the first time in the history of the Championships that an outside company was used to design Wimbledon clothing. Wimbledon's contract with Ralph Lauren is set to last until 2009.
Referring to players
Prior to 2009 female players were referred to by the title "Miss" or "Mrs" on scoreboards. As dictated by strict rule of etiquette, married female players are referred to by their husbands' names: for example, Chris Evert-LloydChristine Marie "Chris" Evert is a former world number 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships, including a record seven championships at the French Open and a record six championships at the U.S. Open. According to the Women's Tennis...
appeared on scoreboards as "Mrs. J. M. Lloyd" during her marriage to John LloydJohn Lloyd is a former professional tennis player and current television commentator.During his career, he reached one Grand Slam singles final and won three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles...
, since "Mrs. X" essentially designates "The Wife of X". This tradition has continued at least to some extent.. For the first time during the 2009 tournament, players were referred to on scoreboards by both their first and last names. For example "Andy Murray" and not "A. Murray".
The title "Mr" is not used for male players who are professionals on scoreboards but the prefix is retained for amateurs, although chair umpires refer to players as "Mr" when they use the replay challenge. The chair umpire will say "Mr is challenging the call..." and "Mr has X challenges remaining."
If a match is being played with two competitors of the same surname (e.g. Venus and Serena Williams, Bob and Mike Bryan), the chair umpire will specify whom they are referring to by stating the player's first name and surname during announcements (e.g. "Game, Serena Williams", "Advantage, Mike Bryan").
Royal family
Previously, players bowed or curtsied to members of the Royal Family seated in the Royal Box upon entering or leaving Centre Court. In 2003, however, the President of the All England Club, His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, decided to discontinue the tradition. Now, players are required to bow or curtsy only if Her Majesty the Queen or the Prince of Wales is present.
Radio Wimbledon
Since 1992, Radio WimbledonRadio Wimbledon is the official radio station to the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the AELTC in Wimbledon.-About:Radio Wimbledon broadcasts daily on 87.7FM between 8am and approximately 10pm during the Championships at Wimbledon...
– an on-site radio station with a studio in the Centre Court building – has broadcast commentary, music and speech from 8am to 10pm daily throughout the championship. It also broadcast the draw on the Friday before the start of the tournament. Radio WimbledonRadio Wimbledon is the official radio station to the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the AELTC in Wimbledon.-About:Radio Wimbledon broadcasts daily on 87.7FM between 8am and approximately 10pm during the Championships at Wimbledon...
can be heard within a five-mile radius on 87.7 FM, and also online. It operates under a Restricted Service LicenceA UK Restricted Service Licence , is typically granted to radio stations and television stations broadcasting within the UK to serve a local community or a special event...
and is arguably the most sophisticated RSL annually in the UK. The main presenters are Sam Lloyd and Ali Barton. Typically they work alternate four-hour shifts. Reporters and commentators include Gigi Salmon, Nick Lestor, Rupert Bell, Nigel Bidmead, Guy Swindells, Lucie Ahl, Nadine Towell and Helen Whitaker. Often they report from the "Crow's Nest", an elevated building housing the Court 3 and 4 scoreboards which affords views of most of the outside courts. Regular guests include Sue Mappin. In recent years Radio WimbledonRadio Wimbledon is the official radio station to the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the AELTC in Wimbledon.-About:Radio Wimbledon broadcasts daily on 87.7FM between 8am and approximately 10pm during the Championships at Wimbledon...
acquired a second low-power FM frequency (within the grounds only) of 96.3 FM for uninterrupted Centre Court commentary, and, from 2006, a third for coverage from No. 1 Court on 97.8 FM. Hourly news bulletins and travel (using RDSRadio Data System, or RDS, is a communications protocol standard for embedding small amounts of digital information in conventional FM radio broadcasts. The RDS system standardises several types of information transmitted, including time, station identification and programme information.Radio...
) are also broadcast.
Television coverage
For over 60 years, the BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
has broadcast the tournament on television in the UK, splitting time for the many matches it covers between its two main terrestrial channels, BBC One
and BBC Two
. The BBC holds the broadcast rights for Wimbledon until 2014 and it distributes its commercial-free feed to outlets worldwide. During the days of British Satellite BroadcastingBritish Satellite Broadcasting was a British television company which provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom...
, its sports channel carried extra coverage of Wimbledon for subscribers. One of the most notable British commentators was Dan MaskellDaniel "Dan" Maskell was an English tennis player, who later became even better known as a radio and television commentator on the game, and was known as the BBC's "voice of tennis"....
, who was known as the BBC's "voice of tennis" until his retirement in 1991. Other regular commentators on UK television include British ex-players Greg RusedskiGregory "Greg" Rusedski is a former British Canadian tennis player who turned professional in 1991, and played until his retirement on 7 April 2007, at the age of 33....
, Andrew CastleAndrew Nicholas Castle is an English retired tennis professional, and now television presenter.-Biography:...
, Tim HenmanTimothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is an retired professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Men's...
and Annabel CroftAnnabel Croft is a former professional tennis player and current television presenter.Since retiring from tennis, she has turned to television presenting, with such shows as Treasure Hunt and Interceptor...
; and guest veterans such as Boris BeckerBoris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17. Tennis Magazine put Becker in 18th place on its list of...
, John McEnroeJohn Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles—three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open—nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
, Jimmy ConnorsJames Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former World No. 1 tennis player. Connors is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time...
and Tracy AustinTracy Ann Austin Holt is a former World No. 1 women's professional tennis player from the United States who won the women's singles title at the US Open in 1979 and 1981 and the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 1980, before a series of injuries cut short her career.-To 1980:Austin won 21...
. The coverage is presented by Sue BarkerSusan Barker, MBE is a television presenter and former professional tennis player. During her tennis career, she won the women's singles title at the French Open and reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3...
and highlights with John InverdaleJohn Inverdale , is an English radio and television broadcaster who works for the BBC, mainly covering sporting events.-Biography:...
. Previous BBC presenters include Des LynamDesmond Michael "Des" Lynam, OBE is an Irish presenter on British television and radio.He has hosted television coverage of high profile events for many years...
, David VineDavid Martin Vine was a British television sports presenter. He presented a wide variety of shows from the 1960s onwards.-Early life:...
and Harry CarpenterHarry Carpenter , is a former BBC sports commentator broadcasting from the early 1950s until his retirement in 1994. His speciality was boxing...
.
The Wimbledon Finals are obliged to be shown live and in full on terrestrial television (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5) by government mandate. Highlights of the rest of the tournament must be provided by terrestrial stations; live coverage (excepting the finals) may be sought by satellite or cable tv.
Americans have made a tradition of NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
's "Breakfast at Wimbledon" specials at weekends, where live coverage starts early in the morning (the US being a minimum of 5 hours behind the UK) and continues well into the afternoon, interspersed with commentary and interviews from Bud CollinsArthur Worth "Bud" Collins, Jr. is an American journalist and television sportscaster, best known for his tennis commentary...
, whose tennis acumen and (in)famous patterned trousers are well-known to tennis fans in the USA. Collins was sacked by NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
in 2007, but was promptly hired by ESPNESPN is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day....
, the cable home for The Championships in the States. From 1975 to 1999, premium channel HBO carried weekday coverage of Wimbledon. Hosts included Jim LampleyJim Lampley is an American sportscaster, news anchor, movie producer, and restaurant owner. He has been in several television shows, but is better known for his participation in the HBO Boxing series . He currently works alongside Larry Merchant and Emanuel Steward in that series...
, Billie Jean KingBillie Jean King is a tennis player from the United States. She won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. King has been an advocate against sexism in sports and society...
, Martina NavratilovaMartina Navrátilová is a Czech-American tennis player. A former World No. 1...
, John Lloyd and Barry MacKayBarry MacKay is a retired professional tennis player and tournament director, and a current television broadcaster. He was the NCAA Men's Singles Champion and Doubles Finalist with Richard Potter in 1957, while playing for University of Michigan. He was a Doubles Finalist with Sammy Giammalva at...
among others.
Wimbledon was also involved, unintentionally, in a piece of television history, on 1 July 1967. That was when the first official colour broadcast took place in the UK. Four hours live coverage of Wimbledon was shown on BBC2 (then the only colour channel in the UK), and although footage of that historic match no longer survives, the men's final that year is still held in the BBC archives because it was the first men's final transmitted in colour.
Since 2007, the most anticipated Wimbledon matches have been transmitted in High Definition, on the BBC's free-to-air channel BBC HDBBC HD is a high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007...
, with continual live coverage during the tournament of Centre Court and Court No. 1 as well as an evening highlight show (Today at Wimbledon).
The BBC's opening theme music for Wimbledon was composed by Keith MansfieldKeith Mansfield is a British composer and arranger known for his creation of prominent television theme tunes, including the Grandstand theme for the BBC...
and is titled "Light and Tuneful". A piece titled "A Sporting Occasion" is the traditional closing theme, though nowadays coverage typically ends either with a montage set to a popular song or with no music at all.
Tickets
The majority of centre and show court tickets sold to the general public are made available by a public ballot that the All England Club holds at the start of the year. A ballot for tickets has been held since 1924.
The ballot has always been substantially oversubscribed. Successful applicants are selected at random by a computer.
The All England Club, through its subsidiary The All England Lawn Tennis Ground plc, issues Debentures to tennis fans every five years to raise funds for capital expenditure. Fans who invest thus in the club receive a pair of tickets for every day of the Wimbledon Championships for the five years the investment lasts. Only debenture holders are permitted to sell on their tickets to third parties, although for many years ticket touts have made a habit of illegally purchasing tickets allocated to non-debenture holders in the draw and selling them for a profit. In 2007 a group of debenture holders in the All England Club created the first website allowing debenture holders to sell tickets directly to members of the public. The new website, http://www.wimbledondebentureholders.com , allows debenture holders to sell their own tickets without paying a middle man, thus making the tickets themselves considerably cheaper for consumers.
Wimbledon is the only grand slam where fans without tickets for play can queue up and still get seats on Centre Court, Court 1 and Court 2. From 2008, there is a single queue, allotted about 500 seats for each court. When they join the queue fans are handed vouchers with a number on it and the following morning when the line moves towards the Grounds, stewards come through the line and hand out wristbands colour-coded to the specific court. The voucher is then redeemed at the ticket office for the ticket.
To get into the show courts, fans will normally have to queue overnight at Wimbledon. This is done by fans from all over the world and is considered part of the Wimbledon experience in itself. Those planning to queue overnight are advised to bring a tent and sleeping bag. Times to queue up vary according to the weather, but anyone queueing up before 9PM on a weekday should be able to get a show court ticket. Queuing for the show courts ends after the quarter finals have been completed.
Fans can also try to get a resale show court ticket at a price of £5 - something usually worth doing if there is a good match and if they have been queuing for more than 6 hours.
Trophies and prize money
The Gentlemen's Singles champion receives a silver gilt cup 18.5 inches (about 47 cm) in height and 7.5 inches (about 19 cm) in diameter. The trophy has been awarded since 1887 and bears the inscription: "The All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Champion of the World." The Ladies' Singles champion receives a sterling silver salver commonly known as the "Venus Rosewater DishThe Venus Rosewater Dish is awarded to the ladies singles champion at the Wimbledon Championships. It is an 18.75in silver salver made in 1864 by Messrs. Elkington and Co. Ltd. of Birmingham. The pewter original from the 1500s resides in the Louvre...
", or simply the "Rosewater Dish". The salver, which is 18.75 inches (about 48 cm) in diameter, is decorated with figures from mythology. The winners of the Gentlemen's Doubles, Ladies' Doubles, and Mixed Doubles events receive silver cups. The runner-up in each event receives an inscribed silver plate. The trophies are usually presented by the President of the All England Club, The Duke of KentPrince Edward, Duke of Kent is a member of the British Royal Family, a grandchild of George V. He has held the title of Duke of Kent since 1942....
.
Prize money was first awarded in 1968, the first year that professional players were allowed to compete in the Championships.
In 2008, the prize money for the main events is as follows (the amounts shown for the doubles events are per pair):
- Gentlemen's Singles and Ladies' Singles Winners £850,000
In 2009, a total of £12,500,000 in prize money was awarded with the singles champions receiving £850,000 each, an increase of 13.3 percent on 2008.
Champions
- Main article: List of Wimbledon champions (and the Championships by year)
Current champions
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon, is the oldest tennisTennis is a sport played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a strung racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court....
tournament in the world and is generally considered the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England ClubThe All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club , also known as the All-England Club, based at Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam tennis event still held on grass...
in the London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
suburb of WimbledonWimbledon is a suburb in south west London, part of the London Borough of Merton and located from Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
since 1877. It is one of the four Grand SlamThe four Grand Slam tournaments, also called the Majors, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, and public attention. They are: Australian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open...
tennis tournaments, and the only one still played on the game's original surface, grass, which gave the game of lawn tennis its name.
The tournament takes place over two weeks in late June and early July, culminating with the ladies' and gentlemen's singles final, scheduled respectively for the second Saturday and Sunday. Each year, five major events are contested, as well as four junior events and four invitational events.
The hard court Australian OpenThe Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments held each year. The tournament is held each January at Melbourne Park. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was contested on grass from then up to 1987. Since 1988, the tournament has been held on hard...
and clay courtA clay court is one of the four different types of tennis court. Clay courts are made of crushed shale, stone or brick. The red clay is slower than the green, or Har-Tru "American" clay. The French Open uses clay courts, making it unique among the Grand Slam tournaments.Clay courts are more common...
French Open precede Wimbledon in the calendar year. The hard court US Open follows. For men, the grass court Queen's Club ChampionshipsThe Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is an ATP World Tour 250 series tournament on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour. Its sponsored name is currently the AEGON...
, also in London, the Gerry Weber OpenThe Gerry Weber Open is a tennis tournament held in Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Held since 1991, the tournament is played on four outdoor grass courts and is a part of the ATP World Tour 250 series on the ATP Tour schedule....
in Halle, Germany, and the Ordina OpenThe Ordina Open is a tennis tournament on the ATP Tour and WTA Tour held in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.-Singles:-Doubles:-Singles:-Doubles:-External links:*...
in 's-Hertogenbosch's-Hertogenbosch — translated in French as Bois-le-Duc, in German as Herzogenbusch, in Spanish as Bolduque and in Italian as Boscoducale — is a municipality in the Netherlands, and also the capital of the province of North Brabant...
, NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
are popular warm up tournaments for Wimbledon. For women, there are warm-up tournaments in Birmingham and Eastbourne.
Wimbledon traditions include the eating of strawberriesGarden strawberries are a common kind of strawberry cultivated worldwide. Like other species of Fragaria , it belongs to the family Rosaceae. Technically, it is not a fruit, but a false fruit, meaning the fleshy part is derived not from the plant's ovaries but from the peg at the bottom of the...
and creamCream is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, over time, the lighter fat rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream this process is accelerated by using centrifuges called "separators"...
, drinking Pimms spritzers, royal patronage, and a strict dress code for competitors. In 2009, Wimbledon's Centre CourtCentre Court is the main court at the Wimbledon Championship, the 3rd annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is situated in the Aorangi Park and is home to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club, its only regular use is for the two weeks a year that the Championships take place,...
was fitted with a retractable roofA retractable roof is a kinetic architectural element used in many sports venues, in which a roof made of a suitable material can readily be mechanically deployed from some "retracted" or "open" position into a "closed" or "extended" position that completely covers the field of play and spectator...
to insure against the possibility of rain delays interrupting Centre Court matches during the tournament.
Beginnings
The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is a private club founded in 1868, originally as 'The All England Croquet Club'. Its first ground was situated off Worple Road, Wimbledon.
In 1875, lawn tennis, a game devised by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield a year or so earlier and originally called 'Sphairistike', was added to the activities of the club. In the spring of 1877, the club was re-titled 'The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club' and signalled its change of name by instituting the first Lawn Tennis Championship. A new code of laws (replacing the code until then administered by the Marylebone Cricket ClubMarylebone Cricket Club was founded in 1787 as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground near St John's Wood in north London. MCC was formerly the governing body of cricket in England and across the world...
) was drawn up for the event. Today's rules are similar except for details such as the height of the net and posts and the distance of the service line from the net.
The only event held in 1877 was the Gentlemen's Singles, which was won by Spencer Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player, from a field of 22. About 200 spectators paid one shilling each to watch the final.
The lawns at the ground were arranged so that the principal court was located in the middle with the others arranged around it; hence the title 'Centre Court', which was retained when the Club moved in 1922 to the present site in Church Road, although not a true description of its location. However, in 1980 four new courts were brought into commission on the north side of the ground, which meant the Centre Court was once more correctly defined. The opening of the new No. 1 Court in 1997 emphasised the description.
By 1882, activity at the club was almost exclusively confined to lawn tennis and that year the word 'croquet' was dropped from the title. However, for sentimental reasons, it was restored in 1889 and since then the title has remained The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet ClubThe All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club , also known as the All-England Club, based at Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam tennis event still held on grass...
.
In 1884, the All England Club added ladies' singles and gentlemen's doubles. Ladies' doubles and mixed doubles were added in 1913. Until 1922, the reigning champion had to play only in the final, against whoever had won through to challenge him. As with the other three Grand Slam events, Wimbledon was contested by top-ranked amateur players until the advent of the open era in tennis in 1968. No British man has won the singles event at Wimbledon since Fred PerryFrederick John Perry born in Stockport, Cheshire, was a British tennis and table tennis player and three-time Wimbledon champion. He was the World No...
in 1936 and no British woman has won the Ladies Singles since Virginia WadeSarah Virginia Wade, OBE is an English former tennis player. She won three Grand Slam singles titles and four Grand Slam doubles titles. She won the women's singles title at Wimbledon in the tournament's centenary year on 1 July 1977, the last time a Briton has won a singles title at the tournament...
in 1977, although Annabel CroftAnnabel Croft is a former professional tennis player and current television presenter.Since retiring from tennis, she has turned to television presenting, with such shows as Treasure Hunt and Interceptor...
and Laura RobsonLaura Robson is a British tennis player. Born in Australia, she moved to the UK at an early age and first gained a British passport in early 2008....
won the girls' championship in 1984List of the 1984 Wimbledon champions:-Men's singles: John McEnroe def. Jimmy Connors, 6–1, 6–1, 6–2*It was McEnroe's 8th title of the year, and his 54th overall. It was his 6th career Grand Slam title, and his 3rd Wimbledon title.-Women's singles: Martina Navrátilová def...
and 2008The 2008 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 122nd edition of the Wimbledon Championships, and the third Grand Slam event of the year...
, respectively. The Championship was first televised in 1937.
21st century
Wimbledon is widely considered to be the premier tennis tournament in the world and the priority of The All England Lawn Tennis Club, which hosts The Championships, is to maintain its leadership into the 21st century. To that end a long term plan was unveiled in 1993, intended to improve the quality of the event for spectators, players, officials and neighbours.
Stage one of the plan was completed for the 1997 championships and involved building in Aorangi Park the new No. 1 Court, a broadcast centre, two extra grass courts and a tunnel under the hill linking Church Road and Somerset Road.
Stage two involved the removal of the old No. 1 Court complex to make way for the new Millennium Building, providing extensive facilities for the players, press, officials and members, and the extension of the West Stand of the Centre Court with 728 extra seats.
Stage three has been completed with the construction of an entrance building, housing club staff, museum, bank and ticket office.
A new retractable roof has been built in time for the 2009 championships, marking the first time in the tournament's history that rain will not stop play for a lengthly time on Centre Court. The All England Club tested the new roof at an event called A Centre Court Celebration on Sunday, 17 May 2009, which featured exhibition matches involving Andre AgassiAndre Kirk Agassi is a former World No. 1 professional American tennis player who won eight Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. He is generally considered by critics and fellow players to be among the greatest tennis players of all time, and has been called the...
, Steffi GrafStefanie Maria Graf is a former World No. 1 female tennis player from Germany.Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...
, Kim ClijstersKim Antonie Lode Clijsters is a Belgian tennis player. She is a former World No. 1 ranked player in singles and in doubles. As of September 28, 2009, she is ranked World No. 17....
and Tim HenmanTimothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is an retired professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Men's...
. The first Championship match to take place under the roof was the completion of the fourth round women's singles match between Dinara SafinaDinara Mikhailovna Safina is a Russian professional tennis player and former world number 1 who is currently ranked World No. 2....
and Amelie MauresmoAmélie Simone Mauresmo ; born 5 July 1979) is a French professional tennis player. She is a former World No. 1. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam singles titles in 2006, at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon....
. The first match to be played in its entirety under the new roof was between Andy Murray and Stanislas WawrinkaStanislas Wawrinka is a Swiss professional tennis player. His career ranking high is #9, achieved on 9 June 2008.He considers clay his best surface, and the backhand his best shot...
on 29 June 2009, which Murray won 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. The match recorded the latest ever finish at The Championships, concluding at 10.38pm. A new 4000-seat No. 2 Court has been built on the site of the old No. 13 Court and was ready for the 2009 Championships. A new 2000-seat No. 3 Court is being built on the site of the old Court No. 2.
Main events
The five main events, and the number of players (or teams, in the case of doubles) include the following:
- Gentlemen's Singles (128 draw)
- Ladies' Singles (128 draw)
- Gentlemen's Doubles (64 draw)
- Ladies' Doubles (64 draw)
- Mixed Doubles (48 draw)
Junior events
Also known as Chimbledon (Children's Wimbledon), the four junior events and the number of players or teams include the following:
- Boys' Singles (64 draw)
- Girls' Singles (64 draw)
- Boys' Doubles (32 draw)
- Girls' Doubles (32 draw)
No mixed doubles event is held at this level.
Invitation events
The five invitational and the number of pairs include the following:
- Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
- Senior Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
- Ladies' Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
- Gentlemen's Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs)
- Ladies' Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs)
Match formats
Matches in the Gentlemen's Singles and Gentlemen's Doubles competitions are best-of-five sets. Matches in all other events are best-of-three sets. A tiebreak game is played if the score reaches 6–6 in any set except the fifth (in a five-set match) or the third (in a three-set match), in which case a two-game lead must be reached.
All events are single-elimination tournamentA single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event...
s, except for the Gentlemen's, Senior Gentlemen's and the Ladies' Invitation Doubles, all of which are round-robin tournamentA round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a type of tournament "in which each contestant meets every other contestant in turn". In a single round-robin schedule, each participant plays every other participant once. If each participant plays all others twice, this is frequently called a...
s.
Until 1922, the winners of the previous year's competition (except in the Ladies Doubles and Mixed Doubles) were automatically granted byesA bye, in sports and other competitive activities, most commonly refers to the practice of allowing a player or team to advance to the next round of a playoff tournament without playing...
into the final round (then known as the challenge round). This led to many winners retaining their titles for successive years, as they were able to rest while their opponent competed from the start of the competition. From 1922, the prior-year's champions were not granted byes but were required to play all the rounds, like other tournament competitors.
Schedule
Each year, the tournament begins on the Monday falling between 20 and 26 June.
Wimbledon begins two weeks after the Queen's Club ChampionshipsThe Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is an ATP World Tour 250 series tournament on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour. Its sponsored name is currently the AEGON...
, which is one of the men's major warm-up tournaments for Wimbledon. Another important men's warm-up tournament is the Gerry Weber OpenThe Gerry Weber Open is a tennis tournament held in Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Held since 1991, the tournament is played on four outdoor grass courts and is a part of the ATP World Tour 250 series on the ATP Tour schedule....
, which is held in Halle, GermanyHalle is a town in the German Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia and belongs to the district of Gütersloh.- Geographic Location :...
during the same week as the Queen's Club Championships. Other important grass-court tournaments before Wimbledon are Eastbourne, England, and 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, both combining mixed events. The other women's warm-up tournament for Wimbledon is Birmingham, also in England. And to bring the grass court season to an end after the Championships each year there is a tournament held overseas at Newport, Rhode Island, US.
Wimbledon is scheduled for 13 days, beginning on a Monday and ending on a Sunday with the middle Sunday a designated rest day. The five main events span both weeks, but the youth and invitational events are held mainly during the second week. Traditionally, there is no play on the "Middle Sunday", which is considered a rest day. However, rain has forced play on the Middle Sunday three times in the Championship's history: in 1991, 1997, and 2004. On each of these occasions, Wimbledon has staged a "People's Sunday", with unreserved seating and readily available, inexpensive tickets, allowing those with more limited means to sit on the show courts. Additionally, if the tournament is not completed by the end of the second Sunday, all remaining matches are postponed until "People's Monday".
Players and seeding
A total of 128 players feature in each singles event, 64 pairs in each single-sex doubles event, and 48 pairs in Mixed Doubles. Players and doubles pairs are admitted to the main events on the basis of their international rankings, with consideration also given to their previous performances at grasscourt events. Currently (since 2001) 32 male and female players are given seedingsA seed is a preliminary ranking that can be used in arranging a sports tournament. It is called a seed because of the analogy with plants where the seed might grow into a top rank at the end of that tournament, or the seed might instead wither away...
in the Gentlemen's and Ladies' singles while 16 teams are seeded in the doubles events.
The Committee of Management and the Referee evaluate all applications for entry, and determine which players may be admitted to the tournament directly. The committee may admit a player without a high enough ranking as a wild card. Usually, wild cards are players who have performed well during previous tournaments, or would stimulate public interest in Wimbledon by participating. The only wild card to win the Gentlemen's Singles Championship was Goran IvaniševićGoran Ivanišević is a former professional tennis player from Croatia. He is best remembered for being the only person to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard. He achieved this in 2001, having previously been runner-up at the championships in 1992, 1994 and 1998...
in 2001. Players and pairs who neither have high enough rankings nor receive wild cards may participate in a qualifying tournament held one week before Wimbledon at the Bank of EnglandThe Bank of England is, despite its name, the central bank of the whole of the United Kingdom and is the model on which most modern, large central banks have been based. It was established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and to this day it still acts as the banker for the UK...
Sports Ground in RoehamptonRoehampton is a district in south-west London, forming the western end of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It lies between the town of Barnes to the north, Putney to the east, Wimbledon Common to the south and Richmond Park Golf Course to the west of the neighbourhood. In between which is...
. The singles qualifying competitions are three-round events; the same-sex doubles competitions last for only one round. There is no qualifying tournament for Mixed Doubles. No qualifier has won either the Gentlemen's Singles or the Ladies' Singles tournaments. The furthest that any qualifier has progressed in the main draw of a Singles tournament is the semi-final round: John McEnroeJohn Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles—three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open—nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
in 1977, Vladimir VoltchkovVladimir Nikolayevich Voltchkov is a Belarusian tennis player. Voltchkov reached the semi-final at the 2000 Wimbledon, where, as a qualifer, he lost to Pete Sampras in straight sets...
in 2000 (Gentlemen's Singles), and Alexandra StevensonAlexandra Winfield Stevenson is a professional tennis player from the United States. She is the daughter of retired professional basketball player Julius Erving....
in 1999 (Ladies' Singles).
Players are admitted to the junior tournaments upon the recommendations of their national tennis associations, on their International Tennis FederationThe International Tennis Federation is the governing body of world tennis, made up of 205 national tennis associations.It was established as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by 12 national associations meeting at a conference in Paris, France on 1 March 1913...
world rankings and, in the case of the singles events, on the basis of a qualifying competition. The Committee of Management determines which players may enter the four invitational events.
The Committee seeds the top players and pairs on the basis of their rankings. However, the Committee does also change the seedings due to a player's previous grass court performance. A majority of the entrants are unseeded. Only two unseeded players have ever won the Gentlemen's Singles Championship: Boris BeckerBoris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17. Tennis Magazine put Becker in 18th place on its list of...
in 1985 and Goran IvaniševićGoran Ivanišević is a former professional tennis player from Croatia. He is best remembered for being the only person to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard. He achieved this in 2001, having previously been runner-up at the championships in 1992, 1994 and 1998...
in 2001. (In 1985 there were only 16 seeds and Becker was ranked 20th at the time; Ivanišević, however, was ranked 125th when he won as a Wild Card entrant.) No unseeded player has captured the Ladies' Singles title; the lowest seeded female champion was Venus WilliamsVenus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions; as of October 19, 2009, she is ranked World No. 4...
, who won in 2007 as the twenty-third seed, beating her own record from 2005, when Williams won as the fourteenth seed. Unseeded pairs have won the doubles titles on numerous occasions; the 2005 Gentlemen's Doubles champions were not only unseeded, but also (for the first time ever) qualifiers.
Grounds
The nineteen courts used for Wimbledon are composed purely of rye grass.
The main show courts, Centre CourtCentre Court is the main court at the Wimbledon Championship, the 3rd annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is situated in the Aorangi Park and is home to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club, its only regular use is for the two weeks a year that the Championships take place,...
and No. 1 CourtNo. 1 Court is a tennis court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London. Opened in 1997, it is used for the Wimbledon Championships and is sometime chosen for Great Britain Davis Cup home ties, the primary Centre Court being preserved solely for the Grand Slam tennis...
, are normally used only for two weeks a year, during the Championships, but play can extend into a third week in exceptional circumstances. The remaining seventeen courts are regularly used for other events hosted by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. The show courts will, however, be pressed into action for the second time in three months in 2012 as Wimbledon will host the tennis events of the 2012 Olympic GamesThe 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are due to take place in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
. One of the show courts is also used for home games for the GB teams in the Davis CupThe Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. The largest annual international team competition in sports, the Davis Cup is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition...
.
Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event played on grass courts. At one time, all the Grand Slam events, except the French Open, were played on grass. The US Open abandoned grass for a synthetic clay surface in 1975 and changed again to a hard surface (DecoTurfDecoTurf is a tennis hardcourt comprising layers of acrylic, rubber, silica, and other materials on top of an asphalt or concrete base. It is manufactured by Decosystems, which is a division of California Products Corporation which also manufactures Plexipave), and is based in Andover,...
) with its 1978 move to the National Tennis Center. The Australian OpenThe Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments held each year. The tournament is held each January at Melbourne Park. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was contested on grass from then up to 1987. Since 1988, the tournament has been held on hard...
abandoned grass for Rebound AceRebound Ace is a cushioned tennis hardcourt comprising layers of polyurethane rubber, fiberglass, and other materials on top of an asphalt or reinforced concrete base...
, a different type of hard surface, in 1988, and switched to yet another type of hard surface, PlexicushionPlexicushion is a tennis surface system made by Plexipave, a company based in Massachusetts, USA.- Description :According to the Plexipave website there are four different types of Plexicushion...
, in 2008.
The principal court, Centre CourtCentre Court is the main court at the Wimbledon Championship, the 3rd annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is situated in the Aorangi Park and is home to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club, its only regular use is for the two weeks a year that the Championships take place,...
, was opened in 1922 when the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club moved from Worple Road to Church Road. This change of venue was due to the huge crowd pressure at Worple Road to see the French phenomenon Suzanne LenglenSuzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen was a French tennis player who won 31 Grand Slam titles between 1914 and 1926. A flamboyant, trendsetting athlete, she was the first female tennis celebrity and one of the first international female sport stars, named La Divine by the French press.- Early life :A...
, and for which that ground proved completely inadequate.
Due to the possibility of rain during Wimbledon, a retractable roof was installed prior to the 2009 Championship. The retractable roof is designed to close/open in about 10 minutes and will be closed primarily to protect play from inclement (and, if necessary, extremely hot) weather during The Championships. When the roof is being opened or closed, play is suspended. During a Wimbledon Championship match, the first time the roof was closed was on Monday 29 June 2009, involving Amélie MauresmoAmélie Simone Mauresmo ; born 5 July 1979) is a French professional tennis player. She is a former World No. 1. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam singles titles in 2006, at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon....
and Dinara SafinaDinara Mikhailovna Safina is a Russian professional tennis player and former world number 1 who is currently ranked World No. 2....
. The court has a capacity of 15,000. At its south end is the Royal Box, from which members of the Royal Family and other dignitaries watch matches. Centre Court usually hosts the finals and semifinals of the main events, as well as many matches in the earlier rounds involving top-seeded players or local favourites.
The second most important court is No. 1 CourtNo. 1 Court is a tennis court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London. Opened in 1997, it is used for the Wimbledon Championships and is sometime chosen for Great Britain Davis Cup home ties, the primary Centre Court being preserved solely for the Grand Slam tennis...
. The court was constructed in 1997 to replace the old No. 1 Court, which was adjacent to Centre Court. The old No. 1 Court was demolished because its capacity for spectators was too low. The court was said to have had a unique, more intimate atmosphere and was a favourite of many players. The new No. 1 Court has a capacity of approximately 11,000.
From 2009, a new No. 2 Court is being used at Wimbledon with a capacity for 4,000 people. To obtain planning permissionPlanning permission or planning consent is the permission required in the United Kingdom in order to be allowed to build on land, or change the use of land or buildings. Within the UK the occupier of any land or building will need title to that land or building , but will also need "planning...
, the playing surface is around 3.5m below ground level, ensuring that the single-story structure is only about 3.5m above ground level, and thus not affecting local views. Plans to build on the current site of Court 13 were dismissed due to the high capacity of games that will be played at the 2012 Olympic GamesThe 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are due to take place in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
. The old No. 2 Court has been renamed as Court No. 3. The old No. 2 Court was known as the "Graveyard of Champions" because many highly seeded players were eliminated there during early rounds over the years, including Ilie NastaseIlie Năstase is a former Romanian professional tennis player, one of the world's top players of the 1970s. Năstase was the World No. 1 in 1973 according to the Association of Tennis Professionals ranking system, which placed him first from August 23, 1973 to June 2, 1974...
, John McEnroeJohn Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles—three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open—nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
, Boris BeckerBoris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17. Tennis Magazine put Becker in 18th place on its list of...
, Andre AgassiAndre Kirk Agassi is a former World No. 1 professional American tennis player who won eight Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. He is generally considered by critics and fellow players to be among the greatest tennis players of all time, and has been called the...
, Pete SamprasPete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former World No. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam men's singles titles, and had a 203–38 win-loss record over 52 Grand Slam singles tournament appearances....
, Martina HingisMartina Hingis is a retired professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...
, Venus WilliamsVenus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions; as of October 19, 2009, she is ranked World No. 4...
, and Serena WilliamsSerena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and current World No. 1. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on four separate occasions...
. The court has a capacity of about 3,000.
At the northern end of the grounds is a giant television screen on which important matches are broadcast. Fans watch from an area of grass officially known as the Aorangi Terrace. When British players do well at Wimbledon, the hill attracts fans for them, and is often re-named by the press for them: Greg RusedskiGregory "Greg" Rusedski is a former British Canadian tennis player who turned professional in 1991, and played until his retirement on 7 April 2007, at the age of 33....
's followers convened at "Rusedski Ridge", and Tim HenmanTimothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is an retired professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Men's...
has had the hill nicknamed Henman HillAorangi Terrace, colloquially known as "Henman Hill", is an area in the grounds of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club where, during the annual Wimbledon tennis championship, crowds of people without showcourt tickets can watch the tennis matches live on a giant television screen at the...
. As both of them have now retired and Andy Murray is the number 1 British player, the hill is now sometimes referred to as "Murray Mound" or "MurrayfieldMurrayfield Stadium is a sports stadium located in the west end of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland...
", as a reference to his Scottish heritage and the Scottish ground of the same name.
Ball boys and ball girls
In the championship games, ball boys and girlsBall Boy is a comic strip in the UK comic The Beano and also the name of the main character. It first appeared in issue 1735, dated 18 October 1975. It features a five-a-side football team that includes:* Ball Boy - the captain of the team, Ball Boy bears resemblances to The Dandy's Owen Goal...
, known as BBGs, play a crucial role in the smooth running of the tournament, with a brief that a good BBG "should not be seen. They should blend into the background and get on with their jobs quietly."
From 1947 ball boys were supplied by Goldings , the only Barnardos school to provide them. Previous to this, from the 1920s onwards, the ball boys had been provided by The Shaftsbury Children's Home.
Since 1969, BBGs have been provided by local schools. As of 2008 they are drawn from schools in the London boroughs of Merton-People:* Gerald Merton, English astronomer * Paul Merton , British actor and comedian* Robert C. Merton , American nobel-prize winning economist, or to his Merton Model...
, Sutton-Places:Sutton, meaning 'south settlement' in Old English, is a very common place name. Places named Sutton include:-United Kingdom:In London:* London Borough of Sutton** which includes Sutton, London** historically Sutton Urban District...
, KingstonKingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in south-west London.It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross...
and WandsworthWandsworth is an inner suburb of London on the south bank of the River Thames in south-west London. Wandsworth takes its name from the River Wandle, which enters the Thames at Wandsworth. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Wandsworth appears in...
, as well as from SurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford...
. Traditionally, Wandsworth Boys Grammar School in Sutherland Grove, Southfields and Mayfield Girls School on West Hill in Wandsworth, both now defunct, were the schools of choice for selection of BBGs. This was possibly owing to their proximity to the All England Club. BBGs have an average age of 15, being drawn from the school years nineYear Nine is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the ninth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between thirteen and fifteen....
and tenYear Ten is an educational year group in schools in many countries including India, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the tenth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between fourteen and sixteen....
. BBGs will serve for one, or if re-selected, two tournaments.
As of 2005, BBGs work in crews of six, 2 at the net, 4 at the corners, and crews rotate one hour on court, one hour off, (two hours depending on the court) for the day's play. Crews are not told which court they will be working on the day, to ensure the same standards across all courts. With the expansion of the number of courts, and lengthening the tennis day, as of 2008, the number of BBGs required is around 250. BBG service is paid, with a total of £120-£160 being paid to each ball boy
or girl after the 13-day period. Along with this it is seen as a privilege, and seen as a valuable addition to a school leaver's curriculum vitae, showing discipline. BBG places are split 50:50 between boys and girls, with girls having been used since 1977, appearing on centre court since 1985.
Prospective BBGs are first nominated by their school headteacher, to be considered for selection. To be selected, a candidate must pass written tests on the rules of tennis, and pass fitness, mobility and other suitability tests, against initial preliminary instruction material. Successful candidates then commence a training phase, starting in February, in which the final BBGs are chosen through continual assessment. As of 2008, this training intake was 600. The training includes weekly sessions of physical, procedural and theoretical instruction, to ensure that the BBGs are fast, alert, self confident and adaptable to situations. As of 2007, early training occurs at Sutton Junior Tennis Centre, and then moves to the main courts after EasterEaster is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day from his crucifixion...
.
Colours and uniforms
Dark green and purplePurple is a general term used in English for the range of shades of color occurring between red and blue. In additive light combinations it occurs by mixing the primary colors red and blue in varying proportions...
(sometimes also referred to as mauveMauve is a pale lavender-lilac color, one of many in the range of purples....
) are the traditional Wimbledon colours. However, all tennis players participating in the tournament are required to wear all white or at least almost all white clothing, a long time tradition at Wimbledon. Wearing white clothing with some colour accents is also acceptable. Green clothing was worn by the chair umpire, linesmen, ball boys and ball girls until the 2005 Championships; however, beginning with the 2006 Championships, officials, ball boys and ball girls were outfitted in new navy blue and cream coloured uniforms from American designer Ralph LaurenRalph Lauren is an American fashion designer and business executive. He is most notable for his Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand.-Early life:...
. This marked the first time in the history of the Championships that an outside company was used to design Wimbledon clothing. Wimbledon's contract with Ralph Lauren is set to last until 2009.
Referring to players
Prior to 2009 female players were referred to by the title "Miss" or "Mrs" on scoreboards. As dictated by strict rule of etiquette, married female players are referred to by their husbands' names: for example, Chris Evert-LloydChristine Marie "Chris" Evert is a former world number 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships, including a record seven championships at the French Open and a record six championships at the U.S. Open. According to the Women's Tennis...
appeared on scoreboards as "Mrs. J. M. Lloyd" during her marriage to John LloydJohn Lloyd is a former professional tennis player and current television commentator.During his career, he reached one Grand Slam singles final and won three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles...
, since "Mrs. X" essentially designates "The Wife of X". This tradition has continued at least to some extent.. For the first time during the 2009 tournament, players were referred to on scoreboards by both their first and last names. For example "Andy Murray" and not "A. Murray".
The title "Mr" is not used for male players who are professionals on scoreboards but the prefix is retained for amateurs, although chair umpires refer to players as "Mr" when they use the replay challenge. The chair umpire will say "Mr is challenging the call..." and "Mr has X challenges remaining."
If a match is being played with two competitors of the same surname (e.g. Venus and Serena Williams, Bob and Mike Bryan), the chair umpire will specify whom they are referring to by stating the player's first name and surname during announcements (e.g. "Game, Serena Williams", "Advantage, Mike Bryan").
Royal family
Previously, players bowed or curtsied to members of the Royal Family seated in the Royal Box upon entering or leaving Centre Court. In 2003, however, the President of the All England Club, His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, decided to discontinue the tradition. Now, players are required to bow or curtsy only if Her Majesty the Queen or the Prince of Wales is present.
Radio Wimbledon
Since 1992, Radio WimbledonRadio Wimbledon is the official radio station to the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the AELTC in Wimbledon.-About:Radio Wimbledon broadcasts daily on 87.7FM between 8am and approximately 10pm during the Championships at Wimbledon...
– an on-site radio station with a studio in the Centre Court building – has broadcast commentary, music and speech from 8am to 10pm daily throughout the championship. It also broadcast the draw on the Friday before the start of the tournament. Radio WimbledonRadio Wimbledon is the official radio station to the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the AELTC in Wimbledon.-About:Radio Wimbledon broadcasts daily on 87.7FM between 8am and approximately 10pm during the Championships at Wimbledon...
can be heard within a five-mile radius on 87.7 FM, and also online. It operates under a Restricted Service LicenceA UK Restricted Service Licence , is typically granted to radio stations and television stations broadcasting within the UK to serve a local community or a special event...
and is arguably the most sophisticated RSL annually in the UK. The main presenters are Sam Lloyd and Ali Barton. Typically they work alternate four-hour shifts. Reporters and commentators include Gigi Salmon, Nick Lestor, Rupert Bell, Nigel Bidmead, Guy Swindells, Lucie Ahl, Nadine Towell and Helen Whitaker. Often they report from the "Crow's Nest", an elevated building housing the Court 3 and 4 scoreboards which affords views of most of the outside courts. Regular guests include Sue Mappin. In recent years Radio WimbledonRadio Wimbledon is the official radio station to the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the AELTC in Wimbledon.-About:Radio Wimbledon broadcasts daily on 87.7FM between 8am and approximately 10pm during the Championships at Wimbledon...
acquired a second low-power FM frequency (within the grounds only) of 96.3 FM for uninterrupted Centre Court commentary, and, from 2006, a third for coverage from No. 1 Court on 97.8 FM. Hourly news bulletins and travel (using RDSRadio Data System, or RDS, is a communications protocol standard for embedding small amounts of digital information in conventional FM radio broadcasts. The RDS system standardises several types of information transmitted, including time, station identification and programme information.Radio...
) are also broadcast.
Television coverage
For over 60 years, the BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
has broadcast the tournament on television in the UK, splitting time for the many matches it covers between its two main terrestrial channels, BBC One
and BBC Two
. The BBC holds the broadcast rights for Wimbledon until 2014 and it distributes its commercial-free feed to outlets worldwide. During the days of British Satellite BroadcastingBritish Satellite Broadcasting was a British television company which provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom...
, its sports channel carried extra coverage of Wimbledon for subscribers. One of the most notable British commentators was Dan MaskellDaniel "Dan" Maskell was an English tennis player, who later became even better known as a radio and television commentator on the game, and was known as the BBC's "voice of tennis"....
, who was known as the BBC's "voice of tennis" until his retirement in 1991. Other regular commentators on UK television include British ex-players Greg RusedskiGregory "Greg" Rusedski is a former British Canadian tennis player who turned professional in 1991, and played until his retirement on 7 April 2007, at the age of 33....
, Andrew CastleAndrew Nicholas Castle is an English retired tennis professional, and now television presenter.-Biography:...
, Tim HenmanTimothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is an retired professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Men's...
and Annabel CroftAnnabel Croft is a former professional tennis player and current television presenter.Since retiring from tennis, she has turned to television presenting, with such shows as Treasure Hunt and Interceptor...
; and guest veterans such as Boris BeckerBoris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17. Tennis Magazine put Becker in 18th place on its list of...
, John McEnroeJohn Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles—three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open—nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
, Jimmy ConnorsJames Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former World No. 1 tennis player. Connors is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time...
and Tracy AustinTracy Ann Austin Holt is a former World No. 1 women's professional tennis player from the United States who won the women's singles title at the US Open in 1979 and 1981 and the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 1980, before a series of injuries cut short her career.-To 1980:Austin won 21...
. The coverage is presented by Sue BarkerSusan Barker, MBE is a television presenter and former professional tennis player. During her tennis career, she won the women's singles title at the French Open and reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3...
and highlights with John InverdaleJohn Inverdale , is an English radio and television broadcaster who works for the BBC, mainly covering sporting events.-Biography:...
. Previous BBC presenters include Des LynamDesmond Michael "Des" Lynam, OBE is an Irish presenter on British television and radio.He has hosted television coverage of high profile events for many years...
, David VineDavid Martin Vine was a British television sports presenter. He presented a wide variety of shows from the 1960s onwards.-Early life:...
and Harry CarpenterHarry Carpenter , is a former BBC sports commentator broadcasting from the early 1950s until his retirement in 1994. His speciality was boxing...
.
The Wimbledon Finals are obliged to be shown live and in full on terrestrial television (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5) by government mandate. Highlights of the rest of the tournament must be provided by terrestrial stations; live coverage (excepting the finals) may be sought by satellite or cable tv.
Americans have made a tradition of NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
's "Breakfast at Wimbledon" specials at weekends, where live coverage starts early in the morning (the US being a minimum of 5 hours behind the UK) and continues well into the afternoon, interspersed with commentary and interviews from Bud CollinsArthur Worth "Bud" Collins, Jr. is an American journalist and television sportscaster, best known for his tennis commentary...
, whose tennis acumen and (in)famous patterned trousers are well-known to tennis fans in the USA. Collins was sacked by NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
in 2007, but was promptly hired by ESPNESPN is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day....
, the cable home for The Championships in the States. From 1975 to 1999, premium channel HBO carried weekday coverage of Wimbledon. Hosts included Jim LampleyJim Lampley is an American sportscaster, news anchor, movie producer, and restaurant owner. He has been in several television shows, but is better known for his participation in the HBO Boxing series . He currently works alongside Larry Merchant and Emanuel Steward in that series...
, Billie Jean KingBillie Jean King is a tennis player from the United States. She won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. King has been an advocate against sexism in sports and society...
, Martina NavratilovaMartina Navrátilová is a Czech-American tennis player. A former World No. 1...
, John Lloyd and Barry MacKayBarry MacKay is a retired professional tennis player and tournament director, and a current television broadcaster. He was the NCAA Men's Singles Champion and Doubles Finalist with Richard Potter in 1957, while playing for University of Michigan. He was a Doubles Finalist with Sammy Giammalva at...
among others.
Wimbledon was also involved, unintentionally, in a piece of television history, on 1 July 1967. That was when the first official colour broadcast took place in the UK. Four hours live coverage of Wimbledon was shown on BBC2 (then the only colour channel in the UK), and although footage of that historic match no longer survives, the men's final that year is still held in the BBC archives because it was the first men's final transmitted in colour.
Since 2007, the most anticipated Wimbledon matches have been transmitted in High Definition, on the BBC's free-to-air channel BBC HDBBC HD is a high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007...
, with continual live coverage during the tournament of Centre Court and Court No. 1 as well as an evening highlight show (Today at Wimbledon).
The BBC's opening theme music for Wimbledon was composed by Keith MansfieldKeith Mansfield is a British composer and arranger known for his creation of prominent television theme tunes, including the Grandstand theme for the BBC...
and is titled "Light and Tuneful". A piece titled "A Sporting Occasion" is the traditional closing theme, though nowadays coverage typically ends either with a montage set to a popular song or with no music at all.
Tickets
The majority of centre and show court tickets sold to the general public are made available by a public ballot that the All England Club holds at the start of the year. A ballot for tickets has been held since 1924.
The ballot has always been substantially oversubscribed. Successful applicants are selected at random by a computer.
The All England Club, through its subsidiary The All England Lawn Tennis Ground plc, issues Debentures to tennis fans every five years to raise funds for capital expenditure. Fans who invest thus in the club receive a pair of tickets for every day of the Wimbledon Championships for the five years the investment lasts. Only debenture holders are permitted to sell on their tickets to third parties, although for many years ticket touts have made a habit of illegally purchasing tickets allocated to non-debenture holders in the draw and selling them for a profit. In 2007 a group of debenture holders in the All England Club created the first website allowing debenture holders to sell tickets directly to members of the public. The new website, http://www.wimbledondebentureholders.com , allows debenture holders to sell their own tickets without paying a middle man, thus making the tickets themselves considerably cheaper for consumers.
Wimbledon is the only grand slam where fans without tickets for play can queue up and still get seats on Centre Court, Court 1 and Court 2. From 2008, there is a single queue, allotted about 500 seats for each court. When they join the queue fans are handed vouchers with a number on it and the following morning when the line moves towards the Grounds, stewards come through the line and hand out wristbands colour-coded to the specific court. The voucher is then redeemed at the ticket office for the ticket.
To get into the show courts, fans will normally have to queue overnight at Wimbledon. This is done by fans from all over the world and is considered part of the Wimbledon experience in itself. Those planning to queue overnight are advised to bring a tent and sleeping bag. Times to queue up vary according to the weather, but anyone queueing up before 9PM on a weekday should be able to get a show court ticket. Queuing for the show courts ends after the quarter finals have been completed.
Fans can also try to get a resale show court ticket at a price of £5 - something usually worth doing if there is a good match and if they have been queuing for more than 6 hours.
Trophies and prize money
The Gentlemen's Singles champion receives a silver gilt cup 18.5 inches (about 47 cm) in height and 7.5 inches (about 19 cm) in diameter. The trophy has been awarded since 1887 and bears the inscription: "The All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Champion of the World." The Ladies' Singles champion receives a sterling silver salver commonly known as the "Venus Rosewater DishThe Venus Rosewater Dish is awarded to the ladies singles champion at the Wimbledon Championships. It is an 18.75in silver salver made in 1864 by Messrs. Elkington and Co. Ltd. of Birmingham. The pewter original from the 1500s resides in the Louvre...
", or simply the "Rosewater Dish". The salver, which is 18.75 inches (about 48 cm) in diameter, is decorated with figures from mythology. The winners of the Gentlemen's Doubles, Ladies' Doubles, and Mixed Doubles events receive silver cups. The runner-up in each event receives an inscribed silver plate. The trophies are usually presented by the President of the All England Club, The Duke of KentPrince Edward, Duke of Kent is a member of the British Royal Family, a grandchild of George V. He has held the title of Duke of Kent since 1942....
.
Prize money was first awarded in 1968, the first year that professional players were allowed to compete in the Championships.
In 2008, the prize money for the main events is as follows (the amounts shown for the doubles events are per pair):
- Gentlemen's Singles and Ladies' Singles Winners £850,000
In 2009, a total of £12,500,000 in prize money was awarded with the singles champions receiving £850,000 each, an increase of 13.3 percent on 2008.
Champions
- Main article: List of Wimbledon champions (and the Championships by year)
Current champions
File:Roger Federer (26 June 2009, Wimbledon).jpg|Roger FedererRoger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player. As of October 2009, he is ranked world number 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals , having previously held the number one position for a record 237 consecutive weeks...
became the Men's champion on July 5, 2009 defeating Andy Roddick in an epic and historic final. This is Federer's sixth Wimbledon Men's Singles title, and his fifteenth slam for his career. This is Federer's second singles men's slam title of the year to go along with the French title.
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon, is the oldest tennisTennis is a sport played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a strung racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court....
tournament in the world and is generally considered the most prestigious.
[Wimbledon's reputation and why it is considered the most prestigious][Djokovic describes Wimbledon as "the most prestigious event"] It has been held at the All England ClubThe All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club , also known as the All-England Club, based at Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam tennis event still held on grass...
in the London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
suburb of WimbledonWimbledon is a suburb in south west London, part of the London Borough of Merton and located from Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
since 1877. It is one of the four Grand SlamThe four Grand Slam tournaments, also called the Majors, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, and public attention. They are: Australian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open...
tennis tournaments, and the only one still played on the game's original surface, grass, which gave the game of lawn tennis its name.
The tournament takes place over two weeks in late June and early July, culminating with the ladies' and gentlemen's singles final, scheduled respectively for the second Saturday and Sunday. Each year, five major events are contested, as well as four junior events and four invitational events.
The hard court Australian OpenThe Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments held each year. The tournament is held each January at Melbourne Park. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was contested on grass from then up to 1987. Since 1988, the tournament has been held on hard...
and clay courtA clay court is one of the four different types of tennis court. Clay courts are made of crushed shale, stone or brick. The red clay is slower than the green, or Har-Tru "American" clay. The French Open uses clay courts, making it unique among the Grand Slam tournaments.Clay courts are more common...
French Open precede Wimbledon in the calendar year. The hard court US Open follows. For men, the grass court Queen's Club ChampionshipsThe Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is an ATP World Tour 250 series tournament on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour. Its sponsored name is currently the AEGON...
, also in London, the Gerry Weber OpenThe Gerry Weber Open is a tennis tournament held in Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Held since 1991, the tournament is played on four outdoor grass courts and is a part of the ATP World Tour 250 series on the ATP Tour schedule....
in Halle, Germany, and the Ordina OpenThe Ordina Open is a tennis tournament on the ATP Tour and WTA Tour held in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.-Singles:-Doubles:-Singles:-Doubles:-External links:*...
in 's-Hertogenbosch's-Hertogenbosch — translated in French as Bois-le-Duc, in German as Herzogenbusch, in Spanish as Bolduque and in Italian as Boscoducale — is a municipality in the Netherlands, and also the capital of the province of North Brabant...
, NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
are popular warm up tournaments for Wimbledon. For women, there are warm-up tournaments in Birmingham and Eastbourne.
Wimbledon traditions include the eating of strawberriesGarden strawberries are a common kind of strawberry cultivated worldwide. Like other species of Fragaria , it belongs to the family Rosaceae. Technically, it is not a fruit, but a false fruit, meaning the fleshy part is derived not from the plant's ovaries but from the peg at the bottom of the...
and creamCream is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, over time, the lighter fat rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream this process is accelerated by using centrifuges called "separators"...
, drinking Pimms spritzers, royal patronage, and a strict dress code for competitors. In 2009, Wimbledon's Centre CourtCentre Court is the main court at the Wimbledon Championship, the 3rd annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is situated in the Aorangi Park and is home to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club, its only regular use is for the two weeks a year that the Championships take place,...
was fitted with a retractable roofA retractable roof is a kinetic architectural element used in many sports venues, in which a roof made of a suitable material can readily be mechanically deployed from some "retracted" or "open" position into a "closed" or "extended" position that completely covers the field of play and spectator...
to insure against the possibility of rain delays interrupting Centre Court matches during the tournament.
Beginnings
The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is a private club founded in 1868, originally as 'The All England Croquet Club'. Its first ground was situated off Worple Road, Wimbledon.
In 1875, lawn tennis, a game devised by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield a year or so earlier and originally called 'Sphairistike', was added to the activities of the club. In the spring of 1877, the club was re-titled 'The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club' and signalled its change of name by instituting the first Lawn Tennis Championship. A new code of laws (replacing the code until then administered by the Marylebone Cricket ClubMarylebone Cricket Club was founded in 1787 as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground near St John's Wood in north London. MCC was formerly the governing body of cricket in England and across the world...
) was drawn up for the event. Today's rules are similar except for details such as the height of the net and posts and the distance of the service line from the net.
The only event held in 1877 was the Gentlemen's Singles, which was won by Spencer Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player, from a field of 22. About 200 spectators paid one shilling each to watch the final.
The lawns at the ground were arranged so that the principal court was located in the middle with the others arranged around it; hence the title 'Centre Court', which was retained when the Club moved in 1922 to the present site in Church Road, although not a true description of its location. However, in 1980 four new courts were brought into commission on the north side of the ground, which meant the Centre Court was once more correctly defined. The opening of the new No. 1 Court in 1997 emphasised the description.
By 1882, activity at the club was almost exclusively confined to lawn tennis and that year the word 'croquet' was dropped from the title. However, for sentimental reasons, it was restored in 1889 and since then the title has remained The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet ClubThe All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club , also known as the All-England Club, based at Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam tennis event still held on grass...
.
In 1884, the All England Club added ladies' singles and gentlemen's doubles. Ladies' doubles and mixed doubles were added in 1913. Until 1922, the reigning champion had to play only in the final, against whoever had won through to challenge him. As with the other three Grand Slam events, Wimbledon was contested by top-ranked amateur players until the advent of the open era in tennis in 1968. No British man has won the singles event at Wimbledon since Fred PerryFrederick John Perry born in Stockport, Cheshire, was a British tennis and table tennis player and three-time Wimbledon champion. He was the World No...
in 1936 and no British woman has won the Ladies Singles since Virginia WadeSarah Virginia Wade, OBE is an English former tennis player. She won three Grand Slam singles titles and four Grand Slam doubles titles. She won the women's singles title at Wimbledon in the tournament's centenary year on 1 July 1977, the last time a Briton has won a singles title at the tournament...
in 1977, although Annabel CroftAnnabel Croft is a former professional tennis player and current television presenter.Since retiring from tennis, she has turned to television presenting, with such shows as Treasure Hunt and Interceptor...
and Laura RobsonLaura Robson is a British tennis player. Born in Australia, she moved to the UK at an early age and first gained a British passport in early 2008....
won the girls' championship in 1984List of the 1984 Wimbledon champions:-Men's singles: John McEnroe def. Jimmy Connors, 6–1, 6–1, 6–2*It was McEnroe's 8th title of the year, and his 54th overall. It was his 6th career Grand Slam title, and his 3rd Wimbledon title.-Women's singles: Martina Navrátilová def...
and 2008The 2008 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 122nd edition of the Wimbledon Championships, and the third Grand Slam event of the year...
, respectively. The Championship was first televised in 1937.
21st century
Wimbledon is widely considered to be the premier tennis tournament in the world and the priority of The All England Lawn Tennis Club, which hosts The Championships, is to maintain its leadership into the 21st century. To that end a long term plan was unveiled in 1993, intended to improve the quality of the event for spectators, players, officials and neighbours.
Stage one of the plan was completed for the 1997 championships and involved building in Aorangi Park the new No. 1 Court, a broadcast centre, two extra grass courts and a tunnel under the hill linking Church Road and Somerset Road.
Stage two involved the removal of the old No. 1 Court complex to make way for the new Millennium Building, providing extensive facilities for the players, press, officials and members, and the extension of the West Stand of the Centre Court with 728 extra seats.
Stage three has been completed with the construction of an entrance building, housing club staff, museum, bank and ticket office.[Wimbledon home page http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/history/history.html]
A new retractable roof has been built in time for the 2009 championships, marking the first time in the tournament's history that rain will not stop play for a lengthly time on Centre Court. The All England Club tested the new roof at an event called A Centre Court Celebration on Sunday, 17 May 2009, which featured exhibition matches involving Andre AgassiAndre Kirk Agassi is a former World No. 1 professional American tennis player who won eight Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. He is generally considered by critics and fellow players to be among the greatest tennis players of all time, and has been called the...
, Steffi GrafStefanie Maria Graf is a former World No. 1 female tennis player from Germany.Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...
, Kim ClijstersKim Antonie Lode Clijsters is a Belgian tennis player. She is a former World No. 1 ranked player in singles and in doubles. As of September 28, 2009, she is ranked World No. 17....
and Tim HenmanTimothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is an retired professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Men's...
. The first Championship match to take place under the roof was the completion of the fourth round women's singles match between Dinara SafinaDinara Mikhailovna Safina is a Russian professional tennis player and former world number 1 who is currently ranked World No. 2....
and Amelie MauresmoAmélie Simone Mauresmo ; born 5 July 1979) is a French professional tennis player. She is a former World No. 1. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam singles titles in 2006, at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon....
. The first match to be played in its entirety under the new roof was between Andy Murray and Stanislas WawrinkaStanislas Wawrinka is a Swiss professional tennis player. His career ranking high is #9, achieved on 9 June 2008.He considers clay his best surface, and the backhand his best shot...
on 29 June 2009, which Murray won 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. The match recorded the latest ever finish at The Championships, concluding at 10.38pm.[http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/celebration/index.html] A new 4000-seat No. 2 Court has been built on the site of the old No. 13 Court and was ready for the 2009 Championships.[http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/articles/2009-06-11/200906111244725616916.html New Court No. 2] A new 2000-seat No. 3 Court is being built on the site of the old Court No. 2.[New Court No. 3]
Events
Wimbledon includes five main events, four junior events and four invitation events.[The Championships, Wimbledon 2008 — The 2008 Championships]
Main events
The five main events, and the number of players (or teams, in the case of doubles) include the following:
- Gentlemen's Singles (128 draw)
- Ladies' Singles (128 draw)
- Gentlemen's Doubles (64 draw)
- Ladies' Doubles (64 draw)
- Mixed Doubles (48 draw)
Junior events
Also known as Chimbledon (Children's Wimbledon), the four junior events and the number of players or teams include the following:
- Boys' Singles (64 draw)
- Girls' Singles (64 draw)
- Boys' Doubles (32 draw)
- Girls' Doubles (32 draw)
No mixed doubles event is held at this level.
Invitation events
The five invitational and the number of pairs include the following:
- Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
[The men who are eligible for the Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles are 35 years old and older.]
- Senior Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
[The men who are eligible for the Senior Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles are 45 years old and older.]
- Ladies' Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
[The women who are eligible for the Ladies Invitation Doubles are 35 years old and older.]
- Gentlemen's Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs)
- Ladies' Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs)
Match formats
Matches in the Gentlemen's Singles and Gentlemen's Doubles competitions are best-of-five sets. Matches in all other events are best-of-three sets. A tiebreak game is played if the score reaches 6–6 in any set except the fifth (in a five-set match) or the third (in a three-set match), in which case a two-game lead must be reached.
All events are single-elimination tournamentA single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event...
s[In a single-elimination tournament, a losing player or team is eliminated from the tournament.], except for the Gentlemen's, Senior Gentlemen's and the Ladies' Invitation Doubles, all of which are round-robin tournamentA round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a type of tournament "in which each contestant meets every other contestant in turn". In a single round-robin schedule, each participant plays every other participant once. If each participant plays all others twice, this is frequently called a...
s.
Until 1922, the winners of the previous year's competition (except in the Ladies Doubles and Mixed Doubles) were automatically granted byesA bye, in sports and other competitive activities, most commonly refers to the practice of allowing a player or team to advance to the next round of a playoff tournament without playing...
into the final round (then known as the challenge round). This led to many winners retaining their titles for successive years, as they were able to rest while their opponent competed from the start of the competition. From 1922, the prior-year's champions were not granted byes but were required to play all the rounds, like other tournament competitors.
Schedule
Each year, the tournament begins on the Monday falling between 20 and 26 June.
Wimbledon begins two weeks after the Queen's Club ChampionshipsThe Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is an ATP World Tour 250 series tournament on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour. Its sponsored name is currently the AEGON...
, which is one of the men's major warm-up tournaments for Wimbledon. Another important men's warm-up tournament is the Gerry Weber OpenThe Gerry Weber Open is a tennis tournament held in Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Held since 1991, the tournament is played on four outdoor grass courts and is a part of the ATP World Tour 250 series on the ATP Tour schedule....
, which is held in Halle, GermanyHalle is a town in the German Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia and belongs to the district of Gütersloh.- Geographic Location :...
during the same week as the Queen's Club Championships. Other important grass-court tournaments before Wimbledon are Eastbourne, England, and 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, both combining mixed events. The other women's warm-up tournament for Wimbledon is Birmingham, also in England. And to bring the grass court season to an end after the Championships each year there is a tournament held overseas at Newport, Rhode Island, US.
Wimbledon is scheduled for 13 days, beginning on a Monday and ending on a Sunday with the middle Sunday a designated rest day. The five main events span both weeks, but the youth and invitational events are held mainly during the second week. Traditionally, there is no play on the "Middle Sunday", which is considered a rest day. However, rain has forced play on the Middle Sunday three times in the Championship's history: in 1991, 1997, and 2004. On each of these occasions, Wimbledon has staged a "People's Sunday", with unreserved seating and readily available, inexpensive tickets, allowing those with more limited means to sit on the show courts. Additionally, if the tournament is not completed by the end of the second Sunday, all remaining matches are postponed until "People's Monday".
Players and seeding
A total of 128 players feature in each singles event, 64 pairs in each single-sex doubles event, and 48 pairs in Mixed Doubles. Players and doubles pairs are admitted to the main events on the basis of their international rankings, with consideration also given to their previous performances at grasscourt events. Currently (since 2001) 32 male and female players are given seedingsA seed is a preliminary ranking that can be used in arranging a sports tournament. It is called a seed because of the analogy with plants where the seed might grow into a top rank at the end of that tournament, or the seed might instead wither away...
in the Gentlemen's and Ladies' singles while 16 teams are seeded in the doubles events.
The Committee of Management and the Referee evaluate all applications for entry, and determine which players may be admitted to the tournament directly. The committee may admit a player without a high enough ranking as a wild card. Usually, wild cards are players who have performed well during previous tournaments, or would stimulate public interest in Wimbledon by participating. The only wild card to win the Gentlemen's Singles Championship was Goran IvaniševićGoran Ivanišević is a former professional tennis player from Croatia. He is best remembered for being the only person to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard. He achieved this in 2001, having previously been runner-up at the championships in 1992, 1994 and 1998...
in 2001. Players and pairs who neither have high enough rankings nor receive wild cards may participate in a qualifying tournament held one week before Wimbledon at the Bank of EnglandThe Bank of England is, despite its name, the central bank of the whole of the United Kingdom and is the model on which most modern, large central banks have been based. It was established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and to this day it still acts as the banker for the UK...
Sports Ground in RoehamptonRoehampton is a district in south-west London, forming the western end of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It lies between the town of Barnes to the north, Putney to the east, Wimbledon Common to the south and Richmond Park Golf Course to the west of the neighbourhood. In between which is...
. The singles qualifying competitions are three-round events; the same-sex doubles competitions last for only one round. There is no qualifying tournament for Mixed Doubles. No qualifier has won either the Gentlemen's Singles or the Ladies' Singles tournaments. The furthest that any qualifier has progressed in the main draw of a Singles tournament is the semi-final round: John McEnroeJohn Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles—three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open—nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
in 1977, Vladimir VoltchkovVladimir Nikolayevich Voltchkov is a Belarusian tennis player. Voltchkov reached the semi-final at the 2000 Wimbledon, where, as a qualifer, he lost to Pete Sampras in straight sets...
in 2000 (Gentlemen's Singles), and Alexandra StevensonAlexandra Winfield Stevenson is a professional tennis player from the United States. She is the daughter of retired professional basketball player Julius Erving....
in 1999 (Ladies' Singles).
Players are admitted to the junior tournaments upon the recommendations of their national tennis associations, on their International Tennis FederationThe International Tennis Federation is the governing body of world tennis, made up of 205 national tennis associations.It was established as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by 12 national associations meeting at a conference in Paris, France on 1 March 1913...
world rankings and, in the case of the singles events, on the basis of a qualifying competition. The Committee of Management determines which players may enter the four invitational events.
The Committee seeds the top players and pairs on the basis of their rankings. However, the Committee does also change the seedings due to a player's previous grass court performance. A majority of the entrants are unseeded. Only two unseeded players have ever won the Gentlemen's Singles Championship: Boris BeckerBoris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17. Tennis Magazine put Becker in 18th place on its list of...
in 1985 and Goran IvaniševićGoran Ivanišević is a former professional tennis player from Croatia. He is best remembered for being the only person to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard. He achieved this in 2001, having previously been runner-up at the championships in 1992, 1994 and 1998...
in 2001. (In 1985 there were only 16 seeds and Becker was ranked 20th at the time; Ivanišević, however, was ranked 125th when he won as a Wild Card entrant.) No unseeded player has captured the Ladies' Singles title; the lowest seeded female champion was Venus WilliamsVenus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions; as of October 19, 2009, she is ranked World No. 4...
, who won in 2007 as the twenty-third seed, beating her own record from 2005, when Williams won as the fourteenth seed. Unseeded pairs have won the doubles titles on numerous occasions; the 2005 Gentlemen's Doubles champions were not only unseeded, but also (for the first time ever) qualifiers.
Grounds
The nineteen courts used for Wimbledon are composed purely of rye grass.
The main show courts, Centre CourtCentre Court is the main court at the Wimbledon Championship, the 3rd annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is situated in the Aorangi Park and is home to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club, its only regular use is for the two weeks a year that the Championships take place,...
and No. 1 CourtNo. 1 Court is a tennis court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London. Opened in 1997, it is used for the Wimbledon Championships and is sometime chosen for Great Britain Davis Cup home ties, the primary Centre Court being preserved solely for the Grand Slam tennis...
, are normally used only for two weeks a year, during the Championships, but play can extend into a third week in exceptional circumstances. The remaining seventeen courts are regularly used for other events hosted by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. The show courts will, however, be pressed into action for the second time in three months in 2012 as Wimbledon will host the tennis events of the 2012 Olympic GamesThe 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are due to take place in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
. One of the show courts is also used for home games for the GB teams in the Davis CupThe Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. The largest annual international team competition in sports, the Davis Cup is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition...
.
Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event played on grass courts. At one time, all the Grand Slam events, except the French Open, were played on grass. The US Open abandoned grass for a synthetic clay surface in 1975 and changed again to a hard surface (DecoTurfDecoTurf is a tennis hardcourt comprising layers of acrylic, rubber, silica, and other materials on top of an asphalt or concrete base. It is manufactured by Decosystems, which is a division of California Products Corporation which also manufactures Plexipave), and is based in Andover,...
) with its 1978 move to the National Tennis Center. The Australian OpenThe Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments held each year. The tournament is held each January at Melbourne Park. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was contested on grass from then up to 1987. Since 1988, the tournament has been held on hard...
abandoned grass for Rebound AceRebound Ace is a cushioned tennis hardcourt comprising layers of polyurethane rubber, fiberglass, and other materials on top of an asphalt or reinforced concrete base...
, a different type of hard surface, in 1988, and switched to yet another type of hard surface, PlexicushionPlexicushion is a tennis surface system made by Plexipave, a company based in Massachusetts, USA.- Description :According to the Plexipave website there are four different types of Plexicushion...
, in 2008.
The principal court, Centre CourtCentre Court is the main court at the Wimbledon Championship, the 3rd annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is situated in the Aorangi Park and is home to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club, its only regular use is for the two weeks a year that the Championships take place,...
, was opened in 1922 when the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club moved from Worple Road to Church Road. This change of venue was due to the huge crowd pressure at Worple Road to see the French phenomenon Suzanne LenglenSuzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen was a French tennis player who won 31 Grand Slam titles between 1914 and 1926. A flamboyant, trendsetting athlete, she was the first female tennis celebrity and one of the first international female sport stars, named La Divine by the French press.- Early life :A...
, and for which that ground proved completely inadequate.
Due to the possibility of rain during Wimbledon, a retractable roof was installed prior to the 2009 Championship. The retractable roof is designed to close/open in about 10 minutes and will be closed primarily to protect play from inclement (and, if necessary, extremely hot) weather during The Championships.[Wimbledon Website - The Championships and The All England Lawn Tennis Club<] When the roof is being opened or closed, play is suspended. During a Wimbledon Championship match, the first time the roof was closed was on Monday 29 June 2009, involving Amélie MauresmoAmélie Simone Mauresmo ; born 5 July 1979) is a French professional tennis player. She is a former World No. 1. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam singles titles in 2006, at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon....
and Dinara SafinaDinara Mikhailovna Safina is a Russian professional tennis player and former world number 1 who is currently ranked World No. 2....
. The court has a capacity of 15,000. At its south end is the Royal Box, from which members of the Royal Family and other dignitaries watch matches. Centre Court usually hosts the finals and semifinals of the main events, as well as many matches in the earlier rounds involving top-seeded players or local favourites.
The second most important court is No. 1 CourtNo. 1 Court is a tennis court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London. Opened in 1997, it is used for the Wimbledon Championships and is sometime chosen for Great Britain Davis Cup home ties, the primary Centre Court being preserved solely for the Grand Slam tennis...
. The court was constructed in 1997 to replace the old No. 1 Court, which was adjacent to Centre Court. The old No. 1 Court was demolished because its capacity for spectators was too low. The court was said to have had a unique, more intimate atmosphere and was a favourite of many players. The new No. 1 Court has a capacity of approximately 11,000.
From 2009, a new No. 2 Court is being used at Wimbledon with a capacity for 4,000 people. To obtain planning permissionPlanning permission or planning consent is the permission required in the United Kingdom in order to be allowed to build on land, or change the use of land or buildings. Within the UK the occupier of any land or building will need title to that land or building , but will also need "planning...
, the playing surface is around 3.5m below ground level, ensuring that the single-story structure is only about 3.5m above ground level, and thus not affecting local views. Plans to build on the current site of Court 13 were dismissed due to the high capacity of games that will be played at the 2012 Olympic GamesThe 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are due to take place in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
. The old No. 2 Court has been renamed as Court No. 3. The old No. 2 Court was known as the "Graveyard of Champions" because many highly seeded players were eliminated there during early rounds over the years, including Ilie NastaseIlie Năstase is a former Romanian professional tennis player, one of the world's top players of the 1970s. Năstase was the World No. 1 in 1973 according to the Association of Tennis Professionals ranking system, which placed him first from August 23, 1973 to June 2, 1974...
, John McEnroeJohn Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles—three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open—nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
, Boris BeckerBoris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17. Tennis Magazine put Becker in 18th place on its list of...
, Andre AgassiAndre Kirk Agassi is a former World No. 1 professional American tennis player who won eight Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. He is generally considered by critics and fellow players to be among the greatest tennis players of all time, and has been called the...
, Pete SamprasPete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former World No. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam men's singles titles, and had a 203–38 win-loss record over 52 Grand Slam singles tournament appearances....
, Martina HingisMartina Hingis is a retired professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...
, Venus WilliamsVenus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions; as of October 19, 2009, she is ranked World No. 4...
, and Serena WilliamsSerena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and current World No. 1. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on four separate occasions...
. The court has a capacity of about 3,000.
At the northern end of the grounds is a giant television screen on which important matches are broadcast. Fans watch from an area of grass officially known as the Aorangi Terrace. When British players do well at Wimbledon, the hill attracts fans for them, and is often re-named by the press for them: Greg RusedskiGregory "Greg" Rusedski is a former British Canadian tennis player who turned professional in 1991, and played until his retirement on 7 April 2007, at the age of 33....
's followers convened at "Rusedski Ridge", and Tim HenmanTimothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is an retired professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Men's...
has had the hill nicknamed Henman HillAorangi Terrace, colloquially known as "Henman Hill", is an area in the grounds of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club where, during the annual Wimbledon tennis championship, crowds of people without showcourt tickets can watch the tennis matches live on a giant television screen at the...
. As both of them have now retired and Andy Murray is the number 1 British player, the hill is now sometimes referred to as "Murray Mound" or "MurrayfieldMurrayfield Stadium is a sports stadium located in the west end of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland...
", as a reference to his Scottish heritage and the Scottish ground of the same name.
Ball boys and ball girls
In the championship games, ball boys and girlsBall Boy is a comic strip in the UK comic The Beano and also the name of the main character. It first appeared in issue 1735, dated 18 October 1975. It features a five-a-side football team that includes:* Ball Boy - the captain of the team, Ball Boy bears resemblances to The Dandy's Owen Goal...
, known as BBGs, play a crucial role in the smooth running of the tournament, with a brief that a good BBG "should not be seen. They should blend into the background and get on with their jobs quietly."[The Telegraph Strawberries, cream and BBGs, 29 June 2006]
From 1947 ball boys were supplied by Goldings [Goldings Ballboys], the only Barnardos school to provide them. Previous to this, from the 1920s onwards, the ball boys had been provided by The Shaftsbury Children's Home.
Since 1969, BBGs have been provided by local schools. As of 2008 they are drawn from schools in the London boroughs of Merton-People:* Gerald Merton, English astronomer * Paul Merton , British actor and comedian* Robert C. Merton , American nobel-prize winning economist, or to his Merton Model...
, Sutton-Places:Sutton, meaning 'south settlement' in Old English, is a very common place name. Places named Sutton include:-United Kingdom:In London:* London Borough of Sutton** which includes Sutton, London** historically Sutton Urban District...
, KingstonKingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in south-west London.It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross...
and WandsworthWandsworth is an inner suburb of London on the south bank of the River Thames in south-west London. Wandsworth takes its name from the River Wandle, which enters the Thames at Wandsworth. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Wandsworth appears in...
, as well as from SurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford...
[Official Site Ballboys and Ballgirls Schools Information]. Traditionally, Wandsworth Boys Grammar School in Sutherland Grove, Southfields and Mayfield Girls School on West Hill in Wandsworth, both now defunct, were the schools of choice for selection of BBGs. This was possibly owing to their proximity to the All England Club. BBGs have an average age of 15, being drawn from the school years nineYear Nine is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the ninth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between thirteen and fifteen....
and tenYear Ten is an educational year group in schools in many countries including India, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the tenth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between fourteen and sixteen....
. BBGs will serve for one, or if re-selected, two tournaments.
As of 2005, BBGs work in crews of six, 2 at the net, 4 at the corners, and crews rotate one hour on court, one hour off, (two hours depending on the court) for the day's play[Official Site Ballboys and Ballgirls Background Information]. Crews are not told which court they will be working on the day, to ensure the same standards across all courts. With the expansion of the number of courts, and lengthening the tennis day, as of 2008, the number of BBGs required is around 250. BBG service is paid, with a total of £120-£160 being paid to each ball boy
or girl after the 13-day period. Along with this it is seen as a privilege, and seen as a valuable addition to a school leaver's curriculum vitae, showing discipline. BBG places are split 50:50 between boys and girls, with girls having been used since 1977, appearing on centre court since 1985[Official Site About Wimbledon - Behind the scenes, Ball boys and ball girls].
Prospective BBGs are first nominated by their school headteacher, to be considered for selection. To be selected, a candidate must pass written tests on the rules of tennis, and pass fitness, mobility and other suitability tests, against initial preliminary instruction material. Successful candidates then commence a training phase, starting in February, in which the final BBGs are chosen through continual assessment. As of 2008, this training intake was 600. The training includes weekly sessions of physical, procedural and theoretical instruction, to ensure that the BBGs are fast, alert, self confident and adaptable to situations. As of 2007, early training occurs at Sutton Junior Tennis Centre, and then moves to the main courts after EasterEaster is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day from his crucifixion...
.
Colours and uniforms
Dark green and purplePurple is a general term used in English for the range of shades of color occurring between red and blue. In additive light combinations it occurs by mixing the primary colors red and blue in varying proportions...
(sometimes also referred to as mauveMauve is a pale lavender-lilac color, one of many in the range of purples....
) are the traditional Wimbledon colours. However, all tennis players participating in the tournament are required to wear all white or at least almost all white clothing, a long time tradition at Wimbledon. Wearing white clothing with some colour accents is also acceptable. Green clothing was worn by the chair umpire, linesmen, ball boys and ball girls until the 2005 Championships; however, beginning with the 2006 Championships, officials, ball boys and ball girls were outfitted in new navy blue and cream coloured uniforms from American designer Ralph LaurenRalph Lauren is an American fashion designer and business executive. He is most notable for his Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand.-Early life:...
. This marked the first time in the history of the Championships that an outside company was used to design Wimbledon clothing. Wimbledon's contract with Ralph Lauren is set to last until 2009.
Referring to players
Prior to 2009 female players were referred to by the title "Miss" or "Mrs" on scoreboards. As dictated by strict rule of etiquette, married female players are referred to by their husbands' names: for example, Chris Evert-LloydChristine Marie "Chris" Evert is a former world number 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships, including a record seven championships at the French Open and a record six championships at the U.S. Open. According to the Women's Tennis...
appeared on scoreboards as "Mrs. J. M. Lloyd" during her marriage to John LloydJohn Lloyd is a former professional tennis player and current television commentator.During his career, he reached one Grand Slam singles final and won three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles...
, since "Mrs. X" essentially designates "The Wife of X". This tradition has continued at least to some extent.["Mrs. P-Y Hardenne" is used to describe Justine Henin. See http://aeltc.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/history/rolls/ladiesroll.html (accessed 20 June 2008).]. For the first time during the 2009 tournament, players were referred to on scoreboards by both their first and last names. For example "Andy Murray" and not "A. Murray"[See scoreboard behind Andy Murray during his third round match with Stanilsas Wawrinka http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/articles/2009-06-29/200906291246291940671.html (accessed 30 June 2009)].
The title "Mr" is not used for male players who are professionals on scoreboards but the prefix is retained for amateurs, although chair umpires refer to players as "Mr" when they use the replay challenge. The chair umpire will say "Mr is challenging the call..." and "Mr has X challenges remaining."
If a match is being played with two competitors of the same surname (e.g. Venus and Serena Williams, Bob and Mike Bryan), the chair umpire will specify whom they are referring to by stating the player's first name and surname during announcements (e.g. "Game, Serena Williams", "Advantage, Mike Bryan").
Royal family
Previously, players bowed or curtsied to members of the Royal Family seated in the Royal Box upon entering or leaving Centre Court. In 2003, however, the President of the All England Club, His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, decided to discontinue the tradition. Now, players are required to bow or curtsy only if Her Majesty the Queen or the Prince of Wales is present.
Radio Wimbledon
Since 1992, Radio WimbledonRadio Wimbledon is the official radio station to the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the AELTC in Wimbledon.-About:Radio Wimbledon broadcasts daily on 87.7FM between 8am and approximately 10pm during the Championships at Wimbledon...
– an on-site radio station with a studio in the Centre Court building – has broadcast commentary, music and speech from 8am to 10pm daily throughout the championship. It also broadcast the draw on the Friday before the start of the tournament. Radio WimbledonRadio Wimbledon is the official radio station to the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the AELTC in Wimbledon.-About:Radio Wimbledon broadcasts daily on 87.7FM between 8am and approximately 10pm during the Championships at Wimbledon...
can be heard within a five-mile radius on 87.7 FM, and also online. It operates under a Restricted Service LicenceA UK Restricted Service Licence , is typically granted to radio stations and television stations broadcasting within the UK to serve a local community or a special event...
and is arguably the most sophisticated RSL annually in the UK. The main presenters are Sam Lloyd and Ali Barton. Typically they work alternate four-hour shifts. Reporters and commentators include Gigi Salmon, Nick Lestor, Rupert Bell, Nigel Bidmead, Guy Swindells, Lucie Ahl, Nadine Towell and Helen Whitaker. Often they report from the "Crow's Nest", an elevated building housing the Court 3 and 4 scoreboards which affords views of most of the outside courts. Regular guests include Sue Mappin. In recent years Radio WimbledonRadio Wimbledon is the official radio station to the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the AELTC in Wimbledon.-About:Radio Wimbledon broadcasts daily on 87.7FM between 8am and approximately 10pm during the Championships at Wimbledon...
acquired a second low-power FM frequency (within the grounds only) of 96.3 FM for uninterrupted Centre Court commentary, and, from 2006, a third for coverage from No. 1 Court on 97.8 FM. Hourly news bulletins and travel (using RDSRadio Data System, or RDS, is a communications protocol standard for embedding small amounts of digital information in conventional FM radio broadcasts. The RDS system standardises several types of information transmitted, including time, station identification and programme information.Radio...
) are also broadcast.
Television coverage
For over 60 years, the BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
has broadcast the tournament on television in the UK, splitting time for the many matches it covers between its two main terrestrial channels, BBC One
and BBC Two
. The BBC holds the broadcast rights for Wimbledon until 2014 and it distributes its commercial-free feed to outlets worldwide. During the days of British Satellite BroadcastingBritish Satellite Broadcasting was a British television company which provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom...
, its sports channel carried extra coverage of Wimbledon for subscribers. One of the most notable British commentators was Dan MaskellDaniel "Dan" Maskell was an English tennis player, who later became even better known as a radio and television commentator on the game, and was known as the BBC's "voice of tennis"....
, who was known as the BBC's "voice of tennis" until his retirement in 1991. Other regular commentators on UK television include British ex-players Greg RusedskiGregory "Greg" Rusedski is a former British Canadian tennis player who turned professional in 1991, and played until his retirement on 7 April 2007, at the age of 33....
, Andrew CastleAndrew Nicholas Castle is an English retired tennis professional, and now television presenter.-Biography:...
, Tim HenmanTimothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is an retired professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Men's...
and Annabel CroftAnnabel Croft is a former professional tennis player and current television presenter.Since retiring from tennis, she has turned to television presenting, with such shows as Treasure Hunt and Interceptor...
; and guest veterans such as Boris BeckerBoris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17. Tennis Magazine put Becker in 18th place on its list of...
, John McEnroeJohn Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles—three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open—nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
, Jimmy ConnorsJames Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former World No. 1 tennis player. Connors is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time...
and Tracy AustinTracy Ann Austin Holt is a former World No. 1 women's professional tennis player from the United States who won the women's singles title at the US Open in 1979 and 1981 and the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 1980, before a series of injuries cut short her career.-To 1980:Austin won 21...
. The coverage is presented by Sue BarkerSusan Barker, MBE is a television presenter and former professional tennis player. During her tennis career, she won the women's singles title at the French Open and reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3...
and highlights with John InverdaleJohn Inverdale , is an English radio and television broadcaster who works for the BBC, mainly covering sporting events.-Biography:...
. Previous BBC presenters include Des LynamDesmond Michael "Des" Lynam, OBE is an Irish presenter on British television and radio.He has hosted television coverage of high profile events for many years...
, David VineDavid Martin Vine was a British television sports presenter. He presented a wide variety of shows from the 1960s onwards.-Early life:...
and Harry CarpenterHarry Carpenter , is a former BBC sports commentator broadcasting from the early 1950s until his retirement in 1994. His speciality was boxing...
.
The Wimbledon Finals are obliged to be shown live and in full on terrestrial television (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5) by government mandate. Highlights of the rest of the tournament must be provided by terrestrial stations; live coverage (excepting the finals) may be sought by satellite or cable tv[http://www.culture.gov.uk/PDF/sport_on_television.pdf].
Americans have made a tradition of NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
's "Breakfast at Wimbledon" specials at weekends, where live coverage starts early in the morning (the US being a minimum of 5 hours behind the UK) and continues well into the afternoon, interspersed with commentary and interviews from Bud CollinsArthur Worth "Bud" Collins, Jr. is an American journalist and television sportscaster, best known for his tennis commentary...
, whose tennis acumen and (in)famous patterned trousers are well-known to tennis fans in the USA. Collins was sacked by NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
in 2007, but was promptly hired by ESPNESPN is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day....
, the cable home for The Championships in the States. From 1975 to 1999, premium channel HBO carried weekday coverage of Wimbledon. Hosts included Jim LampleyJim Lampley is an American sportscaster, news anchor, movie producer, and restaurant owner. He has been in several television shows, but is better known for his participation in the HBO Boxing series . He currently works alongside Larry Merchant and Emanuel Steward in that series...
, Billie Jean KingBillie Jean King is a tennis player from the United States. She won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. King has been an advocate against sexism in sports and society...
, Martina NavratilovaMartina Navrátilová is a Czech-American tennis player. A former World No. 1...
, John Lloyd and Barry MacKayBarry MacKay is a retired professional tennis player and tournament director, and a current television broadcaster. He was the NCAA Men's Singles Champion and Doubles Finalist with Richard Potter in 1957, while playing for University of Michigan. He was a Doubles Finalist with Sammy Giammalva at...
among others.[ HBO Guides, program schedules, 1975 to 1999]
Wimbledon was also involved, unintentionally, in a piece of television history, on 1 July 1967. That was when the first official colour broadcast took place in the UK. Four hours live coverage of Wimbledon was shown on BBC2 (then the only colour channel in the UK), and although footage of that historic match no longer survives, the men's final that year is still held in the BBC archives because it was the first men's final transmitted in colour.
Since 2007, the most anticipated Wimbledon matches have been transmitted in High Definition, on the BBC's free-to-air channel BBC HDBBC HD is a high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007...
, with continual live coverage during the tournament of Centre Court and Court No. 1 as well as an evening highlight show (Today at Wimbledon).
The BBC's opening theme music for Wimbledon was composed by Keith MansfieldKeith Mansfield is a British composer and arranger known for his creation of prominent television theme tunes, including the Grandstand theme for the BBC...
and is titled "Light and Tuneful". A piece titled "A Sporting Occasion" is the traditional closing theme, though nowadays coverage typically ends either with a montage set to a popular song or with no music at all.
Tickets
The majority of centre and show court tickets sold to the general public are made available by a public ballot that the All England Club holds at the start of the year. A ballot for tickets has been held since 1924.
The ballot has always been substantially oversubscribed. Successful applicants are selected at random by a computer. [ Wimbledon website http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/tickets/ballot.html]
The All England Club, through its subsidiary The All England Lawn Tennis Ground plc, issues Debentures to tennis fans every five years to raise funds for capital expenditure. Fans who invest thus in the club receive a pair of tickets for every day of the Wimbledon Championships for the five years the investment lasts. [http://www.aeltc.com/cms/debentures/about/About.aspx] Only debenture holders are permitted to sell on their tickets to third parties, although for many years ticket touts have made a habit of illegally purchasing tickets allocated to non-debenture holders in the draw and selling them for a profit. In 2007 a group of debenture holders in the All England Club created the first website allowing debenture holders to sell tickets directly to members of the public. The new website, http://www.wimbledondebentureholders.com , allows debenture holders to sell their own tickets without paying a middle man, thus making the tickets themselves considerably cheaper for consumers.[http://www.wimbledondebentureholders.com]
Wimbledon is the only grand slam where fans without tickets for play can queue up and still get seats on Centre Court, Court 1 and Court 2. From 2008, there is a single queue, allotted about 500 seats for each court. When they join the queue fans are handed vouchers with a number on it and the following morning when the line moves towards the Grounds, stewards come through the line and hand out wristbands colour-coded to the specific court. The voucher is then redeemed at the ticket office for the ticket.
To get into the show courts, fans will normally have to queue overnight at Wimbledon[queue overnight at Wimbledon http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/natee/2007/07/16/entry-1]. This is done by fans from all over the world and is considered part of the Wimbledon experience in itself. Those planning to queue overnight are advised to bring a tent and sleeping bag. Times to queue up vary according to the weather, but anyone queueing up before 9PM on a weekday should be able to get a show court ticket. Queuing for the show courts ends after the quarter finals have been completed.
Fans can also try to get a resale show court ticket at a price of £5 - something usually worth doing if there is a good match and if they have been queuing for more than 6 hours.
Trophies and prize money
The Gentlemen's Singles champion receives a silver gilt cup 18.5 inches (about 47 cm) in height and 7.5 inches (about 19 cm) in diameter. The trophy has been awarded since 1887 and bears the inscription: "The All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Champion of the World." The Ladies' Singles champion receives a sterling silver salver commonly known as the "Venus Rosewater DishThe Venus Rosewater Dish is awarded to the ladies singles champion at the Wimbledon Championships. It is an 18.75in silver salver made in 1864 by Messrs. Elkington and Co. Ltd. of Birmingham. The pewter original from the 1500s resides in the Louvre...
", or simply the "Rosewater Dish". The salver, which is 18.75 inches (about 48 cm) in diameter, is decorated with figures from mythology. The winners of the Gentlemen's Doubles, Ladies' Doubles, and Mixed Doubles events receive silver cups. The runner-up in each event receives an inscribed silver plate. The trophies are usually presented by the President of the All England Club, The Duke of KentPrince Edward, Duke of Kent is a member of the British Royal Family, a grandchild of George V. He has held the title of Duke of Kent since 1942....
.
Prize money was first awarded in 1968, the first year that professional players were allowed to compete in the Championships.[http://aeltc.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/history/prizemoney_history.html>]
In2008, the prize money for the main events is as follows (the amounts shown for the doubles events are per pair):[http://aeltc.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/guide/prizemoney.html>]
- Gentlemen'sSingles and Ladies' Singles Winners £850,000
[Prior to 2007, Wimbledon and the other major tennis tournaments awarded more prize money in men's events than in women's events. In 2007, Wimbledon equalized prize money for women's events, making them equal to the men's.]
http://aeltc2009.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/guide/prizemoney.html
In 2009, a total of £12,500,000 in prize money was awarded with the singles champions receiving £850,000 each, an increase of 13.3 percent on 2008. [2009 Championships Prize Money]
Champions
- Main article: List of Wimbledon champions (and the Championships by year)
- Gentlemen's Singles
[Last British Gentlemen's Singles champion: Fred Perry]Frederick John Perry born in Stockport, Cheshire, was a British tennis and table tennis player and three-time Wimbledon champion. He was the World No...
(1936)
- Ladies' Singles
[Last British Ladies' Singles champion: Virginia Wade]Sarah Virginia Wade, OBE is an English former tennis player. She won three Grand Slam singles titles and four Grand Slam doubles titles. She won the women's singles title at Wimbledon in the tournament's centenary year on 1 July 1977, the last time a Briton has won a singles title at the tournament...
(1977)
- Gentlemen's Doubles
- Ladies' Doubles
- Mixed Doubles
Current champions
File:Roger Federer (26 June 2009, Wimbledon).jpg|Roger FedererRoger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player. As of October 2009, he is ranked world number 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals , having previously held the number one position for a record 237 consecutive weeks...
became the Men's champion on July 5, 2009 defeating Andy Roddick in an epic and historic final. This is Federer's sixth Wimbledon Men's Singles title, and his fifteenth slam for his career. This is Federer's second singles men's slam title of the year to go along with the French title.
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon, is the oldest tennisTennis is a sport played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a strung racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court....
tournament in the world and is generally considered the most prestigious.
[Wimbledon's reputation and why it is considered the most prestigious][Djokovic describes Wimbledon as "the most prestigious event"] It has been held at the All England ClubThe All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club , also known as the All-England Club, based at Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam tennis event still held on grass...
in the London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
suburb of WimbledonWimbledon is a suburb in south west London, part of the London Borough of Merton and located from Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
since 1877. It is one of the four Grand SlamThe four Grand Slam tournaments, also called the Majors, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, and public attention. They are: Australian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open...
tennis tournaments, and the only one still played on the game's original surface, grass, which gave the game of lawn tennis its name.
The tournament takes place over two weeks in late June and early July, culminating with the ladies' and gentlemen's singles final, scheduled respectively for the second Saturday and Sunday. Each year, five major events are contested, as well as four junior events and four invitational events.
The hard court Australian OpenThe Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments held each year. The tournament is held each January at Melbourne Park. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was contested on grass from then up to 1987. Since 1988, the tournament has been held on hard...
and clay courtA clay court is one of the four different types of tennis court. Clay courts are made of crushed shale, stone or brick. The red clay is slower than the green, or Har-Tru "American" clay. The French Open uses clay courts, making it unique among the Grand Slam tournaments.Clay courts are more common...
French Open precede Wimbledon in the calendar year. The hard court US Open follows. For men, the grass court Queen's Club ChampionshipsThe Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is an ATP World Tour 250 series tournament on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour. Its sponsored name is currently the AEGON...
, also in London, the Gerry Weber OpenThe Gerry Weber Open is a tennis tournament held in Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Held since 1991, the tournament is played on four outdoor grass courts and is a part of the ATP World Tour 250 series on the ATP Tour schedule....
in Halle, Germany, and the Ordina OpenThe Ordina Open is a tennis tournament on the ATP Tour and WTA Tour held in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.-Singles:-Doubles:-Singles:-Doubles:-External links:*...
in 's-Hertogenbosch's-Hertogenbosch — translated in French as Bois-le-Duc, in German as Herzogenbusch, in Spanish as Bolduque and in Italian as Boscoducale — is a municipality in the Netherlands, and also the capital of the province of North Brabant...
, NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
are popular warm up tournaments for Wimbledon. For women, there are warm-up tournaments in Birmingham and Eastbourne.
Wimbledon traditions include the eating of strawberriesGarden strawberries are a common kind of strawberry cultivated worldwide. Like other species of Fragaria , it belongs to the family Rosaceae. Technically, it is not a fruit, but a false fruit, meaning the fleshy part is derived not from the plant's ovaries but from the peg at the bottom of the...
and creamCream is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, over time, the lighter fat rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream this process is accelerated by using centrifuges called "separators"...
, drinking Pimms spritzers, royal patronage, and a strict dress code for competitors. In 2009, Wimbledon's Centre CourtCentre Court is the main court at the Wimbledon Championship, the 3rd annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is situated in the Aorangi Park and is home to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club, its only regular use is for the two weeks a year that the Championships take place,...
was fitted with a retractable roofA retractable roof is a kinetic architectural element used in many sports venues, in which a roof made of a suitable material can readily be mechanically deployed from some "retracted" or "open" position into a "closed" or "extended" position that completely covers the field of play and spectator...
to insure against the possibility of rain delays interrupting Centre Court matches during the tournament.
Beginnings
The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is a private club founded in 1868, originally as 'The All England Croquet Club'. Its first ground was situated off Worple Road, Wimbledon.
In 1875, lawn tennis, a game devised by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield a year or so earlier and originally called 'Sphairistike', was added to the activities of the club. In the spring of 1877, the club was re-titled 'The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club' and signalled its change of name by instituting the first Lawn Tennis Championship. A new code of laws (replacing the code until then administered by the Marylebone Cricket ClubMarylebone Cricket Club was founded in 1787 as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground near St John's Wood in north London. MCC was formerly the governing body of cricket in England and across the world...
) was drawn up for the event. Today's rules are similar except for details such as the height of the net and posts and the distance of the service line from the net.
The only event held in 1877 was the Gentlemen's Singles, which was won by Spencer Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player, from a field of 22. About 200 spectators paid one shilling each to watch the final.
The lawns at the ground were arranged so that the principal court was located in the middle with the others arranged around it; hence the title 'Centre Court', which was retained when the Club moved in 1922 to the present site in Church Road, although not a true description of its location. However, in 1980 four new courts were brought into commission on the north side of the ground, which meant the Centre Court was once more correctly defined. The opening of the new No. 1 Court in 1997 emphasised the description.
By 1882, activity at the club was almost exclusively confined to lawn tennis and that year the word 'croquet' was dropped from the title. However, for sentimental reasons, it was restored in 1889 and since then the title has remained The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet ClubThe All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club , also known as the All-England Club, based at Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam tennis event still held on grass...
.
In 1884, the All England Club added ladies' singles and gentlemen's doubles. Ladies' doubles and mixed doubles were added in 1913. Until 1922, the reigning champion had to play only in the final, against whoever had won through to challenge him. As with the other three Grand Slam events, Wimbledon was contested by top-ranked amateur players until the advent of the open era in tennis in 1968. No British man has won the singles event at Wimbledon since Fred PerryFrederick John Perry born in Stockport, Cheshire, was a British tennis and table tennis player and three-time Wimbledon champion. He was the World No...
in 1936 and no British woman has won the Ladies Singles since Virginia WadeSarah Virginia Wade, OBE is an English former tennis player. She won three Grand Slam singles titles and four Grand Slam doubles titles. She won the women's singles title at Wimbledon in the tournament's centenary year on 1 July 1977, the last time a Briton has won a singles title at the tournament...
in 1977, although Annabel CroftAnnabel Croft is a former professional tennis player and current television presenter.Since retiring from tennis, she has turned to television presenting, with such shows as Treasure Hunt and Interceptor...
and Laura RobsonLaura Robson is a British tennis player. Born in Australia, she moved to the UK at an early age and first gained a British passport in early 2008....
won the girls' championship in 1984List of the 1984 Wimbledon champions:-Men's singles: John McEnroe def. Jimmy Connors, 6–1, 6–1, 6–2*It was McEnroe's 8th title of the year, and his 54th overall. It was his 6th career Grand Slam title, and his 3rd Wimbledon title.-Women's singles: Martina Navrátilová def...
and 2008The 2008 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 122nd edition of the Wimbledon Championships, and the third Grand Slam event of the year...
, respectively. The Championship was first televised in 1937.
21st century
Wimbledon is widely considered to be the premier tennis tournament in the world and the priority of The All England Lawn Tennis Club, which hosts The Championships, is to maintain its leadership into the 21st century. To that end a long term plan was unveiled in 1993, intended to improve the quality of the event for spectators, players, officials and neighbours.
Stage one of the plan was completed for the 1997 championships and involved building in Aorangi Park the new No. 1 Court, a broadcast centre, two extra grass courts and a tunnel under the hill linking Church Road and Somerset Road.
Stage two involved the removal of the old No. 1 Court complex to make way for the new Millennium Building, providing extensive facilities for the players, press, officials and members, and the extension of the West Stand of the Centre Court with 728 extra seats.
Stage three has been completed with the construction of an entrance building, housing club staff, museum, bank and ticket office.[Wimbledon home page http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/history/history.html]
A new retractable roof has been built in time for the 2009 championships, marking the first time in the tournament's history that rain will not stop play for a lengthly time on Centre Court. The All England Club tested the new roof at an event called A Centre Court Celebration on Sunday, 17 May 2009, which featured exhibition matches involving Andre AgassiAndre Kirk Agassi is a former World No. 1 professional American tennis player who won eight Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. He is generally considered by critics and fellow players to be among the greatest tennis players of all time, and has been called the...
, Steffi GrafStefanie Maria Graf is a former World No. 1 female tennis player from Germany.Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...
, Kim ClijstersKim Antonie Lode Clijsters is a Belgian tennis player. She is a former World No. 1 ranked player in singles and in doubles. As of September 28, 2009, she is ranked World No. 17....
and Tim HenmanTimothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is an retired professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Men's...
. The first Championship match to take place under the roof was the completion of the fourth round women's singles match between Dinara SafinaDinara Mikhailovna Safina is a Russian professional tennis player and former world number 1 who is currently ranked World No. 2....
and Amelie MauresmoAmélie Simone Mauresmo ; born 5 July 1979) is a French professional tennis player. She is a former World No. 1. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam singles titles in 2006, at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon....
. The first match to be played in its entirety under the new roof was between Andy Murray and Stanislas WawrinkaStanislas Wawrinka is a Swiss professional tennis player. His career ranking high is #9, achieved on 9 June 2008.He considers clay his best surface, and the backhand his best shot...
on 29 June 2009, which Murray won 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. The match recorded the latest ever finish at The Championships, concluding at 10.38pm.[http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/celebration/index.html] A new 4000-seat No. 2 Court has been built on the site of the old No. 13 Court and was ready for the 2009 Championships.[http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/articles/2009-06-11/200906111244725616916.html New Court No. 2] A new 2000-seat No. 3 Court is being built on the site of the old Court No. 2.[New Court No. 3]
Events
Wimbledon includes five main events, four junior events and four invitation events.[The Championships, Wimbledon 2008 — The 2008 Championships]
Main events
The five main events, and the number of players (or teams, in the case of doubles) include the following:
- Gentlemen's Singles (128 draw)
- Ladies' Singles (128 draw)
- Gentlemen's Doubles (64 draw)
- Ladies' Doubles (64 draw)
- Mixed Doubles (48 draw)
Junior events
Also known as Chimbledon (Children's Wimbledon), the four junior events and the number of players or teams include the following:
- Boys' Singles (64 draw)
- Girls' Singles (64 draw)
- Boys' Doubles (32 draw)
- Girls' Doubles (32 draw)
No mixed doubles event is held at this level.
Invitation events
The five invitational and the number of pairs include the following:
- Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
[The men who are eligible for the Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles are 35 years old and older.]
- Senior Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
[The men who are eligible for the Senior Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles are 45 years old and older.]
- Ladies' Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
[The women who are eligible for the Ladies Invitation Doubles are 35 years old and older.]
- Gentlemen's Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs)
- Ladies' Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs)
Match formats
Matches in the Gentlemen's Singles and Gentlemen's Doubles competitions are best-of-five sets. Matches in all other events are best-of-three sets. A tiebreak game is played if the score reaches 6–6 in any set except the fifth (in a five-set match) or the third (in a three-set match), in which case a two-game lead must be reached.
All events are single-elimination tournamentA single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event...
s[In a single-elimination tournament, a losing player or team is eliminated from the tournament.], except for the Gentlemen's, Senior Gentlemen's and the Ladies' Invitation Doubles, all of which are round-robin tournamentA round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a type of tournament "in which each contestant meets every other contestant in turn". In a single round-robin schedule, each participant plays every other participant once. If each participant plays all others twice, this is frequently called a...
s.
Until 1922, the winners of the previous year's competition (except in the Ladies Doubles and Mixed Doubles) were automatically granted byesA bye, in sports and other competitive activities, most commonly refers to the practice of allowing a player or team to advance to the next round of a playoff tournament without playing...
into the final round (then known as the challenge round). This led to many winners retaining their titles for successive years, as they were able to rest while their opponent competed from the start of the competition. From 1922, the prior-year's champions were not granted byes but were required to play all the rounds, like other tournament competitors.
Schedule
Each year, the tournament begins on the Monday falling between 20 and 26 June.
Wimbledon begins two weeks after the Queen's Club ChampionshipsThe Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is an ATP World Tour 250 series tournament on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour. Its sponsored name is currently the AEGON...
, which is one of the men's major warm-up tournaments for Wimbledon. Another important men's warm-up tournament is the Gerry Weber OpenThe Gerry Weber Open is a tennis tournament held in Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Held since 1991, the tournament is played on four outdoor grass courts and is a part of the ATP World Tour 250 series on the ATP Tour schedule....
, which is held in Halle, GermanyHalle is a town in the German Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia and belongs to the district of Gütersloh.- Geographic Location :...
during the same week as the Queen's Club Championships. Other important grass-court tournaments before Wimbledon are Eastbourne, England, and 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, both combining mixed events. The other women's warm-up tournament for Wimbledon is Birmingham, also in England. And to bring the grass court season to an end after the Championships each year there is a tournament held overseas at Newport, Rhode Island, US.
Wimbledon is scheduled for 13 days, beginning on a Monday and ending on a Sunday with the middle Sunday a designated rest day. The five main events span both weeks, but the youth and invitational events are held mainly during the second week. Traditionally, there is no play on the "Middle Sunday", which is considered a rest day. However, rain has forced play on the Middle Sunday three times in the Championship's history: in 1991, 1997, and 2004. On each of these occasions, Wimbledon has staged a "People's Sunday", with unreserved seating and readily available, inexpensive tickets, allowing those with more limited means to sit on the show courts. Additionally, if the tournament is not completed by the end of the second Sunday, all remaining matches are postponed until "People's Monday".
Players and seeding
A total of 128 players feature in each singles event, 64 pairs in each single-sex doubles event, and 48 pairs in Mixed Doubles. Players and doubles pairs are admitted to the main events on the basis of their international rankings, with consideration also given to their previous performances at grasscourt events. Currently (since 2001) 32 male and female players are given seedingsA seed is a preliminary ranking that can be used in arranging a sports tournament. It is called a seed because of the analogy with plants where the seed might grow into a top rank at the end of that tournament, or the seed might instead wither away...
in the Gentlemen's and Ladies' singles while 16 teams are seeded in the doubles events.
The Committee of Management and the Referee evaluate all applications for entry, and determine which players may be admitted to the tournament directly. The committee may admit a player without a high enough ranking as a wild card. Usually, wild cards are players who have performed well during previous tournaments, or would stimulate public interest in Wimbledon by participating. The only wild card to win the Gentlemen's Singles Championship was Goran IvaniševićGoran Ivanišević is a former professional tennis player from Croatia. He is best remembered for being the only person to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard. He achieved this in 2001, having previously been runner-up at the championships in 1992, 1994 and 1998...
in 2001. Players and pairs who neither have high enough rankings nor receive wild cards may participate in a qualifying tournament held one week before Wimbledon at the Bank of EnglandThe Bank of England is, despite its name, the central bank of the whole of the United Kingdom and is the model on which most modern, large central banks have been based. It was established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and to this day it still acts as the banker for the UK...
Sports Ground in RoehamptonRoehampton is a district in south-west London, forming the western end of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It lies between the town of Barnes to the north, Putney to the east, Wimbledon Common to the south and Richmond Park Golf Course to the west of the neighbourhood. In between which is...
. The singles qualifying competitions are three-round events; the same-sex doubles competitions last for only one round. There is no qualifying tournament for Mixed Doubles. No qualifier has won either the Gentlemen's Singles or the Ladies' Singles tournaments. The furthest that any qualifier has progressed in the main draw of a Singles tournament is the semi-final round: John McEnroeJohn Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles—three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open—nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
in 1977, Vladimir VoltchkovVladimir Nikolayevich Voltchkov is a Belarusian tennis player. Voltchkov reached the semi-final at the 2000 Wimbledon, where, as a qualifer, he lost to Pete Sampras in straight sets...
in 2000 (Gentlemen's Singles), and Alexandra StevensonAlexandra Winfield Stevenson is a professional tennis player from the United States. She is the daughter of retired professional basketball player Julius Erving....
in 1999 (Ladies' Singles).
Players are admitted to the junior tournaments upon the recommendations of their national tennis associations, on their International Tennis FederationThe International Tennis Federation is the governing body of world tennis, made up of 205 national tennis associations.It was established as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by 12 national associations meeting at a conference in Paris, France on 1 March 1913...
world rankings and, in the case of the singles events, on the basis of a qualifying competition. The Committee of Management determines which players may enter the four invitational events.
The Committee seeds the top players and pairs on the basis of their rankings. However, the Committee does also change the seedings due to a player's previous grass court performance. A majority of the entrants are unseeded. Only two unseeded players have ever won the Gentlemen's Singles Championship: Boris BeckerBoris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17. Tennis Magazine put Becker in 18th place on its list of...
in 1985 and Goran IvaniševićGoran Ivanišević is a former professional tennis player from Croatia. He is best remembered for being the only person to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard. He achieved this in 2001, having previously been runner-up at the championships in 1992, 1994 and 1998...
in 2001. (In 1985 there were only 16 seeds and Becker was ranked 20th at the time; Ivanišević, however, was ranked 125th when he won as a Wild Card entrant.) No unseeded player has captured the Ladies' Singles title; the lowest seeded female champion was Venus WilliamsVenus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions; as of October 19, 2009, she is ranked World No. 4...
, who won in 2007 as the twenty-third seed, beating her own record from 2005, when Williams won as the fourteenth seed. Unseeded pairs have won the doubles titles on numerous occasions; the 2005 Gentlemen's Doubles champions were not only unseeded, but also (for the first time ever) qualifiers.
Grounds
The nineteen courts used for Wimbledon are composed purely of rye grass.
The main show courts, Centre CourtCentre Court is the main court at the Wimbledon Championship, the 3rd annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is situated in the Aorangi Park and is home to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club, its only regular use is for the two weeks a year that the Championships take place,...
and No. 1 CourtNo. 1 Court is a tennis court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London. Opened in 1997, it is used for the Wimbledon Championships and is sometime chosen for Great Britain Davis Cup home ties, the primary Centre Court being preserved solely for the Grand Slam tennis...
, are normally used only for two weeks a year, during the Championships, but play can extend into a third week in exceptional circumstances. The remaining seventeen courts are regularly used for other events hosted by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. The show courts will, however, be pressed into action for the second time in three months in 2012 as Wimbledon will host the tennis events of the 2012 Olympic GamesThe 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are due to take place in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
. One of the show courts is also used for home games for the GB teams in the Davis CupThe Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. The largest annual international team competition in sports, the Davis Cup is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition...
.
Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event played on grass courts. At one time, all the Grand Slam events, except the French Open, were played on grass. The US Open abandoned grass for a synthetic clay surface in 1975 and changed again to a hard surface (DecoTurfDecoTurf is a tennis hardcourt comprising layers of acrylic, rubber, silica, and other materials on top of an asphalt or concrete base. It is manufactured by Decosystems, which is a division of California Products Corporation which also manufactures Plexipave), and is based in Andover,...
) with its 1978 move to the National Tennis Center. The Australian OpenThe Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments held each year. The tournament is held each January at Melbourne Park. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was contested on grass from then up to 1987. Since 1988, the tournament has been held on hard...
abandoned grass for Rebound AceRebound Ace is a cushioned tennis hardcourt comprising layers of polyurethane rubber, fiberglass, and other materials on top of an asphalt or reinforced concrete base...
, a different type of hard surface, in 1988, and switched to yet another type of hard surface, PlexicushionPlexicushion is a tennis surface system made by Plexipave, a company based in Massachusetts, USA.- Description :According to the Plexipave website there are four different types of Plexicushion...
, in 2008.
The principal court, Centre CourtCentre Court is the main court at the Wimbledon Championship, the 3rd annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is situated in the Aorangi Park and is home to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club, its only regular use is for the two weeks a year that the Championships take place,...
, was opened in 1922 when the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club moved from Worple Road to Church Road. This change of venue was due to the huge crowd pressure at Worple Road to see the French phenomenon Suzanne LenglenSuzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen was a French tennis player who won 31 Grand Slam titles between 1914 and 1926. A flamboyant, trendsetting athlete, she was the first female tennis celebrity and one of the first international female sport stars, named La Divine by the French press.- Early life :A...
, and for which that ground proved completely inadequate.
Due to the possibility of rain during Wimbledon, a retractable roof was installed prior to the 2009 Championship. The retractable roof is designed to close/open in about 10 minutes and will be closed primarily to protect play from inclement (and, if necessary, extremely hot) weather during The Championships.[Wimbledon Website - The Championships and The All England Lawn Tennis Club<] When the roof is being opened or closed, play is suspended. During a Wimbledon Championship match, the first time the roof was closed was on Monday 29 June 2009, involving Amélie MauresmoAmélie Simone Mauresmo ; born 5 July 1979) is a French professional tennis player. She is a former World No. 1. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam singles titles in 2006, at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon....
and Dinara SafinaDinara Mikhailovna Safina is a Russian professional tennis player and former world number 1 who is currently ranked World No. 2....
. The court has a capacity of 15,000. At its south end is the Royal Box, from which members of the Royal Family and other dignitaries watch matches. Centre Court usually hosts the finals and semifinals of the main events, as well as many matches in the earlier rounds involving top-seeded players or local favourites.
The second most important court is No. 1 CourtNo. 1 Court is a tennis court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London. Opened in 1997, it is used for the Wimbledon Championships and is sometime chosen for Great Britain Davis Cup home ties, the primary Centre Court being preserved solely for the Grand Slam tennis...
. The court was constructed in 1997 to replace the old No. 1 Court, which was adjacent to Centre Court. The old No. 1 Court was demolished because its capacity for spectators was too low. The court was said to have had a unique, more intimate atmosphere and was a favourite of many players. The new No. 1 Court has a capacity of approximately 11,000.
From 2009, a new No. 2 Court is being used at Wimbledon with a capacity for 4,000 people. To obtain planning permissionPlanning permission or planning consent is the permission required in the United Kingdom in order to be allowed to build on land, or change the use of land or buildings. Within the UK the occupier of any land or building will need title to that land or building , but will also need "planning...
, the playing surface is around 3.5m below ground level, ensuring that the single-story structure is only about 3.5m above ground level, and thus not affecting local views. Plans to build on the current site of Court 13 were dismissed due to the high capacity of games that will be played at the 2012 Olympic GamesThe 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are due to take place in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
. The old No. 2 Court has been renamed as Court No. 3. The old No. 2 Court was known as the "Graveyard of Champions" because many highly seeded players were eliminated there during early rounds over the years, including Ilie NastaseIlie Năstase is a former Romanian professional tennis player, one of the world's top players of the 1970s. Năstase was the World No. 1 in 1973 according to the Association of Tennis Professionals ranking system, which placed him first from August 23, 1973 to June 2, 1974...
, John McEnroeJohn Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles—three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open—nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
, Boris BeckerBoris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17. Tennis Magazine put Becker in 18th place on its list of...
, Andre AgassiAndre Kirk Agassi is a former World No. 1 professional American tennis player who won eight Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. He is generally considered by critics and fellow players to be among the greatest tennis players of all time, and has been called the...
, Pete SamprasPete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former World No. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam men's singles titles, and had a 203–38 win-loss record over 52 Grand Slam singles tournament appearances....
, Martina HingisMartina Hingis is a retired professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...
, Venus WilliamsVenus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions; as of October 19, 2009, she is ranked World No. 4...
, and Serena WilliamsSerena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and current World No. 1. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on four separate occasions...
. The court has a capacity of about 3,000.
At the northern end of the grounds is a giant television screen on which important matches are broadcast. Fans watch from an area of grass officially known as the Aorangi Terrace. When British players do well at Wimbledon, the hill attracts fans for them, and is often re-named by the press for them: Greg RusedskiGregory "Greg" Rusedski is a former British Canadian tennis player who turned professional in 1991, and played until his retirement on 7 April 2007, at the age of 33....
's followers convened at "Rusedski Ridge", and Tim HenmanTimothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is an retired professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Men's...
has had the hill nicknamed Henman HillAorangi Terrace, colloquially known as "Henman Hill", is an area in the grounds of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club where, during the annual Wimbledon tennis championship, crowds of people without showcourt tickets can watch the tennis matches live on a giant television screen at the...
. As both of them have now retired and Andy Murray is the number 1 British player, the hill is now sometimes referred to as "Murray Mound" or "MurrayfieldMurrayfield Stadium is a sports stadium located in the west end of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland...
", as a reference to his Scottish heritage and the Scottish ground of the same name.
Ball boys and ball girls
In the championship games, ball boys and girlsBall Boy is a comic strip in the UK comic The Beano and also the name of the main character. It first appeared in issue 1735, dated 18 October 1975. It features a five-a-side football team that includes:* Ball Boy - the captain of the team, Ball Boy bears resemblances to The Dandy's Owen Goal...
, known as BBGs, play a crucial role in the smooth running of the tournament, with a brief that a good BBG "should not be seen. They should blend into the background and get on with their jobs quietly."[The Telegraph Strawberries, cream and BBGs, 29 June 2006]
From 1947 ball boys were supplied by Goldings [Goldings Ballboys], the only Barnardos school to provide them. Previous to this, from the 1920s onwards, the ball boys had been provided by The Shaftsbury Children's Home.
Since 1969, BBGs have been provided by local schools. As of 2008 they are drawn from schools in the London boroughs of Merton-People:* Gerald Merton, English astronomer * Paul Merton , British actor and comedian* Robert C. Merton , American nobel-prize winning economist, or to his Merton Model...
, Sutton-Places:Sutton, meaning 'south settlement' in Old English, is a very common place name. Places named Sutton include:-United Kingdom:In London:* London Borough of Sutton** which includes Sutton, London** historically Sutton Urban District...
, KingstonKingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in south-west London.It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross...
and WandsworthWandsworth is an inner suburb of London on the south bank of the River Thames in south-west London. Wandsworth takes its name from the River Wandle, which enters the Thames at Wandsworth. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Wandsworth appears in...
, as well as from SurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford...
[Official Site Ballboys and Ballgirls Schools Information]. Traditionally, Wandsworth Boys Grammar School in Sutherland Grove, Southfields and Mayfield Girls School on West Hill in Wandsworth, both now defunct, were the schools of choice for selection of BBGs. This was possibly owing to their proximity to the All England Club. BBGs have an average age of 15, being drawn from the school years nineYear Nine is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the ninth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between thirteen and fifteen....
and tenYear Ten is an educational year group in schools in many countries including India, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the tenth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between fourteen and sixteen....
. BBGs will serve for one, or if re-selected, two tournaments.
As of 2005, BBGs work in crews of six, 2 at the net, 4 at the corners, and crews rotate one hour on court, one hour off, (two hours depending on the court) for the day's play[Official Site Ballboys and Ballgirls Background Information]. Crews are not told which court they will be working on the day, to ensure the same standards across all courts. With the expansion of the number of courts, and lengthening the tennis day, as of 2008, the number of BBGs required is around 250. BBG service is paid, with a total of £120-£160 being paid to each ball boy
or girl after the 13-day period. Along with this it is seen as a privilege, and seen as a valuable addition to a school leaver's curriculum vitae, showing discipline. BBG places are split 50:50 between boys and girls, with girls having been used since 1977, appearing on centre court since 1985[Official Site About Wimbledon - Behind the scenes, Ball boys and ball girls].
Prospective BBGs are first nominated by their school headteacher, to be considered for selection. To be selected, a candidate must pass written tests on the rules of tennis, and pass fitness, mobility and other suitability tests, against initial preliminary instruction material. Successful candidates then commence a training phase, starting in February, in which the final BBGs are chosen through continual assessment. As of 2008, this training intake was 600. The training includes weekly sessions of physical, procedural and theoretical instruction, to ensure that the BBGs are fast, alert, self confident and adaptable to situations. As of 2007, early training occurs at Sutton Junior Tennis Centre, and then moves to the main courts after EasterEaster is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day from his crucifixion...
.
Colours and uniforms
Dark green and purplePurple is a general term used in English for the range of shades of color occurring between red and blue. In additive light combinations it occurs by mixing the primary colors red and blue in varying proportions...
(sometimes also referred to as mauveMauve is a pale lavender-lilac color, one of many in the range of purples....
) are the traditional Wimbledon colours. However, all tennis players participating in the tournament are required to wear all white or at least almost all white clothing, a long time tradition at Wimbledon. Wearing white clothing with some colour accents is also acceptable. Green clothing was worn by the chair umpire, linesmen, ball boys and ball girls until the 2005 Championships; however, beginning with the 2006 Championships, officials, ball boys and ball girls were outfitted in new navy blue and cream coloured uniforms from American designer Ralph LaurenRalph Lauren is an American fashion designer and business executive. He is most notable for his Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand.-Early life:...
. This marked the first time in the history of the Championships that an outside company was used to design Wimbledon clothing. Wimbledon's contract with Ralph Lauren is set to last until 2009.
Referring to players
Prior to 2009 female players were referred to by the title "Miss" or "Mrs" on scoreboards. As dictated by strict rule of etiquette, married female players are referred to by their husbands' names: for example, Chris Evert-LloydChristine Marie "Chris" Evert is a former world number 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships, including a record seven championships at the French Open and a record six championships at the U.S. Open. According to the Women's Tennis...
appeared on scoreboards as "Mrs. J. M. Lloyd" during her marriage to John LloydJohn Lloyd is a former professional tennis player and current television commentator.During his career, he reached one Grand Slam singles final and won three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles...
, since "Mrs. X" essentially designates "The Wife of X". This tradition has continued at least to some extent.["Mrs. P-Y Hardenne" is used to describe Justine Henin. See http://aeltc.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/history/rolls/ladiesroll.html (accessed 20 June 2008).]. For the first time during the 2009 tournament, players were referred to on scoreboards by both their first and last names. For example "Andy Murray" and not "A. Murray"[See scoreboard behind Andy Murray during his third round match with Stanilsas Wawrinka http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/articles/2009-06-29/200906291246291940671.html (accessed 30 June 2009)].
The title "Mr" is not used for male players who are professionals on scoreboards but the prefix is retained for amateurs, although chair umpires refer to players as "Mr" when they use the replay challenge. The chair umpire will say "Mr is challenging the call..." and "Mr has X challenges remaining."
If a match is being played with two competitors of the same surname (e.g. Venus and Serena Williams, Bob and Mike Bryan), the chair umpire will specify whom they are referring to by stating the player's first name and surname during announcements (e.g. "Game, Serena Williams", "Advantage, Mike Bryan").
Royal family
Previously, players bowed or curtsied to members of the Royal Family seated in the Royal Box upon entering or leaving Centre Court. In 2003, however, the President of the All England Club, His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, decided to discontinue the tradition. Now, players are required to bow or curtsy only if Her Majesty the Queen or the Prince of Wales is present.
Radio Wimbledon
Since 1992, Radio WimbledonRadio Wimbledon is the official radio station to the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the AELTC in Wimbledon.-About:Radio Wimbledon broadcasts daily on 87.7FM between 8am and approximately 10pm during the Championships at Wimbledon...
– an on-site radio station with a studio in the Centre Court building – has broadcast commentary, music and speech from 8am to 10pm daily throughout the championship. It also broadcast the draw on the Friday before the start of the tournament. Radio WimbledonRadio Wimbledon is the official radio station to the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the AELTC in Wimbledon.-About:Radio Wimbledon broadcasts daily on 87.7FM between 8am and approximately 10pm during the Championships at Wimbledon...
can be heard within a five-mile radius on 87.7 FM, and also online. It operates under a Restricted Service LicenceA UK Restricted Service Licence , is typically granted to radio stations and television stations broadcasting within the UK to serve a local community or a special event...
and is arguably the most sophisticated RSL annually in the UK. The main presenters are Sam Lloyd and Ali Barton. Typically they work alternate four-hour shifts. Reporters and commentators include Gigi Salmon, Nick Lestor, Rupert Bell, Nigel Bidmead, Guy Swindells, Lucie Ahl, Nadine Towell and Helen Whitaker. Often they report from the "Crow's Nest", an elevated building housing the Court 3 and 4 scoreboards which affords views of most of the outside courts. Regular guests include Sue Mappin. In recent years Radio WimbledonRadio Wimbledon is the official radio station to the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the AELTC in Wimbledon.-About:Radio Wimbledon broadcasts daily on 87.7FM between 8am and approximately 10pm during the Championships at Wimbledon...
acquired a second low-power FM frequency (within the grounds only) of 96.3 FM for uninterrupted Centre Court commentary, and, from 2006, a third for coverage from No. 1 Court on 97.8 FM. Hourly news bulletins and travel (using RDSRadio Data System, or RDS, is a communications protocol standard for embedding small amounts of digital information in conventional FM radio broadcasts. The RDS system standardises several types of information transmitted, including time, station identification and programme information.Radio...
) are also broadcast.
Television coverage
For over 60 years, the BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
has broadcast the tournament on television in the UK, splitting time for the many matches it covers between its two main terrestrial channels, BBC One
and BBC Two
. The BBC holds the broadcast rights for Wimbledon until 2014 and it distributes its commercial-free feed to outlets worldwide. During the days of British Satellite BroadcastingBritish Satellite Broadcasting was a British television company which provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom...
, its sports channel carried extra coverage of Wimbledon for subscribers. One of the most notable British commentators was Dan MaskellDaniel "Dan" Maskell was an English tennis player, who later became even better known as a radio and television commentator on the game, and was known as the BBC's "voice of tennis"....
, who was known as the BBC's "voice of tennis" until his retirement in 1991. Other regular commentators on UK television include British ex-players Greg RusedskiGregory "Greg" Rusedski is a former British Canadian tennis player who turned professional in 1991, and played until his retirement on 7 April 2007, at the age of 33....
, Andrew CastleAndrew Nicholas Castle is an English retired tennis professional, and now television presenter.-Biography:...
, Tim HenmanTimothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is an retired professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Men's...
and Annabel CroftAnnabel Croft is a former professional tennis player and current television presenter.Since retiring from tennis, she has turned to television presenting, with such shows as Treasure Hunt and Interceptor...
; and guest veterans such as Boris BeckerBoris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17. Tennis Magazine put Becker in 18th place on its list of...
, John McEnroeJohn Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles—three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open—nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
, Jimmy ConnorsJames Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former World No. 1 tennis player. Connors is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time...
and Tracy AustinTracy Ann Austin Holt is a former World No. 1 women's professional tennis player from the United States who won the women's singles title at the US Open in 1979 and 1981 and the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 1980, before a series of injuries cut short her career.-To 1980:Austin won 21...
. The coverage is presented by Sue BarkerSusan Barker, MBE is a television presenter and former professional tennis player. During her tennis career, she won the women's singles title at the French Open and reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3...
and highlights with John InverdaleJohn Inverdale , is an English radio and television broadcaster who works for the BBC, mainly covering sporting events.-Biography:...
. Previous BBC presenters include Des LynamDesmond Michael "Des" Lynam, OBE is an Irish presenter on British television and radio.He has hosted television coverage of high profile events for many years...
, David VineDavid Martin Vine was a British television sports presenter. He presented a wide variety of shows from the 1960s onwards.-Early life:...
and Harry CarpenterHarry Carpenter , is a former BBC sports commentator broadcasting from the early 1950s until his retirement in 1994. His speciality was boxing...
.
The Wimbledon Finals are obliged to be shown live and in full on terrestrial television (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5) by government mandate. Highlights of the rest of the tournament must be provided by terrestrial stations; live coverage (excepting the finals) may be sought by satellite or cable tv[http://www.culture.gov.uk/PDF/sport_on_television.pdf].
Americans have made a tradition of NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
's "Breakfast at Wimbledon" specials at weekends, where live coverage starts early in the morning (the US being a minimum of 5 hours behind the UK) and continues well into the afternoon, interspersed with commentary and interviews from Bud CollinsArthur Worth "Bud" Collins, Jr. is an American journalist and television sportscaster, best known for his tennis commentary...
, whose tennis acumen and (in)famous patterned trousers are well-known to tennis fans in the USA. Collins was sacked by NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
in 2007, but was promptly hired by ESPNESPN is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day....
, the cable home for The Championships in the States. From 1975 to 1999, premium channel HBO carried weekday coverage of Wimbledon. Hosts included Jim LampleyJim Lampley is an American sportscaster, news anchor, movie producer, and restaurant owner. He has been in several television shows, but is better known for his participation in the HBO Boxing series . He currently works alongside Larry Merchant and Emanuel Steward in that series...
, Billie Jean KingBillie Jean King is a tennis player from the United States. She won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. King has been an advocate against sexism in sports and society...
, Martina NavratilovaMartina Navrátilová is a Czech-American tennis player. A former World No. 1...
, John Lloyd and Barry MacKayBarry MacKay is a retired professional tennis player and tournament director, and a current television broadcaster. He was the NCAA Men's Singles Champion and Doubles Finalist with Richard Potter in 1957, while playing for University of Michigan. He was a Doubles Finalist with Sammy Giammalva at...
among others.[ HBO Guides, program schedules, 1975 to 1999]
Wimbledon was also involved, unintentionally, in a piece of television history, on 1 July 1967. That was when the first official colour broadcast took place in the UK. Four hours live coverage of Wimbledon was shown on BBC2 (then the only colour channel in the UK), and although footage of that historic match no longer survives, the men's final that year is still held in the BBC archives because it was the first men's final transmitted in colour.
Since 2007, the most anticipated Wimbledon matches have been transmitted in High Definition, on the BBC's free-to-air channel BBC HDBBC HD is a high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007...
, with continual live coverage during the tournament of Centre Court and Court No. 1 as well as an evening highlight show (Today at Wimbledon).
The BBC's opening theme music for Wimbledon was composed by Keith MansfieldKeith Mansfield is a British composer and arranger known for his creation of prominent television theme tunes, including the Grandstand theme for the BBC...
and is titled "Light and Tuneful". A piece titled "A Sporting Occasion" is the traditional closing theme, though nowadays coverage typically ends either with a montage set to a popular song or with no music at all.
Tickets
The majority of centre and show court tickets sold to the general public are made available by a public ballot that the All England Club holds at the start of the year. A ballot for tickets has been held since 1924.
The ballot has always been substantially oversubscribed. Successful applicants are selected at random by a computer. [ Wimbledon website http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/tickets/ballot.html]
The All England Club, through its subsidiary The All England Lawn Tennis Ground plc, issues Debentures to tennis fans every five years to raise funds for capital expenditure. Fans who invest thus in the club receive a pair of tickets for every day of the Wimbledon Championships for the five years the investment lasts. [http://www.aeltc.com/cms/debentures/about/About.aspx] Only debenture holders are permitted to sell on their tickets to third parties, although for many years ticket touts have made a habit of illegally purchasing tickets allocated to non-debenture holders in the draw and selling them for a profit. In 2007 a group of debenture holders in the All England Club created the first website allowing debenture holders to sell tickets directly to members of the public. The new website, http://www.wimbledondebentureholders.com , allows debenture holders to sell their own tickets without paying a middle man, thus making the tickets themselves considerably cheaper for consumers.[http://www.wimbledondebentureholders.com]
Wimbledon is the only grand slam where fans without tickets for play can queue up and still get seats on Centre Court, Court 1 and Court 2. From 2008, there is a single queue, allotted about 500 seats for each court. When they join the queue fans are handed vouchers with a number on it and the following morning when the line moves towards the Grounds, stewards come through the line and hand out wristbands colour-coded to the specific court. The voucher is then redeemed at the ticket office for the ticket.
To get into the show courts, fans will normally have to queue overnight at Wimbledon[queue overnight at Wimbledon http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/natee/2007/07/16/entry-1]. This is done by fans from all over the world and is considered part of the Wimbledon experience in itself. Those planning to queue overnight are advised to bring a tent and sleeping bag. Times to queue up vary according to the weather, but anyone queueing up before 9PM on a weekday should be able to get a show court ticket. Queuing for the show courts ends after the quarter finals have been completed.
Fans can also try to get a resale show court ticket at a price of £5 - something usually worth doing if there is a good match and if they have been queuing for more than 6 hours.
Trophies and prize money
The Gentlemen's Singles champion receives a silver gilt cup 18.5 inches (about 47 cm) in height and 7.5 inches (about 19 cm) in diameter. The trophy has been awarded since 1887 and bears the inscription: "The All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Champion of the World." The Ladies' Singles champion receives a sterling silver salver commonly known as the "Venus Rosewater DishThe Venus Rosewater Dish is awarded to the ladies singles champion at the Wimbledon Championships. It is an 18.75in silver salver made in 1864 by Messrs. Elkington and Co. Ltd. of Birmingham. The pewter original from the 1500s resides in the Louvre...
", or simply the "Rosewater Dish". The salver, which is 18.75 inches (about 48 cm) in diameter, is decorated with figures from mythology. The winners of the Gentlemen's Doubles, Ladies' Doubles, and Mixed Doubles events receive silver cups. The runner-up in each event receives an inscribed silver plate. The trophies are usually presented by the President of the All England Club, The Duke of KentPrince Edward, Duke of Kent is a member of the British Royal Family, a grandchild of George V. He has held the title of Duke of Kent since 1942....
.
Prize money was first awarded in 1968, the first year that professional players were allowed to compete in the Championships.[http://aeltc.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/history/prizemoney_history.html>]
In2008, the prize money for the main events is as follows (the amounts shown for the doubles events are per pair):[http://aeltc.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/guide/prizemoney.html>]
- Gentlemen'sSingles and Ladies' Singles Winners £850,000
[Prior to 2007, Wimbledon and the other major tennis tournaments awarded more prize money in men's events than in women's events. In 2007, Wimbledon equalized prize money for women's events, making them equal to the men's.]
http://aeltc2009.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/guide/prizemoney.html
In 2009, a total of £12,500,000 in prize money was awarded with the singles champions receiving £850,000 each, an increase of 13.3 percent on 2008. [2009 Championships Prize Money]
Champions
- Main article: List of Wimbledon champions (and the Championships by year)
- Gentlemen's Singles
[Last British Gentlemen's Singles champion: Fred Perry]Frederick John Perry born in Stockport, Cheshire, was a British tennis and table tennis player and three-time Wimbledon champion. He was the World No...
(1936)
- Ladies' Singles
[Last British Ladies' Singles champion: Virginia Wade]Sarah Virginia Wade, OBE is an English former tennis player. She won three Grand Slam singles titles and four Grand Slam doubles titles. She won the women's singles title at Wimbledon in the tournament's centenary year on 1 July 1977, the last time a Briton has won a singles title at the tournament...
(1977)
- Gentlemen's Doubles
- Ladies' Doubles
- Mixed Doubles
Current champions
File:Roger Federer (26 June 2009, Wimbledon).jpg|Roger FedererRoger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player. As of October 2009, he is ranked world number 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals , having previously held the number one position for a record 237 consecutive weeks...
became the Men's champion on July 5, 2009 defeating Andy Roddick in an epic and historic final. This is Federer's sixth Wimbledon Men's Singles title, and his fifteenth slam for his career. This is Federer's second singles men's slam title of the year to go along with the French title.[http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/news/2009/2009review.html<\ref>]
File:SerenaStretchWimbledon.jpg|Serena WilliamsSerena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and current World No. 1. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on four separate occasions...
is the Ladies' champion, after beating her sister Venus in 2009 - turning the tables on her sister, who won in 2008. This is Serena's third Wimbledon Women's Singles title, and her eleventh slam for her career. This is Serena's second singles women's slam of the year to go along with the Australian crown.
File:Nestor 2009 Davis Cup 2.jpg|Daniel NestorDaniel Mark Nestor is a Serbian-Canadian tennis player from the Toronto, Ontario, area....
part of the winning Men's Doubles team in 2009. This is his fifth men's doubles slam title, and his second Wimbledon Men's Doubles title of his career.
File:Nenad Zimonjic.jpg|Nenad ZimonjićNenad Zimonjić is a professional Serbian tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 2 in men's doubles. He is the second tennis player from Serbia to hold the highest doubles ranking, after Slobodan Živojinović...
part of the winning Men's Doubles team in 2009. This is his second men's doubles slam title, and his second Wimbledon Men's Doubles title of his career.
File:SerenaStretchWimbledon.jpg|Serena WilliamsSerena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and current World No. 1. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on four separate occasions...
part of the winning Women's Doubles team in 2009. This is her ninth women's doubles slam title, and her fourth Wimbledon Women's Doubles title of her career. This is the second of three women's doubles slam titles of the year to go along with the Australian previous and US post titles of the year.
File:Venus at us open 2009-cropped.jpg|Venus WilliamsVenus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions; as of October 19, 2009, she is ranked World No. 4...
part of the winning Women's Doubles team in