Coordinates: 51°26′1.48″N 0°12′50.63″W / 51.4337444°N 0.2140639°W / 51.4337444; -0.2140639
The Championships, Wimbledon , or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is generally considered the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in the London suburb of Wimbledon since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam 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 Open and clay court French Open precede Wimbledon in the calendar year. The hard court US Open follows. For men, the grass court Queen's Club Championships, also in London, the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, and the Ordina Open in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands are popular warm up tournaments for Wimbledon. For women, there are warm-up tournaments in Birmingham and Eastbourne.
Wimbledon traditions include the eating of strawberries and cream, drinking Pimms spritzers, royal patronage, and a strict dress code for competitors. In 2009, Wimbledon's Centre Court was fitted with a retractable roof to insure against the possibility of rain delays interrupting Centre Court matches during the tournament.
History
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 Club) 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 Club.
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 Perry in 1936 and no British woman has won the Ladies Singles since Virginia Wade in 1977, although Annabel Croft and Laura Robson won the girls' championship in 1984 and 2008, 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 Agassi, Steffi Graf, Kim Clijsters and Tim Henman. The first Championship match to take place under the roof was the completion of the fourth round women's singles match between Dinara Safina and Amelie Mauresmo. The first match to be played in its entirety under the new roof was between Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka 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.
Events
Wimbledon includes five main events, four junior events and four invitation events.
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 tournaments, except for the Gentlemen's, Senior Gentlemen's and the Ladies' Invitation Doubles, all of which are round-robin tournaments.
Until 1922, the winners of the previous year's competition (except in the Ladies Doubles and Mixed Doubles) were automatically granted byes 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 Championships, which is one of the men's major warm-up tournaments for Wimbledon. Another important men's warm-up tournament is the Gerry Weber Open, which is held in Halle, Germany 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 fo
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